Carpet & upholstery cleaning Service
(Formally known as Enviroclean . Est. 1989)

Uttoxeter / Staffordshire based


Typical prices for average room sizes

Lounges from £65

Stairs £35 (single flight)

Small rooms & rugs (smaller than 10x10ft) £15-£30

Large rooms & rugs (larger than 10x10ft) from £25

3 piece suites (3 seater + 2 chairs loose cushions ) £160

StainGuard Protective Coating avalible upon request

Prices stated do not apply to heavily soiled or stained areas.
Please note £65 is the minimum callout charge.

ENQUIRIES & BOOKINGS CALL US ON

01889 564021

WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD SAY YOU FOUND OUR NUMBER ON OUR WEBSITE, THANKS.

 


AREAS WE COVER.

We are based in Uttoxeter and cover the surrounding areas


Uttoxeter, Cheadle, Alton, Rocester, Marchington, Sudbury, Tean,Abbots Bromley, Doveridge,Denstone

The blue circle outline is for approximate illustration only.


THE TECHNOLOGY.

Using twin motor double strength extraction machine for genuine deep cleaning with superb results

Drawing on 20 years experience and skill, firstly we examine the items to asses the requirements for the most effective clean. The first stage of the cleaning process is to apply by sprayer our selected pre-wash solution to dissolve the ingrained grease,dirt,stains etc.

The second stage is the main vacuum extraction process using our top of the range machine which applies the second cleaning solution to flush out & vacuum away the pre-dissolved dirt. Our 2 stage process is faster and far more effective compared to single stage cleaning.

Professional grade wool safe cleaning solutions are used with our injection extraction equipment. Our quality PH balanced cleaning does not bleach colours ,damage or degrade delicate fibers. All our cleaning is at a low temperature, not the potentially damaging high 200degree steam cleaning. Cleaning solutions are custom mixed to suit each customer’s carpet & upholstery type.

We never use low cost DIY or general purpose cleaning products E.G. soda crystals, vinegar, washing-up liquid, spray foams etc. Our cleaning products are laboratory tested for quality & safety. All cleaning is totally safe to the environment, people & pets.

Using 2 stage cleaning with specialist twin vacuum equipment, we leave your carpets cleaner and dryer, achieving vastly superior results simply not achievable by other methods. Carpets stay cleaner for longer as we leave no sticky residues. An optional stain shield coating can then be applied if required. When drying times are critical we can operate an optional powerful turbo dryer for super fast drying.

We will always continue to only use the best available equipment and solutions. Our high reputation depends on it and so can you.


 

"The Story"

IN THE BEGINNING…

As a consumer you could be forgiven for a assuming that all carpet & upholstery cleaners do the same job. However, Cleaning systems vary dramatically in their power and effectiveness. This obviously affects the final results. A poor system may even reduce the life of the carpet or fabric where a good system will extend its life. The knowledge and integrity of the operator will also affect the results. A company’s success will rely on satisfied customers and repeat business. To achieve this, a big decision has to be made. This is what type of cleaning system to purchase and operate.

I started my investigations crawling through the internet seeking out as much information from equipment & chemical suppliers as I could. I seemed to spend hundreds of hours searching for information. The more I collected the more confusing it all became. Everyone I decided to contact obviously wanted me to purchase their product or franchise. The problem was that all the different companies claimed exactly the same thing. That they offered the best equipment or franchise, and I wanted the best. So I needed to look in detail at what each company had to offer before I could make a decision. I focused my attention on exactly how the different systems worked to enable me to select which I felt would be the most effective. A few years ago I hired a DIY machine to clean my lounge carpet and it took over two days to dry. So logically I decided the best system to choose would have to be a dry clean system. The more I thought about it the more it seemed to make sense. This narrowed my choice and I proceeded to contact companies offering dry clean systems. With this decision I felt I was getting somewhere. On contacting various companies I was a little surprised by their emphasis on how much profit could be made by purchasing and operating their system. Obviously a profit has to be made to survive but what I was still looking for was detailed information on how and why their system worked. One very pushy franchised company asked me the question “how do you make your business special above others?” I confess I was slightly confused by the question. After a moments thought I replied by doing the best possible job to establish a good reputation. I was then told the answer was double your price. After a further lengthy discussion what that company was saying was, if you quote cheap prices people think they get a cheap job. By quoting a higher price customers assume you must be the best and you make more profit into the bargain. Information on the effectiveness of their system appeared secondary to profits as did customer satisfaction. I was not pleased by their comments and my search continued to find the most effective dry clean system.

