Hiring a professional carpet cleaner is an excellent way to maintain your home’s air quality and revitalize your carpets. However, to maximize the effectiveness of the professional flooring service and save yourself time and potential hassle, a little preparation goes a long way.
A well-prepared room allows the flooring technician to focus on deep cleaning, rather than prep work, resulting in a deeper, longer-lasting clean. Follow this essential checklist before your carpet cleaning professional knocks on your door.
1. Execute a Deep, Thorough Vacuuming
This is often overlooked but is arguably the most critical step you can take.
- The Science of Cleaning: Professional hot water extraction (steam cleaning) is designed to remove wet, sticky soil and residue. Your home vacuum’s job is to remove the dry soil, pet hair, dry dirt, dust, and abrasive grit, which makes up about 80% of carpet debris.
- Why You Need to Do It: If deep, dry soil isn’t removed before the cleaner starts, the moisture from the cleaning process turns the remaining dry soil into mud, which then settles back into the carpet fibers as the carpet dries.
- The Action: Vacuum the areas to be cleaned slowly and methodically, making multiple passes, especially in high-traffic zones like entryways and hallways.
2. Clear All Small Furniture and Delicate Items
While most cleaning services offer basic furniture moving, the responsibility for clearing personal effects, small furniture, and breakables rests solely with the homeowner.
- What to Move: Remove all small items from the floor, including lamps, house plants, wastebaskets, shoes, toys, and small side tables. Clear tabletops, mantels, and shelves of delicate items (vases, picture frames, electronics) that could be accidentally knocked over by cleaning hoses or equipment.
- Heavy and Fragile Items: Do not expect technicians to move large, heavy, or delicate items such as pianos, china cabinets, electronic equipment, antique furniture, or beds (unless specifically agreed upon beforehand). If you want the carpet cleaned beneath large pieces, move them to another room yourself.
- The Action: Place everything moved into a nearby room, tile area, or garage that will not be cleaned, ensuring clear access to all carpeted zones.
3. Identify and Flag Problem Stains
You know your carpet’s history better than anyone. Communicate problem areas to your Denver flooring professional before they start.
- The Communication Gap: Most standard cleaning processes treat the entire carpet generally. Specific, stubborn stains (like pet urine, red wine, makeup, or ink) often require specialized chemical pre-treatments that take extra time and are sometimes considered an added service.
- Why It Matters: Telling the technician upfront ensures they bring the correct spot remover and allocate time for pre-treating. Spot-treating after the main cleaning can be less effective.
- The Action: Visually mark severe stains (e.g., with a small piece of painter’s tape or an index card) and clearly point them out to the technician when they arrive.
4. Prepare the Environment (Parking and Access)
Professional carpet cleaning often requires external equipment and hoses running through your home.
- Clear the Path: Ensure there is a clear and safe pathway from the street or driveway (where the truck-mounted unit is located) to the room being cleaned. Clear walkways, stairs, and halls of clutter.
- HVAC Settings: Cleaning involves hot water, which introduces moisture. Set your air conditioner or heat (depending on the season) and ventilation fans to run during and after the cleaning process. Good airflow is essential for minimizing drying time and preventing mold or mildew.
- Secure Pets and Children: Cleaning typically involves an open door for hoses and large, loud machinery. For their safety and to prevent accidental escapes, secure all pets and keep small children completely away from the work area until the job is done.
5. Be Ready for Post-Cleaning Care
The process isn’t truly over until the carpet is dry.
- Drying Time: Expect a typical drying time of 6 to 12 hours, depending on humidity and airflow.
- Traffic: Minimize foot traffic during the drying period. If you must walk on the carpet, wear clean, white socks to avoid re-soiling the damp fibers.
- Furniture Pads: If the cleaners move any furniture back, check that small, plastic or foil pads are placed under the legs to prevent color transfer (stain) from the damp carpet to the wood or metal legs.
By following these five steps, you facilitate a smoother process for the technician and guarantee the best possible result for your clean, refreshed carpet.
