Your Guide to Carpet Cleaning NSW
NSW Carpet Cleaning Guide
Clean carpets are essential to a house that feels homey and smells good. Deciding to have carpet in your home can be a major factor in its overall comfort. Carpet is soft underfoot and leads to a warmer, cozier home, but it can be hard to keep it clean with vacuuming alone. If you have pets or kids, you will have an even harder time keeping your carpet clean with spot cleaning and vacuuming alone.
If you live in a humid place, or a place that gets seasonal hurricanes or storms, your carpet might also need to be cleaned to remove mold and mildew that can creep into the carpeting due to moisture in the air. This kind of wear and tear is commonly seen near doorways or windows, but it might affect other parts of the home as well.
If you live in a desert location, or near a beach, your carpet might be filled with sand or other small and light particulate matter. This is almost impossible to remove with traditional cleaning methods like vacuuming.
Carpet cleaning is a necessary part of home maintenance, but many people do not know much about it until they realize that they need to hire someone to take care of their carpets. If you are thinking about getting your carpets cleaned, here are some things that you need to know about carpet cleaning before you book the cleaning service to come to your home.
What is the Process of Carpet Cleaning?
Professional carpet cleaning is the process of removing stains, dirt, debris, sand, and allergens from your carpet to make a healthy home environment. This cleaning is done with four different methods, all of which might be used in the process to clean your carpets. These steps are Carpet Shampooing, Bonnet Cleaning, Dry Powder Cleaning, and External Extraction.
Once these processes have been completed, your home will smell fresh and be clean and sanitary. The cleaning process will save you money by preventing you from having to replace your carpets frequently. Your carpets should last about ten years, but if they are not cared for, they might only last a few years before being too dirty to save.
Carpets can look clean but be dirtier than you realize. Liquids can get down into the padding underneath the carpet and cause mold and mildew as well as allergens. You should always assume that your carpets are not as clean as they look to the naked eye and that they need to be cleaned at least once a year.
Reasons to Clean You Carpets
Carpets are good at collecting dirt, grime, and allergens. No matter how clean your carpets look, they have dirt and grime inside of them that you cannot see. Much of the filth in your carpet is down near the pad and not on the top of the carpet fibers.
Carpets which are neglected can actually become so filled with grime that the padding underneath them gets dirty as well. Replacing the carpet and the pad beneath it can add up, and the conditions in your home will be less than ideal until the carpets have been replaced. Health concerns related to carpeting that is dirty include allergies, lung issues, and skin rashes.
1. Removes Bugs, Mites and Insects
Carpets are the perfect place for bugs and insects to take up residence and people are frequently shocked at the little critters living inside their carpets when they have them cleaned. In desert places you might also have scorpions living in your carpets! Cleaning the carpeting will make sure that these unpleasant visitors are removed and that they haven’t left any dirt or detritus behind them.
2. Remove Bacteria and Allergens
Carpets are the perfect place for bacteria, mold, and fungus to collect. It can be hard to dry out carpets if they get wet and vacuuming can only do so much to remove dirt.
Skin and respiratory issues can often be related back to dirty carpets that are full of mold and grime. Chemicals used in the carpet cleaning process will kill bacteria and the heavy-duty suction of the machines will remove all the moisture from your carpets after the cleaning process.
This is the only way to remove mold, mildew and bacteria from your carpet. Hand and spot cleaning can only do so much, and if your carpet has been exposed to a lot of wear and tear, these smaller efforts are simply not enough to prevent the buildup of allergens and harmful bacteria.
3. It Looks Better
There is nothing better than clean carpets! Your house will smell better, the carpet will feel better under your feet and removing allergens, dirt, and moisture is healthier for everyone in the house. Clean carpets also hold their shape and are springy and fluffy looking which is much nicer overall.
Kinds of Carpet Cleaning That Might be Used in Your Home
Dry Carpet Cleaning
Dry cleaning is one of the most common methods of cleaning carpets. Water is not used and cleaning powders are used instead. The benefit to this method of cleaning is that it avoids adding moisture to the carpets or the home if there has been a water-related event that has damaged the carpets. This process is preferred as well, if the weather in your area is humid.
In this process, a machine spreads the powder and then the rotation of the same machine moves the powder deep into the fibers. The powder and any dirt and filth are then sucked out with a vacuum.
There are many benefits to this method, and the first of which is that the carpet does not need to dry. It will not be any dirt or residue leftover from this method either, because there is no moisture. There are no detergents used in this process, which can be good for the needs of people who are allergic to certain cleaners.
The results are long-lasting and this process does not take as long as other cleaning methods.