My next contact was with a dry foam supplier who sent me a large information pack. They arranged for their rep to call at my home for a demonstration of their magic foam system. After listening for approximately one and a half hours about how wonderful their company was I eventually had the demonstration. The rep unrolled a piece of carpet and untied a plastic bag with some laboratory dirt. He rubbed this into the carpet and indeed the carpet looked extremely dark and dirty. A considerable quantity of their foam moose was applied to the carpet and rubbed in with a brush. The moose soon disappeared into the pile and the sample did look relatively clean. Initially this looked very promising until I started to ask questions. The first one being where has the dirt gone? I was told the foam breaks down the dirt to make the carpet look clean. You then inform the customer to leave it overnight to dry and then give it a good vacuuming to remove the residue. After further discussions with the rep, the emphasis again shifted towards profit. As the overheads on this system were incredibly low, there is only the cheap foam applicator to buy. There was not any equipment requiring maintenance and initially I was very impressed. After he had gone doubts started to creep into my mind with the nagging question, where had the dirt gone? I could not help feeling it was still in the carpet. The other doubt I had was I would be advertising dry cleaning and the sample he left was quiet damp. I would also have to inform customers to leave it overnight to dry. My idea was to have a dry clean system which clearly this wasn't. The next day I examined the sample. The corners which had not had foam applied were obviously the carpets original colour. However, in the centre where the foam had been the colours were overall much lighter. I gave the sample a good vacuuming but this did not change anything. Again I was not happy with this. After giving it further thought I felt it was like washing your clothes in foam but not rinsing them. So despite the incredibly low overheads I decided against this system much to the rep’s dismay when I informed him of this. One decision I have definitely made is I never want to see another can of spray foam carpet cleaner again!

So my search continued and I was determined to pursue a genuine dry clean system. After further enquiries much to my surprise there is only one system out there to look into. This time I definitely did not want a visit from the rep. So I requested a sample of their dry fibre compound granules to carry out my own tests. These granules are rubbed into the carpet or fabric. The idea is that when they come into contact with the dirt, the dirt sticks to the granules. Then after brushing a quantity of granules into the carpet, you then vacuum them all out. The carpet or fabric is completely dry as no liquid is used. I tried rubbing the granules into my lounge carpet and no matter how hard I scrubbed they always seemed to stay on the surface. It seemed impossible to actually get these granules into the pile. So this system I found was definitely not a deep clean which was what I wanted. After giving considerable thought as to how a deep clean could be achieved, I realised the only cleaning agent that could actually penetrate into the pile and actually into the fibres would have to be a liquid. So my search now turned to look for a dry clean fluid for carpets and fabric. It turns out that actual dry clean fluids are spirit solvents are all highly toxic and I did not want to poison my customers. My attention then turned to a franchised company who advertises dry cleaning using chemicals. I gathered all their information and then decided not to have their rep call on me until I knew more about their system. I asked this company why they imply they dry clean. Their reply was that only a small quantity of their liquid was required so the carpet or fabric does not become so wet and therefore will dry faster. They placed a lot of emphasis on the effectiveness of their fizzy carbonated dry clean liquid (which it turns out is technically not a dry clean fluid because it is water based). This carbonated liquid is sprayed in a relative small quantity onto the carpet or fabric. They sent me a small can free of charge to try out. I sprayed this onto my lounge carpet and it looked incredibly impressive as it fizzed and bubbled away on the surface. Their information claimed that the bubbles helped to loosen the dirt and bring it all to the surface. So then all that is needed is to wipe the dirt off the surface with a cloth. If I purchased their franchise they would supply a circular rotary mop bonnet like a large floor polisher to wipe off the dirt and a smaller version for fabrics. Now you may have realised by now that I had become very sceptical. If only a small quantity of liquid is required I cannot help feeling this will only wet the surface. A much larger quantity would be required to soak to the base of the pile especially on a thick or long pile carpet. I asked myself can a bubble lift something heavy like dirt and drag it to surface. I have to say I was not convinced. The next problem I had with this system was if this carbonated liquid actually worked and the dirt and stains were now on the surface, then surely the rotary bonnet used to collect the dirt would also spread the dirt? Unless the rotary bonnet is changed every few minutes it cannot make the carpet clean.. If a very muddy patch had to be cleaned I had visions of the circulating bonnet rubbing the dirt back in to the pile because it is very heavy. This particular franchise was very expensive to purchase and operate and the charges to the customer I thought were quite high. So yet again I was disappointed because this system is definitely not what I was looking for. The only conclusion I had come to so far is that all the systems I had looked at in my opinion were not deep clean systems as they claim and would only be effective on lightly soiled carpets or fabrics. I still was looking for a system that would easily cope with a dried in muddy patch, not just remove the mud from the surface. I wanted a system that would also remove the mud which had soaked into the pile.

