Despite many people owning carpets, not everyone knows how to take care of them correctly. This isn’t helped by the fact that there’s plenty of misinformation doing the rounds. Yet, knowing how to look after carpets, especially with regards to cleaning them, ensures they remain in the best condition, for as long as possible.
Here’s some of the most common carpet cleaning myths dispelled.
Cleaning causes carpets to get dirty again
Some people think that getting their carpets professionally cleaned isn’t worth it, as it can encourage their carpets to become soiled again quickly. It’s easy to see where this idea has come from, as some carpet cleaning solutions can leave sticky residues behind in carpets, which can make it easier for carpets to attract dirt after cleaning.
Yet, by choosing a professional and highly reputable carpet cleaning company that uses quality, residue-free cleaning solutions, this isn’t an issue that you will need to contend with. In fact, not getting your carpets professionally cleaned will result in them getting dirty, so don’t put off this important task.
Steam cleaning carpets encourages mould and mildew
You could be forgiven for assuming that if a carpet gets wet during the steam cleaning process, and takes a long time to dry, this might encourage mould and mildew to form. However, this will only occur if a carpet is not cleaned properly, or ineffective equipment is used.
A decent carpet cleaning company will never allow this to happen, and will invest in the latest cleaning equipment and technology that ensures carpets are cleaned and rinsed properly, while extracting maximum moisture levels so carpets will dry very quickly. This means that without any lingering dampness, mould and mildew won’t form.
Carpet cleaning can alter the original look of a carpet
Some people believe that getting a carpet cleaned can ruin or alter its original aesthetics, but this isn’t the case, as long as you stick to using a reputable company that is mindful of the cleaning products it uses. Some products can be harsh and contain strong chemicals, which may affect delicate carpet fibres, but a decent carpet cleaning business will always choose the most effective and caring products for even those carpets that are delicate and sensitive.
Carpets take ages to dry
If you’ve put off getting your carpets professionally cleaned as you’ve heard a rumour that they take a long time to dry, this isn’t usually the case. Carpets only take ages to dry if they haven’t been cleaned properly, or have been cleaned with dated equipment, so always choose a company that can guarantee the use of quality technology and fast cleaning times. Most carpets should be dry within a few hours, but certainly no more than 24 hours.
Steam cleaning shrinks a carpet
It’s often incorrectly thought that getting a carpet steam cleaned could shrink it, but you don’t need to worry about your carpets disappearing after a professional spruce up. Provided you use a trustworthy carpet cleaning company with a good reputation, each carpet that needs cleaning will be closely inspected beforehand, paying attention to the type of materials it’s made from. This ensures a carpet will be cleaned using the most effective methods according to its individual type, in the safest way possible, so that damage or shrinkage doesn’t occur.
New carpets don’t need professional cleaning
You might think that because you’ve got a new carpet, it doesn’t need to be professionally cleaned, but it’s surprising how quickly a new carpet can lose its fresh, just-bought appeal. After all, most carpets get used on a daily basis. Bits of dirt can get walked into a carpet and trodden down in the pile, unable to be reached by vacuum cleaning alone. While you might not necessarily be able to see tiny particles of dirt and germs trapped deep in a carpet, this doesn’t mean to say they aren’t there – no matter what the age of a carpet.
Experts recommend that you should get a new carpet professionally cleaned about six months after purchasing it, although this may need to be done sooner if it gets stained or undergoes heavy use.
Carpets only need professional cleaning to remove stains
Yes – it’s true that you’ll need to call in the professional carpet cleaners when a carpet succumbs to stains, but this isn’t the only time a carpet will need assistance from the experts.
Even if a carpet isn’t visibly marked, it can still be dirty, without you knowing about it. Particles of dirt, germs and dust mites can all invade a carpet, so that’s why regular deep cleaning sessions from professionals who use industrial cleaning equipment and appropriate cleaning solutions can ensure that both visible, and invisible, particles are eliminated.
It’s easier to hire a machine yourself
While there are machines that you can hire to clean carpets yourself, it’s wrong to assume that the results will be equal to those provided by an expert cleaning company. After all, why would professional carpet cleaning businesses exist if hired machines did the same job precisely?
The fact is, the machines used by cleaning companies are far superior than those that you can hire, and they do a much better job of deep cleaning a carpet, removing all traces of dirt from the top to the very bottom of the pile.
Price is the most important factor when choosing a cleaning company
The price of something is always going to be one of the biggest deciding factors for most people when making a purchase, so it’s inevitable that lots of people will be swayed by price when deciding which carpet cleaning company to choose.
However, a word of caution. Not all carpet cleaning companies are created equally, so you shouldn’t just opt for the cheapest one, as they might not use the most effective or latest cleaning methods or equipment. The important aspect to focus on is how well they clean carpets, so take into account reviews, testimonials and any industry accolades or accreditations when making your decision.
Shop-bought products can be used to remove stains
While you can buy products in shops that promise to remove stains from carpets, they might not always produce the results you might expect, so think twice before using them. Whenever you try to remove any stain from a carpet, you need to think about what kind of stain it is, and what kind of material a carpet is made from. Standard, shop-bought cleaners don’t always take these factors into account, so the problem you have is that by applying the wrong solution or chemicals for a particular type of stain or fabric type, you could actually make the stain worse, setting it deeper into the carpet’s fibres.
To be on the safe side, it’s better to get the experts in to remove the stains for you, as they’ll have the experience and knowledge to understand how to treat each particular situation accordingly.
When your carpets need cleaning from those in-the-know, contact our carpet cleaning London business.
