Steam carpet clean
We pre-treat, agitate, then extract with hot water under pressure. Most of the skill is in how much water goes in, because nearly everything that goes wrong with a steam clean is a drying problem.
- Checklist
- 25 items
- Rooms covered
- 6
- Quoted as
- A fixed price for the job
Carpet goes grey in lanes rather than evenly, and the reason is soil ground down into the base of the pile where a vacuum head cannot reach. Extraction is the only thing that lifts it: hot water and detergent driven in, then pulled straight back out with the soil in it.
The mistake is over-wetting. Too much water passes the backing into the underlay, takes three days to dry, and carries the old soil back up to the surface as it evaporates. That is why a carpet sometimes looks worse a week after a cheap clean. We make more extraction passes with less water, which takes longer on the day and is the whole difference.
Expect to stay off it for the rest of the afternoon, and to leave heavy furniture until the following day. We put protectors under every leg we move, and before we start we walk the room with you and say which marks we think will lift and which are dye rather than soil.
Room by room
25 items, written down
Open a room to see exactly what is done in it. This is the list your cleaner works to, not a summary of one.
- Fibre and backing identified so the water temperature suits them
- Colourfastness tested in a closet
- Every mark walked with you and called honestly
- Small furniture moved, heavy pieces blocked and protected
- Dry vacuumed twice, the second pass across the pile
- Traffic lanes pre-sprayed and left to dwell
- Agitated with a counter-rotating brush
- Extracted in overlapping passes, then dry passes to pull the water back
- Pile groomed one direction so it dries standing up
- Edges and under-window strips worked with a hand tool
- Closet floors extracted where the carpet runs in
- Bed and dresser legs set on protectors
- Full extraction and grooming out to the doorway
- Treads, risers and nosings done one at a time by hand tool
- Landing and turn carpet extracted as a single piece
- Spindle bases and stringer edges detailed
- Extra dry passes on stairs so they are safe to use sooner
- Pet accidents treated with an enzyme, not a masking scent
- Wicking spots re-extracted after they resurface
- Grease and tannin marks worked with the chemistry each one needs
- Anything that will not lift is shown to you and explained
- Sofa and chair fabric tested, then extracted at low moisture
- Cushions cleaned both faces and stood up to dry
- Arms and headrests, where the body oils sit
- Frames and legs wiped down
Add anything from this list
Priced with your quote, not after.
- Sofa or sectional
- Area rugs cleaned in place
- Stain protector reapplied
- Air movers for a faster dry
What this one does not cover
Said here rather than discovered on the day.
- Carpet repair, restretching or reseaming
- Dye stains, bleach marks and permanent discolouration
- Underlay replacement after flooding
- Any promise that a particular stain will lift
Maybe you want a different one
Deep clean
For the places a routine clean politely walks past.
See what it covers
Move-in / move-out clean
Written against the inspection, not against a general idea of clean.
See what it covers
One-time clean
The reset before the guests, or after them.
See what it covers
Post-construction clean
For the fine grey dust that comes back the day after you sweep.
See what it covers
Wall stain removal
Scuffs, handprints and crayon off the wall, without the paint coming too.
See what it covers