So, you have scheduled an appointment with a professional cleaning service and are wondering what to do before they arrive to make the work more efficient and even save money by minimizing the time they spend. We’ve highlighted below the various steps on how to prepare for carpet cleaning, continue reading to learn more. Some of the things you need to do when preparing for carpet cleaning include clearing the carpet of toys and other small items, removing fragile and valuable items, pinning up your curtains, moving your furniture, and vacuuming.
Tips for preparing for carpet cleaning
For carpet cleaning, you want to create as much space as possible to make the process smooth and hassle-free. So, here’s what to do to achieve this.
Create a parking space
Your driveway and front entrance should be cleared to allow the cleaning service to park their van as close to your front door as possible so that they can easily use their pieces of equipment without inconvenience. If there is snow or ice on your driveway or walkway, you should have it cleared too.
Remove fragile items
If there are any breakable on your coffee table, cabinet, shelves, or side stand, remove them and keep them in a safe place. In case you have heirlooms or some fragile properties that you cannot easily remove, let your carpet cleaning service know about this so that they can exercise caution in that area.
Organize your space
For homes with kids, pick up toys, remotes, and other small items, and organize them in your drawers or other safe spaces so that you don’t end up looking for them later on as they can easily get sucked into the cleaning hose.
Remove furniture
Unless you only want the visible parts of your carpet cleaned, you should remove your furniture to give your cleaning service enough room to efficiently get their job done and give every part of your carpet the deep cleaning that it deserves. Most professional cleaning services charge extra to move your furniture and doing so before they arrive will save you some extra bucks. Note that while it is easier to move small pieces of furniture around, there may be no need to move others such as cabinets, bookshelves, pianos, etc., to avoid causing any damage in the process.
Hang up your curtains
If you don’t mind the extra chore, now may be the best time to take down your curtains and wash them; otherwise, you can pin them up to prevent them from getting wet during the carpet cleaning process.
Vacuum the carpet
Vacuuming will remove the dirt from the surface of the carpet as most cleaning services are only coming to deep steam clean the carpet and not vacuum it. If they arrive and have to vacuum before cleaning, you will be charged extra; so, to avoid such, vacuum the carpet before they arrive. If you don’t own a vacuum cleaner, you can hire one.
Keep your pets away
The noise that comes from the equipment cleaning services use can be scary for your pets, plus you don’t want them running around the wet carpet and leaving their hairs and furs on the damp surface.
Make a list of areas on the carpet that requires special attention
If there are any stains or odors on the carpet that you found difficult to remove, now is the time to take note of them and show your carpet cleaner so that they can deal with the issue once and for all.
How often should you clean your carpet?
Carpets aren’t the easiest to maintain in some cases, even though they make our space warm and cozy and how often you clean them depends on the following.
- Do you have pets?
- Do you have kids?
- How much traffic does the carpet get?
- Are there smokers living on the property?
- Do you walk around with shoes worn outside on the carpet?
- Are there people with allergies in the space?
For homes with kids, pets, smokers, or people living with allergies, you have to vacuum your carpet every day, steam clean or shampoo at least every 4 to 6 months, and have a professional cleaning service at least every 12 months. In a case where your pet messes up your carpet often, you should steam clean or shampoo every 3 months to avoid odor and bacteria build-up.
If your carpet is installed in an area with a lot of foot activity in your home or business, vacuum it at least twice weekly, steam clean or shampoo every 6 to 10 months, and deep clean every 12 months. Note that vacuuming your carpet will only remove dust, dirt, pet hair, and other dirt from the surface of the carpet. If you want a more intense cleaning result that will leave your space feeling fresh, consider steam cleaning and shampooing.
Conclusions
Preparing your carpet before the cleaning service arrives will make the process convenient, hassle-free, and cheap for you. There are only a few things to do to prepare for carpet cleaning, but if you feel that the task may be overwhelming for you, there’s no harm in asking a friend or family to come to help you out.
FAQs
Do I have to be around when my carpet is being cleaned?
No, you don’t. Professional carpet cleaning involves deep cleaning, which means your carpet may take almost 24 hours to dry completely, plus you don’t want to get in the way of the cleaners as they do their jobs.
Does cleaning your carpet ruin it?
This depends on how you clean it and the solutions you use; hence why you require the expertise of professional cleaning services to prevent ruining your carpet.