So now I was thinking of changing my area of focus. I had previously discarded all other systems except dry clean. Now I have taken a total U-turn. Forget dry cleaning and look for a system that would do a deep clean on my imaginary muddy patch. One company I contacted tried to sell me truck mount steam cleaning system. They were insistent steam is the most powerful cleaning available and cheaper to operate because I would not have to buy any cleaning liquids. Steam is tiny droplets of boiling water and I would definitely not apply boiling water to a wool carpet, unless I wanted to ruin it of course. I was amazed anyone would even consider using this system! All the various systems I had looked at so far made me think longer and harder about what is really needed to remove dirt. Firstly I decided that I had to use a liquid cleaner to get into the fibres and into the pile. Secondly, this liquid must not be applied just to the surface it must go deep into the pile to get at the trapped dirt. Thirdly, to pull all the dirt and cleaning liquid out of the pile a very high power vacuum seems really the only logical way to achieve this. Things seemed much clearer now and the system I designed in my head is actually made by a number of different manufacturers. I decided against taking on a franchise and be totally independent. This gives my customers much better value because I do not have to keep paying back into the franchise.

The system I purchased after further considerable research does exactly what I had imagined and much more. The funny thing is, the little machine I hired years ago realistically was not that powerful but the operating principle is essentially the same as the machine I now use. There were numerous machines available to me in all sizes and prices. The most popular machines I was told are the cheaper £500 models. Although these are still classed as industrial machines, for me they were just not good enough. The top machines costing in excess of £2,000 offer considerably greater cleaning power using very high pressure pumps and two very powerful vacuum motors. This extra power will obviously leave every carpet much cleaner and dryer, and yes you guessed it, that’s the machine I had to have! So now what do I use to dislodge deep down dirt? Bubbles? Foam? No! What’s required is a 150psi high pressure pump feeding a 0.5mm micro jet wash. This literately forces the cleaning liquid instantly to the base of the pile. How do I remove the dirt? Not a rotary pad but two of the largest and powerful vacuum motors available (see photograph). Dirty muddy patch on your carpet madam? NO PROBLEM! So at long last I am happy and confident that nobody cleans cleaner than me.


Why have your carpet cleaned ?

Carpet cleaning is easy to put off. This page will give you some reasons why you should have your carpet cleaned.

The first reason is because of the appearance. Clean carpets make everything look better. When you have visitors/customers do you want them to look at a dirty stained shabby carpet? Nobody would want to dine or sit in a dirty room . A clean carpet shows people that you care about your home and take pride in its appearance.

The next reason is that a clean carpet just lasts longer. Dirt is abrasive and will ruin your carpeting if left in place. Every step you take on the soil in your carpet grinds it into the fibres. This permanently damages the carpet and will cause it to wear out much quicker. Compare the price of carpet replacement and the price of regular cleanings and you will see the benefit in cleaning your carpet.