Carpet Steam Cleaning
This process is also called Hot Water Extraction. It is the process of spraying the carpet with hot water and detergent first. The carpet is then vacuumed to remove the detergent and the moisture. This is a deep-cleaning method and it works the best for heavily-soiled carpets.
You will get the best possible results from this method of cleaning and they will last for a long time. This is also the best way to get rid of insects and deep stains that won’t come out any other way. While this process is called steam cleaning, no steam is actually used during the cleaning.
This is the most common method of cleaning carpets, but it can be quite time-consuming and the carpets will be wet for a few hours afterwards.
Stain Removal
This is the process of cleaning stains out of the carpet without cleaning the entire carpeted area. This might be coffee, red wine, hair dye, or makeup. This process is always done the same way.
- Removal of the worst of the stain through scraping of excess solids that might be present in the stain. This is common with lipstick and food stains. This must be done carefully to prevent tearing of the carpet fibers.
- Detergent is then applied to the stain. Carpet cleaning services might use a dry shampoo or a liquid detergent to break up the stain. For urine stains, enzymatic cleaners are used.
- Blotting of the stain is then done to pull the liquid out without damaging the carpet fibers, or spreading the stain out.
This process is a good idea if you have stubborn stains in your carpet that you cannot get out on your own. This if often the only way to get out stains like wine, blood, or urine. Removing the stain will prevent the need to replace the entire carpet all because of a single damaged area and this can save lots of money over the long haul.
Upholstery Cleaning
This process takes care of the removal of stains and dirt from chairs or a sofa. These surfaces are vulnerable to spills, and it is common for grime to get rubbed into the fabric where people usually sit.
Just as in the case of the carpet in your home, you want to keep your furniture clean of allergens, bacteria and grunge. You might have tried to clean the stains off your furniture yourself, but it can be very hard to penetrate into the fabrics and materials used for furniture.
The steps of upholstery cleaning are:
- Loosening the dirt carefully so as not to damage the surface of the chair or sofa.
- Spot cleaning for any tough stains with detergent.
- Overall cleaning to remove the rest of the dirt and stains from the surface of the piece of furniture. A tiny amount of water is used to prevent soaking the stuffing under the surface of the piece of furniture.
- Drying is done with a small drying unit.
This process is important to the longevity of your furniture because dirt and grime will make your furniture look bad and be unsanitary. Removing stains is also a good idea to prevent the need to replace the furniture item.
Rug Cleaning
If you have a large area rug, or some smaller runners that are protecting your hallway or other areas in your home, you might notice that they are getting dirty over time. Just like with any other material or carpet surface in your home, these rugs can collect bacteria, dirt, and allergens.
The process of cleaning rugs depends upon the material they are made from. Hair and sheepskin rugs can only be vacuumed and spot cleaned, and handmade and Oriental rugs might require specialized cleaners to protect their delicate fibers.
Woven or braided rugs and rugs made with carpet materials can be cleaned just like the rest of the carpets in your home. After the cleaner has been applied, the same vacuuming process is done to lift grime and moisture from the rug.
What Does it Cost?
Carpet cleaning can cost more if you have lots of stains that need attention, but the following costs are a rough estimate to give you an idea of how much you will need to set aside before you schedule your carpet cleaning.
Most companies charge $30 for bedrooms and $60 for living rooms and other large common spaces. Stairs are charged per set, but this can vary quite a bit per company. You might be charge $10 per set of stairs or more depending on who you hire to clean your carpets.
Hallways and landings are $15 to $20. Removal of insects and other pests is $30 per room. Carpet protection sprays are charged per square meter.
Your carpet cleaning company will give you an estimate before you hire them to do the job. Make sure that you look into each company to see customer reviews before you book. You should also call around and get bids from other companies to make sure that you are getting a good price for the job.
Clean Carpets Are Part of a Healthy Home
Carpet cleaning is part of the commitment to having carpet in your home. You should never wait until your carpet is so stained that it cannot be saved. Plan to clean your carpets at least every year. Also make sure not to let stains from wine and things like hair dye remain in the carpet any longer than necessary. If you need help removing stains or cleaning visit www.procarpetcleaningsydney.com.au to get a fast quote. It cheaper than you think.
If you own animals or you have kids, you may need to plan to clean your carpets each year. Maintaining the carpeting in your home will make it look beautiful, smell great, and be clean enough to lounge on or walk on barefoot.
Taking care of your carpet is a part of home ownership that many people are unaware of until their carpets are too far gone to save. Prevent this unhappy outcome by planning to care for your carpets from the day they are installed and you will be able to maintain a happy and health home. Please leave your comments below and join the discussion.