Are You Investing in regular professional cleaning? To help keep your carpet in great shape, follow these 4 important steps:

Vacuuming – Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! Vacuum your carpet often, once or twice a week at least. Vacuuming removes the sharp soil that can cut and slice the fibers, causing premature wear.

Professional Cleaning - Depends on the traffic level in your home, getting regular professional cleanings are essential to extending the life of your carpet. On average, our clients have their carpets professionally cleaned every six to 12 months. Some areas in your home may require cleaning every six months, while other areas may need cleaning every year. Proper professional cleaning will not leave a sticky residue and can be done as many times per year as needed. Many carpet warranties require professional cleaning every 18 months to two years. Professional cleaning removes damaging soil from the traffic areas that vacuuming is not able to remove. When you purchase new carpet, make sure to ask what the warranty requirements are.

Spot Removal - Immediate spot removal is key to a clean carpet. Always begin by cleaning up any solids first. A spoon can be a useful tool to gently remove solids from the carpeting. Next, take a clean white cloth and run it under warm to hot tap water. WARNING: The towel can become very hot. You may want to wear rubber dish washing gloves. Ring out most of the liquid from the cloth and leave it damp to lightly moist. Set the hot, damp cloth over the spot for 20 seconds, gently pressing down on the cloth. Finally, fold up the cloth and in the direction of the carpet pile, gently remove the spot with the cloth. Repeat if necessary. Our clients have had great success with this spot cleaning method and it leaves no soil attracting residues.

Protective Coatings - Most residential carpets are treated with stain resist properties and soil resistors known as DuPont Teflon and 3M Scotchguard. After a period of 2 to 3 years, some of the soil-resistor wears off. At that point, you should consider having a professional carpet cleaner re-apply the treatment after a professional cleaning. The soil resistor will help the soil slide off the carpet easier when vacuuming, spots will be easier to remove, and professional cleaning will be more effective.

When it comes to maintaining your carpet, one of the most critical areas of focus is the traffic areas. If ground in soil is not removed on a regular basis, the traffic areas will begin to wear excessively. The dirt is extremely abrasive against the fibers of the carpet as you walk back and forth on it. The second area of focus, of course, is spot removal. Spots can become permanent over time if not treated.

• Run a clean white towel under warm to hot tap water. Warning: The towel can become VERY HOT! You may want to wear rubber dish-washing gloves!!!

• Ring out most of the liquid from the towel and leave it damp to lightly moist.

• Set the hot, damp towel over the spot for 20 seconds, gently pressing down on the cloth.

• Finally, fold up the cloth and in the direction of the carpet pile, gently remove the spot with the cloth.

• Repeat if necessary! We have had great success with this spot cleaning method, and it leaves no soil attracting residues.

For a detailed guide on specific spots Click Here.

NOTE: For Use On Synthetic Fibers Only.

• Using a clean spray bottle, mix 2 ounces of household ammonia with 2 ounces of hydrogen peroxide.

• Lightly spray the new mixture onto the red wine or coffee stain. • Wait 15 minutes.

• If stain improves, repeat.

• For stubborn stains, try rubbing product into the carpet fibers with a clean, damp (wet, with water rung out) white towel. Wear dish-washing gloves!

• When done, discard ammonia/hydrogen peroxide mixture, and rinse spray bottle. This product becomes chemically inactive after an hour.

• If no change, give your trusted carpet cleaner a call. For a detailed guide on specific spots Click Here.

Most residential carpets are treated with stain resist properties and soil resistors known as DuPont Teflon and 3M Scotchguard during the manufacturing process. After a period of 2 to 3 years, some of the soil-resistor wears off. At that point, you should consider having a professional carpet cleaner re-apply the treatment after a professional cleaning. The soil resistor will help the soil slide off the carpet easier when vacuuming, spots will be easier to remove, and professional cleaning will be more effective.

Note that the protector does not prevent soiled areas, but makes spot cleaning easier and helps to prevent permanent stains if spots are removed quickly.

A general carpet cleaning will take approximately 24 hours to completely dry. Any furniture that we leave on tabs or blocks will be trapping moister underneath and will need an additional day, up to 48 hours total, before the tabs or blocks can be removed.

Tile dries fairly quickly and may be dry by the time we leave the job site.

Before we arrive:

1. If your carpets have not been vacuumed in more than 2 weeks, please pre-vacuum.

2. Please note that some items of furniture (and area rugs) are just not practical to move without risking injury to our technicians, to the carpet, or to the item itself. Before we arrive, please remove all small items of furniture. Remove all breakable items from furniture that we will be moving, such as lamps, pictures, accessories, glass table tops, etc., away from area of operation.

3. Please keep children and pets away from area of operation. Keep children and pets away from our truck, hoses, equipment, cleaning products, and work area. NOTE: Please do not walk on drop cloths. They move easily and are extremely slippery to walk on. If you have house pets, secure them in an area away from the area of operation. We need access to the outside and your front door will be open while we are working.

4. Common sense dictates that small children, especially crawlers and toddlers, should not be allowed on the carpet until it is completely dry.

After We've Gone:

1. Do not replace any items on the carpet until the carpet is dry. However, if you must, put aluminum foil under points of contact to protect against possible staining of carpet. Aluminum does not rust and will protect your carpet.

2. Do not remove protective blocks, tabs, etc. from under furniture for 48 hours. Do not rearrange furniture before the carpet is dry, unless you also replace the protective blocks, tabs, etc.

3. Do not walk on damp carpet with soiled footwear. We will provide you with 2 pairs of booties to slip over your footwear. CAUTION: Booties may be slippery when walking from damp carpet to hard surface areas. Be careful. White socks and clean plastic or rubber soled tennis shoes or slippers can also be worn.

4. Rapid drying requires maximum ventilation. When weather permits, leave doors and windows open if possible. Turn on ceiling fans and utilize portable fans to speed drying. Limit your carpet's use for 24 hours to insure that it is completely dry.

5. Please use caution where carpet meets the wood, tile, and stone floors until completely dry. Please be careful, floors may be slippery.

6. Do not place freshly cleaned area rugs, carpet remnants, or mats on wood floors until completely dry. Wait 48 hours to insure these items are completely dry.
Please advise all occupants and/or visitors of these safety precautions

This is almost always due to poor installation. If the carpet was flat and wrinkle free before cleaning, do not panic. Almost without exception, it will return to its original appearance within 72 hours.

What you are seeing is air filtration soil. In some homes you will find dark soils along the edges of the staircases, along baseboards, under doorways, and under draperies. These soils are pollutants and work through the air spaces under the doorways and between the staircase and wall. The soils are very fine and work their way deep into the carpet fibers. In most cases we are unable to completely remove these soils from the carpeting. In rare cases, due to the acidic nature of these soils, the color of the carpet under these soils has been damaged by color loss or a change in color.