The last reason is for your health. Clean carpet is just healthier. Do you want your kids crawling around on dirty carpets? Of course not. The carpet is like a giant air filter for your home. It traps dust and dirt and keeps it out of the air that we breathe. This filter does need to be cleaned from time to time. Once it is full of dirt & soil it stops improving your air quality and starts hurting it. Odors and smells are a clear indication that your carpet needs to be cleaned as soon as possible. The dirt and residue that can build up in your carpet over time is not always noticeable on the surface, they can also carry bacteria, mites and dust which can cause allergies and lead to health problems. It is smart to have your carpet cleaned once a year by a professional, especially if you have small children in the house. Spills and stains need to be removed by the professionals and should be done right away.

You probably know that carpet cleaning is necessary to maintain the life of your carpet and to have a healthy home. But how often should you have your carpet cleaned? Even if a carpet gets no traffic it is subject to dust and other environmental contaminants. You should clean your carpets every year, even if you have only one or two people in your home with no pets and are a non smoker.

As you can see there are many reasons to clean your carpets regularly. Do not be fooled by cheap or expensive prices offered by other cleaners. Some cleaners will leave your carpets worse off than they were before making it harder for a professional cleaner to ultimately clean. Don't hire a cleaner simply because their price is the cheapest or the most expensive. A bad carpet-cleaning job can leave your carpet worse off than it was to begin with. There are countless cleaners using off the shelf & DIY equipment and none of these will provide you with a quality service. Even the low end semi-professional equipment can still leave you with poor results. We only use high end professional equipment while still offering a competitive price. Then there is also the experience factor that only someone long term established can provide. Although having your own machine is useful for small spillages and routine cleaning, most home machines don't have the cleaning power professional machines do. Because of this, the stain gets loosened up, but the residue is not completely removed from the carpet itself. Often dirt is just soaked into the carpet deeper giving a temporary appearance of it being cleaner but will soon look degraded again. It's best to still have your carpet cleaned by a professional such as ourselves.


Questions & Facts

Q) What is the normal dry time after the carpets are cleaned?

A) Typically, if there is ventilation in the room or it is a warm day, typically from 2-12 hrs depending on what type of carpet and conditions. In most cases when its a warm sunny day, carpets are practically dry at the time we leave. It is helpful to leave as many windows open as possible after work has completed and having the central heating on afterwards will greatly speed up drying times. On cold wet days drying times will be slowed down considerably than warm hot days with plenty of ventilation. As there is so many factors to trying times, and also relating to the type of carpet or fabric being cleaned, along with how much solution has been used, it is difficult to state exactly drying times. Plenty of air movement and heat in the room will greatly speed up drying times as is recommended.

While we always leave carpets as dry as possible as part of our standard service, we do also offer a power drying service which will help speed up drying times. This service must be booked at the same time as the cleaning booking. Our power dryers provide vast warm air movement to help dry the carpets quicker by up to 50%. Please call us for more information.

Q) Can all Stains be removed?

That is the million dollar question! and a question we get asked almost everyday. The oxford dictionary states a stain as "Mark or discolour with something that is not easily removed" and that is exactly true. Pet urine stains, any type of artificially coloured stains, IE makeup, orangeade, rust, paints & inks, and many others are nearly impossible to remove but can be sometimes be lightened.

There is of course often a "miss-identification" on what the marks are. Sometimes they may not be stains at all and easily removed. Some carpets leave black marks even if water is spilt on them. While it is possible to have water mark damage, often those black marks will be removed totally. Black marks can also be attributed to red wine which normally goes black over time. red wine sometimes can come out easily or not at all. There are so many types of red wine and so many carpet types that the combinations are almost endless. Even worse can be items like black makeup or black printer ink. Such black marks are generally not removable. Makeup is often a dye and dyes stain permanently. As you can imagine a "Black Mark" could be almost anything on any type of carpet or fabric , such as nylon, polyester, polypropylene, wool,cotton etc etc.

Also note that each stain needs its own matched stain remover. Often the customer does not know what the stains are, so we make our best guess and treat it with what stain remover should work. If it doesn't then we try a different stain remover. Going though each stain remover solution is also expensive and time consuming. A simple stain can take over a hour just to work out what it possibly is. For example, a coffee stain remover will not work on oil marks, and the same in reverse. If you have multiple stains then you can imagine how time consuming stains become.

