Carpet Cleaning

[Pablo]

We usually have our filthy carpets cleaned once a year or so. I really don't like carpet, but we still have some in a couple rooms. It gets dirty. Nature of the beast. I usually hire the weasel in the truck. He always leaves and the carpets are crazy wet and not all that clean and two weeks later they are dirtier than when he came. When I gripe he claims it's the Scotch Guard junk he sprays.....meh....another guy, same results.....

So this AM we rented a carpet cleaner, bought a bunch of chemistry. First we vacuumed very well, then treated the spots depending on the nature of the stains. Mixed the chemicals with very hot water and wet to town. Painstaking and slow. I made sure I extracted just about every ounce of juice that was dispensed. Some areas needed retreating and repeating. I extracted very slowly. VERY tired.

Results? First of all the carpet is quite dry. A couple of the higher traffic areas that I hit hard are slightly damp, but hardly what I would call wet. Second of all, the carpet is very clean. And amazing the place smells great.

 

[Dakota1820]

having done commercial cleaning for a living i assure you most people cannot clean correctly. i usually use my kirby

 

[Lead Shoes]

Next time, try mixing a few drinks and sipping while you are walking at .05 MPH through the cleared living room

It's even better when you get rid of the keys to your car and take all the seats and trim out and clean the entire carpet for a couple hours and drink on a nice day, then put it back and wash/wax for that ultra deep clean.

 

[dparm]

The DIY machines are fine if you don't accumulate too much dirt or you use it regularly, but for the worst soiling and heavy traffic, the pros do a better job.

 

[JamesBond]

If you want something done right...

I had my own carpet cleaning company for a number of years, and good results can be obtained with rental level equipment if you put in the time.

The trouble is, that not every company will put forth the effort that you will. This is also the same reason we read this board and change our own oil.

 

[Chris B.]

It is simple to keep the carpet clean....take your shoes off before you enter the house.

 

[Turk]

Pablo,

Weird, I just rented the Rug Doctor last week, but you could tell it needed cleaning. Having 40 people over for Thanksgiving....

This house, my Wife's, 17 year old original berber carpet kept pretty clean.

So, I put on my Mixologist hat on

and used some of the Rug Doctor Oxy cleaner, Tide Laundry Soap + a Cap full of Downy per tank.

Works great! Went over it a few times with regular HOT water, more dirt came off & it still smells great.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
It is simple to keep the carpet clean....take your shoes off before you enter the house.


That does help...but the dogs have trouble with it. Young kids also have a way of spilling things in the worst possible location.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
It is simple to keep the carpet clean....take your shoes off before you enter the house.


That does help...but the dogs have trouble with it. Young kids also have a way of spilling things in the worst possible location.

With a little training you can get the dogs to wipe their feet before entering

I agree removing shoes at the door is key because there is a downside to using carpet cleaner machines with rotary brushes too many times. Unlike a dry carpet and a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a wet carpet and the heavy weight and pressure of the carpet cleaner rotary brushes stretch, untwist and tear the carpet fibers. The "fur balls". So while it looks cleaner, its life span was reduced a bit. Use those machines sparingly.

 

[SteveSRT8]

OUCH. As a 42 year professional in this field I am always perplexed by the stories I hear!

First of all, our company would have had one room dry before we left the job. And no chemicals left behind as we rinse with softened, filtered water and use some of the most powerful equipment sold to my industry.

Note that you are NEVER supposed to use any rotary machines on twisted carpets like most people have. And those filthy little portable machines exhaust a cloud of microscopic particles aerosolized in moisture, very nasty!

But we're far from typical. And we're also considered 'expensive'. I'm fine with that, but I call my clients and would never tolerate the kind of work the OP had done!

 

[LeakySeals]

In my spare time I rebuild vacuum cleaners and carpet cleaners then donate them to families in need. The Bissell Proheat Turbo 2x is a pretty clever machine actually. The dual brushes sit on a hinged arm instead of being fastened to the chassy. So as the suction increases and the cleaner digs in, the brushes retract maintaining only light pressure on the fibers. Retracting the brushes allows for better suction, less scrubbing required. I give them credit there, a whole lot better than the junk they made in prior versions. I have really clean (and worn) carpets in my apartment from testing so many different machines after bebuilds. This portable gets high marks.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I was asked to elaborate on carpet cleaning by PM so here we go.

Firstly, every small 120v powered machine shares a common limitation. One is they use a fundamentally different way of moving air, a centrifugal blower like a vacuum cleaner uses. The problems are that there is very limited suction and not much volume of air moved. You simply can't get a ton of power from a 120v outlet without popping a breaker. Work your [censored] off and you can compensate by vacuuming many many passes over the same area. But you are also exhausting potentially hazardous particles all around you as you work.

Most truck mounted machinery will use a positive displacement pump to move the air. This is VERY different, using much more power to generate huge suction AND volume. Plus this air is exhausted outside your home in the driveway under the truck. So bad stuff actually leaves the house in vastly greater quantities than with portable electric equipment.

