Why You Should Engage A Professional Carpet Cleaner

Why You Should Engage A Professional Carpet Cleaner

Hidden Bacteria

Your carpet (s) is a large filter that gathers all the pollutants and contaminants that are brought into the home via footfall or air circulation. Moreover, is a well-established fact that keeping your carpets clean you are benefiting both your health and bank balance. Every occasion that you walk over the carpet wearing footwear you are leaving small amounts of waste, dirt, contaminants etc that, over time, will work to destroy the integrity of the carpet fibres. By vacuuming/hoovering your carpets with a vacuum will remove most of the surface material, you may never be able to remove all the mould and bacteria that grow deep down at the base of the carpet fibres. Therefore, by engaging a professional carpet cleaner is the best defence against these harmful particles.

Carpet Fibre Protection

Remember when your carpet was brand new? The carpet fibres were firm and vibrant in colour. Over a period of time as more and more foot traffic went over it, the carpet (s) begin to look battered and worn. This is simply due that each time you walk from to the inside, small dirt particles attach to the bottom of your footwear. These particles then fall off into the carpet as the fibres brush them clean from the underside of the footwear. This dirt then falls deep down into the carpet fibres. Every time someone walks over the same area, these dirt particles act as a   piece of abrasive sandpaper and rubs away at the integrity of each carpet fibre.  This particularly, prevalent with nylon carpet fibres, which over time become so abraded that no amount of cleaning will bring them back to their former glory!

DIY Carpet Cleaning Problems

One of the most popular ways to save money is for the homeowner is to rent a carpet cleaning machine, e.g. Rug Doctor. The process, as per the provided instructions, of cleaning carpets appears simple enough; so, renting a machine for the day, or a weekend, with its accompanied cleaning chemicals, does start off as an economically sound idea. The initial problem homeowners experience is that the cleaning chemicals that they purchased may, in fact, stain/damage their carpet. Note that professional carpet cleaners will always test a small piece of carpet before continuing to do any work thereby ensuring no damage. Further, most modern carpet cleaners use only eco-friendly cleaning chemicals that are guaranteed not to stain/damage. The next encountered problem is they (the homeowner) have had little experience using this type of cleaning equipment. Our experience is that most homeowners will over-wet (soak) the carpet, but moreover, not work quickly enough to vacuum (suck) up the water, thereby the water has a strong chance to soak into the underlay. Once in the underlay, this, excess water, can be near on impossible to remove; and invariably this may lead to mould and bacteria growth. Professional carpet cleaners understand the risks of ‘over-wetting’ and are practised in their cleaning techniques to not allow this problem to develop!   

Anti-Stain Coatings

Notwithstanding, if your carpets have ‘just' been cleaned it only takes one spilled drink to

undo all the good work by re-contaminating the bottom of the carpet fibres. One of the specialist services that a professional carpet cleaning offers is a protective (anti-stain) coating This clear protective coating is applied, by sprayer, and helps to ensure that it remains clean for a longer period. The added benefit of the protective coating is that it allows you more time to clean-up those, common, every-day spills.

By not having a ‘protected’ carpet means that as soon as a spill occurs the liquid will seep to the bottom of the fibre, where it is difficult to remove; especially drinks that have colouring included in their chemical make-up e.g. fruit juices (or Iron-Bru in Scotland…) and which can be difficult to remove. If the carpet has a protective coating applied, it provides you more time to get to the spill as it will stay on the surface of the carpet due to the protective coating. Therefore, each time a spill occurs the liquid will remain on the top of the carpet for a short period of time thereby giving you a chance to blot/dab it up before it causes any immovable staining. This type of (anti-stain) protection will save you money in the long run both in cleaning and by prolonging the life of the carpet. 

Conclusion

As a homeowner, it is easy to understand the benefits of working with your local professional carpet cleaner and with his/her guidance formulate a good defence against pollutants and contaminants that attack your carpets. By having the carpet (s) professionally cleaned, you not only extend its lifespan but save money overall by not having to replace it/them too often.

The family will also benefit from a well-cleaned carpet and the cleaner air inside the home. If any family member has a respiratory allergy, or a skin complaint will especially benefit from a fresh clean carpet. Now is the time to get in touch and make yourself familiar with your local Stirling carpet cleaning by scheduling a carpet cleaning. 

Regards

Tom

Acleanerplace Cleaning Services

Upholstery Cleaning - The Family And Financial Benefits

 Upholstery Cleaning - The Family And Financial Benefits

As a carpet and upholstery cleaner in Stirling these past years, I have spoken with many customers who are happy to have their carpets cleaned, however, think it’s a waste of money to have their upholstery cleaned; and is not an important consideration as opposed to their carpets.

I am at pains to explain that this is not the case to waste money or factor in treating their furniture cleaning as important as carpet cleaning. Moreover, to have your upholstery cleaned and refreshed on a regular basis - at least once a year – will save you money in the long run.