Generally stains which are bordering on unremovable may be reduced on the first cleaning pass, typically a few more percent on additional passes. For example if a stain reduces by 90% on the first pass, this does not mean on a second pass it will be removed another 90%. Typically whatever is visible after the first cleaning pass is permanent. At the customers choice we can spend additional time in attempting to reduce the stains further but will incur higher costs due to the extra cleaning time involved. Stains which do not appear to be reducing by any significant amount are permanent stains which are not removable regardless of the amount of cleaning time spent.

If you have a wool carpet or a wool mix then these are the worst type of carpets to remove stains from as wool has zero stain resistance. Wool fibres are like tiny little sponges which soak up all spillage's. Once something has soaked into wool, it will usually stain it permanently. Man-made fibres are generally better as the fibres are more plastic like (normally polypropylene etc) where stains cannot soak into the fibres easily. Though if left for any any period of time, the spillage will start to stain even the man-made fibres. Any carpets which have been stainguarded offers a protection barrier against stains and generally have a much higher success rate. Wool carpets in particular require more regular cleaning and maintenance to keep their "as new" look. Wool carpets should be cleaned as soon as any signs of "problems" arise to prevent unremovable permanent carpet damage.

Please note it is not up to your carpet cleaner to "fix" years of abuse or neglect on your carpet or upholstery. We always aim to give every carpet the "as new" look after cleaning, however if the carpet has been neglected for some time then this will greatly reduce the chances of a successful clean. Any marks or stains which are still present after cleaning will be classed as permanent and unremovable. We always remove as much dirt and grime as humanly possible, Though please note we cannot "fix" the "unfixable". We do use top quality cleaning solutions and powerful stain removers from one of the leading carpet cleaning manufactures, so we will always try our best to remove them.

 

Do Stains return ?

In general stains do not return but it is difficult to judge and we cannot guarentee a stain will not return as its beyond our control. 9 times out of 10 when a "stain returns" it is because something has been spilt after cleaning without the person realising. Kids tend to spill things and normally do not admit to it. Pets if they were sick on the carpet can often be sick again in the same place. So stains can return, but they are normally not the same stain! This can happen a few days or a few months after cleaning.

In some cases if a pet urinates on the carpet or something has been soaked deep into the carpet, it will often stain the backing of the carpet. If carpets are ontop of tiles , it is possible for a puddle to sit under the carpet which can take some days to dry out. If the carpet is cleaned and the carpet has pet urnine in its backing, the urinue will soak up the fibres as the carpet dries (wick effect) and the stain re-appears. Such stains generally appear with 48 hours of the carpets being cleaned. If such stains return, then the carpet has to be lifted to dry out properly, underlay may need changing and the carpet will need to be cleaned once again.

 

DIY STAIN REMOVAL WARNINGS

Off the shelf stain kits are available to remove stains however these cleaning agents will often bleach your carpet and will leave lighter patches ruining it. There is nothing on the consumer level which can clean your carpets, there is no magic "in a can" solution! If it was so easy to clean carpets with foam cleaners we wouldn't have invested thousands of pounds in cleaning equipment. Please do not try to clean stains yourself, only use dry tissue to soak up spillages, nothing else! Scrubbing and wetting the area is only going to make the stain soak deeper and prove more difficult to remove. Foam cleaners do nothing but fill your carpet with bascially a glue like paste where we have to spend a lot of time getting the foam cleaner out of the carpet before we can even get to the actual stain.

Any carpets which have been totally "cleaned" with foam cleaner will most likely be un-cleanable and likely be ruined. Our machines can hold several buckets of solution & waste and even after 30 seconds of running can be totally filled with thick paste from foam filled carpets. A carpet full of foam will take a lot longer to clean as all the foam has to be removed before the carpet can actually be cleaned and can take up to several times longer than normal. Dried in "spray foam" will continue to attack the carpet over time and makes the cleaning of the carpet more difficult. Foam cleaners will basically glue the dirt & stains into the carpet leaving a sticky residuce which will greatly aggrivate the problem. Please don't fill your carpets full of foam cleaners!

