Getting your carpets professionally cleaned at least once per year is beneficial for keeping them in the best condition possible. It also helps to remove dust mites, bacteria, germs, stale smoke, stains and any other substances that aren’t easily removed by household vacuum cleaners alone.t.
When the time comes for the pros to work their magic on your carpets, it makes sense to be as prepared as possible. Here are a few things you need to do before the cleaning cavalry arrive.
1. Move furniture
Before the professional cleaners arrive, find out what will happen with the furniture in the rooms that need their carpets cleaning. Some carpet cleaning London companies will move large items of furniture for you, so it’s well worth choosing a business that can do this if you’ve got a lot of heavy or large items that might be tricky to move yourself. A cleaning company can also advise on what to do about very heavy furniture such as wardrobes or dressers, which might not need moving if you have no intention of changing their position in the future.
2. Remove delicate or valuable items
While a professional carpet cleaning business is able to move bulky furniture items for you before carpet cleaning commences, you’ll probably still need to move some smaller items off the carpet yourself, if they’re easy enough to lift or carry. In particular, anything that is fragile or valuable should be carefully stored away in another room. A professional company will be very careful with delicate items, but accidents can sometimes occur, so it’s good to keep breakables out of the way, just in case.
3. Pick items up off the floor
If you’ve got children or pets at home, chances are there’ll be toys and other bits and bobs strewn across the carpet, particularly hidden away in places such as under the sofa or coffee table. Go around all areas of a carpet, carefully scrutinising it, and pick everything up off the floor. Look out for things like bits of Lego, coins and small jewellery items, which could easily get sucked up into the powerful cleaning machines, once they get fired into action.
4. Tie up curtains that are long
If you have any floor length curtains in a room that will have its carpet cleaned, tie them up so they are not touching the carpet. Curtains will need to be kept about six inches off the floor, so that any moisture resulting from the cleaning processes doesn’t come into contact with them.
5. Note any problem areas
A carpet cleaning company will give a carpet a thorough inspection before they get started on a job, but it’s also a good idea if you take note of any problem areas beforehand, such as stains or damage. By pointing these out to the cleaning technician and explaining what might have caused the issues in the first place, this ensures problem areas can be dealt with in the most efficient and effective way possible.
In particular, it will be a lot easier for the technician to remove stubborn stains using the right equipment if they are aware of their origins, so make a note of what caused them, as well as how long they’ve been there for, and if you’ve tried to have a go at removing them yourself.
Let the technician know which areas of a carpet, in particular, receive the most footfall, so they can make sure these are given extra attention.
6. Take care of children and pets
It’s a good idea to organise somewhere for pets or children to go ahead of getting your carpets cleaned. This ensures they don’t get in the way, or aren’t unsettled or anxious by the machines or having strangers in the house.
Reserve a room for pets and children to go to that isn’t having its carpet cleaned, or let them go outside, if feasible. Bear in mind that the front door of your premises may need to be left open to feed the equipment through from the technician’s van, so make sure that children or pets aren’t liable to escape.
Don’t forget that carpets that have been cleaned will need some time to dry before they can be walked on and used again, so factor this in when deciding where to relocate children and pets to, during and after the cleaning.
A carpet cleaning company that uses the latest machines and technology should be able to get your carpets cleaned and dried relatively quickly, so always pick such a business, if time is of the essence, and check with them to see how long they expect it will take before carpets can be used again.
7. Save a parking space
A professional carpet cleaning company will need somewhere to park their van, so save a spot as close to your property as possible. This means that any equipment that needs to be fed into the building won’t have so far to reach, or any heavy equipment that needs lifting can be conveniently moved inside the premises.
8. Vacuum the carpet
Check with the cleaning company to see if you need to vacuum carpets before they arrive. This can help to get rid of any loose bits of dirt, so the technicians can focus on the soiled areas, stains and deep down debris. In some cases, the company may include vacuuming as part of their service, so it’s worth checking beforehand what their individual policy is.
9. Give skirting boards a dust
Before the technicians arrive to replenish your carpets, give your skirting boards a good dusting. This will help to remove loose debris before your carpets are cleaned. If you leave cleaning skirting boards until afterwards, the loose dust might end up settling into your carpets, ruining their squeaky clean appearance.
10. Make a list
If you have any questions or concerns that you want to raise with the cleaning technicians before they get started, make a list and ask them when they arrive. A reputable carpet cleaning company will be happy to answer any queries you have, so don’t be afraid to ask.
Get in touch with Carpet Bright UK to get a quote and organise your next carpet cleaning appointment.