To have a professional upholstery cleaner clean your upholstery will help maintain that ‘new’ appearance. By giving some TLC to that much-loved sofa, leather chaise lounge or family heirloom will maintain its look/feel for a longer period of time. Not many of my customers disagree that they want a grimy and dirty piece of soft furniture. The dirt, dander, and soil will over time cause wear and colour loss to every type of fabric. Therefore, having your upholstery cleaned regularly will help prevent this and keep the condition worsening. In addition, you should consider the effect that dirt soft furnishings are likely to have on your family's health!

This reason, by its self, is reason enough to have your furniture professionally cleaned! The bacteria that can seep into the fabric of the upholstery, causing unpleasant smells and or malodour can harbour viruses and conditions that aggravate respiratory conditions, e.g. asthma.

A professional upholstery cleaner will get rid of these bacteria. Moreover, specialist products will be at hand to deal with any particular upholstery staining problem the professional is likely to encounter, e.g. vomit, urine and others… The air quality is also significantly improved by having your upholstery cleaned - by getting rid of dust, mildew and other allergens.

As I think I have reasoned, you can see that having your upholstery cleaned is not a total waste of money but an investment in an expensive piece of furniture and the quality of life your family has at home. Notwithstanding, you will actually save money as you will be less likely to replace your furniture as quickly or as often as after your home, the car and, possibly your floor covering (carpet or wood) the upholstery you purchase is in the top 4 of the costliest household purchases.

Regards
Tom
Acleanerplace Cleaning Services

Carpet Cleaning And Moving Home

Carpet Cleaning And Moving Home

When moving home, either upsizing or downsizing, it becomes important to maximize the sale price of your asset whilst avoiding it lingering on the property market for too long.

The conversion of a garage, the adding of an additional bedroom, or the complete renovation of either kitchen and, or bathroom are all good, proven, methods to add value to the property!

However, if you have not got the money that these improvements require, what is the best way to add value and make your home that more attractive to potential buyers?

It is very important that you consider having your carpets cleaned which can make all the difference whether your home sells or not! As a carpet cleaner who cleans homes in the Stirling, Falkirk, Alloa, Dunblane and everywhere in between, I see the benefit of clean fresh smelling carpets. This is even more so before any prospective buyer calls to view your property. The preparation of a home that is for sale should start at the outset, before the arrival of the estate agent. 

Estate agents will always provide advice on how best to ‘dress’ your home before taking the photos that appear on their website. Therefore, not only must the home look just right in the photos, e.g. carpets vacuumed and clean (...), minimise clutter, beds made and sofa cushions ‘puffed up’, as these photos will be the first impression of the interior that any potential buyer will have before a visit – and which may be the critical factor in their ‘sifting’ process of the properties they are considering.

Now, when these potential buyer’s visit, you might not be there as they will visit with an estate agent; therefore, it is unlikely that your home will have remained in its ‘show home’ appearance as it did for the estate agent photos…In order to impress the potential buyer, they must envisage themselves living there. If the carpets are in a dirty condition, as opposed to the other three properties they had viewed that day are clean and fresh, yours will, inevitably, slip to the least favourable …

When these potential buyers first step over your threshold you must first, from their point of view, consider what do your carpets look and smell like! What might be considered a charming ‘homely’ appearance and smell, will almost certainly put people off.  These potential buyers will quickly pick up on any unsightly stains and curious malodours.

Notwithstanding, carpet colour schemes and designs are a matter of personal taste; there is nothing more off-putting to house buyers than dirty, smelly carpets, especially if they smell of wet dog!

Due to the cost of carpet replacement, many new homeowners will not replace the carpets that they have bought with the house until they are in a better financial position. So, the state of carpets that are being sold with your home is critical to the sale.  Should you consider replacing them to achieve a sale, especially if they have seen better days?

In my experience no! As stated above, the replacing of carpets can usually cost a thousand pounds or so in an average house.  In addition, the seller (you) will invariably be cost-conscious, what with moving home, estate agent and legal fees and moreover, the general upheaval during the process of trying to sell your property.

By choosing to have your carpets professionally cleaned you will minimise any disruption and at the same time save some money - after all, you are making a sensible investment in the sale of your property! Clean, fresh-smelling carpets will provide a positive, strong first impression to all viewers, and, if they do not need to replace the carpets (usually a strong consideration with new buyers), it is one less expense that they will be fretting about when considering your property as their next home.

Having had the carpets cleaned at the very beginning of the sale process, it can be difficult to maintain their cleanliness, particularly if you have kids, pets etc during a period that may take a few weeks to a few months.  Nevertheless, one must endeavour to maintain that clean fresh appearance. This is as important as ‘dressing’ the home whenever a potential buyer visits, and more so if a potential buyer re-visits for a second or third time!  

There is nothing more off-putting than having viewed the property whose carpets were looking beautiful only to return a few weeks later (on a second visit) that they are now looking trashed… A sensible tip here ( and a small inconvenience during the sale period) is to cover all ‘trafficked areas’ with mats or, say, painter’s floor coverings which can be easily removed prior to visits by potential buyers, and which will also help maintain their appearance during your final exit from the property.

Regards
Tom
Acleanerplace Cleaning Services