A lot of carpets do not have colourfast backings and constant wetting can casue the backing colours(brown) to soak up the pile leaving dark brown patches which become unremovable. The main question you have to ask yourself, is, how am I going to get out of the carpet the stuff I am actually cleaning it with ? If you do not have the equipment to suck out what your are soaking into it, then you shouldn't be attempting to clean it. Click here and here to see a carpet which has been damaged due to "off the shelf" products.

 

Can smells be removed?

Our cleaning liquids contain a pleasant fragrance & include basic antibacterial agents, however during cleaning some carpets may release unpleasant odours due to the nature of certain soiling & stains and chemicals used during the carpets manufacturing. Stains which have soaked into the backing and underlay such as urine/sick etc will likely continue to release odours after cleaning as we cannot clean the carpet backing. While we offer intensive antibacterial treatment which kills odour creating bacteria, we cannot solve odours emanating from under the carpet pile or underlay. In such cases the carpet must be lifted and treated with anti-bactertial agents and possibly new underlay fitted.

 

Faded Colours

Please also note that floor standing furniture such as sofa's and large chairs and rugs, shield the carpet from sunlight and reduce UV exposure. While the carpet is generally clean under such items, it also has not been exposed to the same amount of UV light. Unfortunately UV light will discolour the carpet over a timespan of a few months to a few years. When the carpet is cleaned, it will of course be clean and free of dust and dirt, but it may not appear the same colour as the original colour which was shielded from sunlight. If the carpet or upholstery is not cleaned regularly and dirt is allowed to build up, then over time this will stain your carpet or upholstery ,especially areas which have been exposed to more sunlight.

 

Draft Mark Stains

These type of stains are often found around the edges of the carpet and often under doorways showing as a dark black lines. These marks are created by air pollutants (normally from car engines) either blowing across or under the carpet. If there are only floorboards and no underlay, drafts will circulate between the floorboards and create black lines across the carpet. These marks are extremely damaging to carpets as they are greasy oily type stains and will ruin your carpet if left unresolved.

There are other similar marks which can just be created by general dust which settle on the surface of the carpet. This can be aggrivated by pet hairs and dirt from shoes etc. Typically these are to be removed by general vaccuming. Often the edges of carpets and stairs can develop dust lines which are missed by general vaccuming. Normally such dust is removed by a soft brush and vaccummed away. Typically We will spend some time doing this for you, but please note these dust marks should be undertaken in general household cleaning. Often soft pure wool carpets will show these problems much faster than polyester based carpets.

 

Q) I am not sure if my carpet or upholstery is cleanable, can you take a look at it first ?
A) In general, if the carpet is correctly fitted ,all carpets should be cleanable. By cleanable we do not suggest that all stains can be removed which case see other questions about such topics. Fabrics used on sofas are rarely stated on the label. we would suggest you check underneath the cushions and around the framework to see if the composition is stated. In general any man-made fibres are the best types to have, such as polypropylene and polyester etc, Compositions which include viscous should be drycleaned only by a professional dry cleaning company.

Q) Do you do insurance work?
A) In general we do not get involved with insurance work or any 3rd parties. Some insurance companies will want to use their own choice of cleaners and using another company arranged by yourself may invalidate your insurance policy. Normally insurance companies will want the carpet to be cleaned and a letter of proof to show the results before a insurance claim can be started.

Q) What cleaning solutions do you use?

A) We use wool safe cleaning products which not to damage the carpet in any way shape or form. We carefully select the correct cleaning solutions for your carpet/fabric type on the day of cleaning. We only use the best equipment and cleaning products on the market. We are always evaluating and looking for the latest cleaning solutions and we work closely with our supplier to make sure we have the best cleaning products to suit our needs. While there are a multiple manufactures of cleaning solutions, we have tested all their products out over the years and only use the ones we know work well. While our solutions are more expensive than most other cleaners typically use, we want your carpets to look like new when we leave and never skimp on buying cheap cleaning products.

Our service will give you the best cleaning possible with a near zero risk factor to your carpet or upholstery and we do this at a competitive price. As a added bonus, we use environmentally friendly biodegradable cleaning solutions derived from plant extracts from renewable sources. We aim to be environmentally friendly to people and pets and never use any harsh cleaning chemicals.