Chemistry is a vital part of the equation. CC chemicals are just like anything else, from cheap petroleum based products that leave you coated with sticky films up to incredibly effective "green" products that are 100% USDA food grade ingredients and leave virtually no residues of any kind!

Then there is the tech doing the work. This is by far the most important part, as a well trained man can compensate and adjust cleaning method to vary the results obtained.

After 4 decades of experience I have some very refined and exacting techniques that we use in what most would consider an effective and successful manner. Way too many to list here. And there are TECHNIQUES in my biz that are not taught but learned by experience. Plus we call every job and ask for a complaint. In the rare instances where we do get one we rush back and rectify the issue promptly. This puts you all over the Net as the good guy, which is why we command the higher price in our area. These days consumers check Angies List and the BBB and such and are very well informed if they want to be.

The average carpet cleaner story is exactly why we are successful. My best tech says it's great that they all set the bar so low!

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Chris B.
It is simple to keep the carpet clean....take your shoes off before you enter the house.


Its not me. Its the dog paws.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
It is simple to keep the carpet clean....take your shoes off before you enter the house.


Its not me. Its the dog paws.


My old greyhound would wait by the open door for me to wipe her paws. That is only one small part of the dirt, hair, body oil and other things that dogs bring inside from an outdoor romp.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8


The average carpet cleaner story is exactly why we are successful. My best tech says it's great that they all set the bar so low!



You are correct about the low bar. If my post came off post came across as an attack on your profession I apologize. We actually never did a great job of shopping, other than other folks saying "this guy is good", etc. I will admit some have been much better at cleaning than others. Not sure why we gave this guy multiple shots. Maybe it was his big truck and killer vacuum.

Funny thing, I've hired maybe 8-10 carpet cleaning outfits over the years. They are talk about leaving the carpets fairly dry to really dry. Every one, and I mean every one has left the carpet soaking stinking wet. I blame them for either faulty equipment or just not taking the time to go slow and recover the water. I knew how much water and chemicals I put in the tank, and how much I recovered. It was near 90%. 120V, who knew?

Now did I drive water in to the padding? NO. Well maybe in a couple nasty spots I did because they are just slightly damp this AM. These spots, I pretreated then cleaned AND then came back and pretreated and cleaned again. That seemed to be very effective. I'm going to vacuum again today when it's super dry.

By all means find and hire a good professional. Your results may vary. Besides the true test will be in a couple weeks.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I was asked to elaborate on carpet cleaning by PM so here we go.

Firstly, every small 120v powered machine shares a common limitation. One is they use a fundamentally different way of moving air, a centrifugal blower like a vacuum cleaner uses. The problems are that there is very limited suction and not much volume of air moved. You simply can't get a ton of power from a 120v outlet without popping a breaker. Work your [censored] off and you can compensate by vacuuming many many passes over the same area. But you are also exhausting potentially hazardous particles all around you as you work.

Most truck mounted machinery will use a positive displacement pump to move the air. This is VERY different, using much more power to generate huge suction AND volume. Plus this air is exhausted outside your home in the driveway under the truck. So bad stuff actually leaves the house in vastly greater quantities than with portable electric equipment.

Chemistry is a vital part of the equation. CC chemicals are just like anything else, from cheap petroleum based products that leave you coated with sticky films up to incredibly effective "green" products that are 100% USDA food grade ingredients and leave virtually no residues of any kind!

Then there is the tech doing the work. This is by far the most important part, as a well trained man can compensate and adjust cleaning method to vary the results obtained.

After 4 decades of experience I have some very refined and exacting techniques that we use in what most would consider an effective and successful manner. Way too many to list here. And there are TECHNIQUES in my biz that are not taught but learned by experience. Plus we call every job and ask for a complaint. In the rare instances where we do get one we rush back and rectify the issue promptly. This puts you all over the Net as the good guy, which is why we command the higher price in our area. These days consumers check Angies List and the BBB and such and are very well informed if they want to be.

The average carpet cleaner story is exactly why we are successful. My best tech says it's great that they all set the bar so low!



What chemicals would you suggest? I use Bridgepoint pretreat sprayed from a garden sprayer and Bridgepoint rinse in the machine. No actual carpet cleaning chemicals in the machine.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Young kids also have a way of spilling things in the worst possible location.


Try a group of teens, two dogs, a cat. Oh and I never get grease or spill anything on the carpet in my office.

 

[Dave Hess]

Would you consider getting tile installed and forget the carpet headaches.

I do understand why people like carpet in colder climates.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Would you consider getting tile installed and forget the carpet headaches.

I do understand why people like carpet in colder climates.



Carpet and padding do provide a pretty decent amount of insulation. I haven't measured but I guess ~60% of our floor area is oak.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: Rob_Roy
Young kids also have a way of spilling things in the worst possible location.


Try a group of teens, two dogs, a cat. Oh and I never get grease or spill anything on the carpet in my office.

For me its the two Mastiff's wrestling on the carpet, play biting, etc. But better to have them play biting each other than my arm.