Q) How much better can a professional clean my carpets than doing it myself?
A) Equipment and what type of solutions being used is a huge factor when cleaning carpets. There is nothing on the consumer level that can give you the type of cleaning power you need. There are no "magic spray foams" which will extract dirt from carpets. In fact they often just soak the dirt deeper into the carpet giving a short term appearance that it is cleaned. Often with an added bonus that it will bleach the colours from your carpet also. Foams will dry into the carpet making it more time consuming to ultimately remove by a professional cleaner. Then there is the experience factor that only someone in the business can provide to give you the quality of cleaning you need. In general people do not have the experience needed to do cleaning themselves. We often hear horror stories from our customers who have hired a machine and ruined their carpets.

Q) What is the best way to prepare my carpet for a professional cleaning?

A) The best thing to do to prepare your carpet is too have as much furniture removed off the carpet as possible and having it vacuumed is advisable. While our system removes dirt and grime, it is not a general "household vacuum cleaner" .General cleaning should be undertaken by the customer before professional cleaning. Any wooden, polished floors,other walkway areas not being cleaned etc, which will be walked on, or equipment carried over, must be covered up by the customer.

For upholstery, please vacuum all areas and please make sure, in particular if you have children, that all toys,lego bricks,balls, etc, are removed from the areas to be cleaned. Such items can be sucked into our machine by mistake and heavy items such as marble's may cause our equipment damage. There is no need to remove fixed floor standing cabinets as these will be simply cleaned around. Sofa's and larger items should be removed, though we understand its not always possible. Generally carpets do not get dirty under sofa's and beds etc, so normally we just clean up to them. Please note that while we may assist in moving some smaller items during cleaning, we are not a "removal firm" for emptying rooms full of furniture. Also note such items need to be kept of fthe carpet until fully dry.

Q) How long does it take?
A) This of course varies depending how much area is to be cleaned on how dirty the area is. A general household room will normally take about an hour to two hours finish. However soiled carpets can take longer.

Q) What actually happens on the day ?
A) When we arrive we bring in the equipment shown in the images at the top of this page. It takes about 15mins to unload our van and connect up the equipment. We need access to water, preferably hot/warm but is not essential. Generally we use 2 buckets of water per room and we mix the cleaning solutions to suit your carpet on the day. The water is mixed with the cleaning agents and is pumped though your carpet. Depending on size of the room, and/or how soiled the carpet is, we can use several buckets of water/cleaning solutions on a single room, this gives you some idea of the cleaning power we have. When we leave we will often leave you with a leaflet and a business card. It is advisable to leave windows open to let the air flow around the rooms to aid in drying of the carpets. Please note, if you have pets, please keep them out of the way. While we are cat and dog lovers, they can sometimes get "under foot" which isn't good if we happen to be carrying buckets of water about!. Please note that the owner must be in at all times in case any problems arrise during cleaning.

Q) What payment methods can you accept ?
A) We currently only accept cash on completion. We will only accept accept cheques for regular customers. Please note due to the increase in unreceived payments, in particular business's & rental jobs, new customers may be required to pay cash in advance.

Q) Stairs - Do you clean the Tread and Rise?
A) Of course! We clean both parts. A lot of carpet cleaners only clean the tread part, often leaving the nose of each step dirty as they drag the dirt across the thread and stop cleaning on the nose. This results in a black line across the nose which is a concentration of the dirt they have pulled across the tread. We clean the tread, the nose, and the riser.

Q) Can you disinfect my carpet/upholstery ?

A) As a standard part of the service we include a small concentration of bacterial and fungal killers which will help reduce smells & bacteria in the carpet. While this will give a free general solution, it is advisable that if you have pets or children who crawl around on the carpet, or the carpet has been heavily soiled, or had sick or urine stains, that a more intensive antibacterial clean is done. Typically we charge around £20 for treatment per room depending on room sizes.

 

Q) Can you scotchgard my carpet/upholstery?

A) We can of course offer the StainGuard serivice. It is worth noting that "scotchgard" is a brand name, not the actual name of "Stain Guard" coatings, which can go under various names.

 

Q) My carpet has 'ripples' before or after cleaning?

A) Carpet ripples appear generally in older carpets where the backing material has started to break down and fail. Typically this is seen first in foam backed carpets where we have seen them degrade from about 2-5 years. Woven backed carpets are generally a more solid construction and generally last around 10-15 years. Some very expensive carpets can last 20-30 years and clean up like new without issues, but we seldom see such quality in recent times. Of course it depends on the quality of carpet on how long they will last, not necessarily the price paid. . With so many variations on the market today, there is no definitive "time scale" on how long any particular carpet will last. Generally if ripples are apparent in the carpet before cleaning, then we would suggest looking to having a new carpet fitted as the current carpet will have gone past its useful life expectancy.

We inspect carpets before cleaning and warn customers of the possible issues before we clean. However we cannot say 100% if a carpet will or will not have issues even after we inspect it. Ripples are often apparent before cleaning where the carpet has bumps (we call them ripples) generally in door ways (but can appear in random places anywhere in the carpet) where the door may drag on the carpet which over time stretches it. Similar situation is apparent when dragging heavy furniture across the carpet where ripples appear in front of the item being dragged. Simply walking on the carpet over the years is enough to stretch it over time. The rippling may also simply appear over time with no apparent cause. There can be other causes such as carpets which have been incorrectly fitted and not stretched onto the grippers from new. So we would suggest only employing a professional to fit your carpets and make sure they are power stretched into place.

The good news is, that if this does happen, your carpet can normally be re-stretched back into shape by a professional carpet fitter. What they will do is cut a couple of inches off the edge of the carpet and re-stretch with a power-stretcher tool and re-fix it back onto the gripper. While this is a solution and often works well, this is not normally viable on low cost foam backed carpets. If your carpet is a woven backed type, then those can normally be re-stretched and re-fitted. Though the customer should be aware that as the backing material has failed, that the problem will likely re-appear over the coming years.

 

Q) What is StainGuard ?

A) Our stain guard coating helps to protect your carpets & upholstery against every day soiling and staining. There is an additional long term benefit with stain guard, whites, creams and paler colours will stay brighter much longer due to less discolouration caused by age related soiling, due to less dirt adhering to and becoming ingrained into the fibres.

An added benefit of protecting your carpets and fabrics is that dust and soiling are quicker and easier to remove with routine vacuuming, this is due to its non-stick properties. Routine maintenance will last longer compared to an unprotected carpet or fabric saving time and effort. This gives reduced wear and tear from the abrasive effects of soil within your carpet,hence carpets will last longer.

Does this mean that a coated carpet or sofa cannot be stained or become soiled? Of course not, Stain guard will however improve the release of spills,soils,dust etc. If coffee, tea etc is spilt on a protected area and left unattended until dry, the dyes from these spills could eventually seep through the protector and may stain the fabric or carpet, However if the spillage is immediately cleaned with an appropriate spotter or by a professional cleaner, the chances are very good that all of the spillage will be totally removed.

As with all our cleaning products we only use professional grade products and we source our s/g product from one of the worlds leading manufacturers. Our s/g is a unique formula providing both stain repellency and soil retardancy. Our product is none hazardous,non flammable and non toxic. There are no fumes or smell during or after application. We will guarantee we apply it accurately and evenly over the whole area & guarantee it will be at the recommended strength and not diluted to make it go further.

Protected carpets and fabrics always respond better to professional cleaning keeping them looking newer for longer while helping to protect your carpets & upholstery against every day soiling and staining. Stain guard should be preferably be re-coated after professional cleaning or after approximately three years to maintain the maximum benefits and protection

Q) Can you visit my property to give me a quote?

We no longer visit premises to quote,sorry. Please ring or contact us for a quote.

Any prices we give are a estimate only. As we simply don't know how much time will be needed to clean your carpets, we can only give a approximate cost. Prices quoted are generally accurate within 20%.

 

Q) Do you do commercial work and can you visit & quote ?

I'm afraid we no longer take on commercial work. We mostly run around giving quotes where comities go for the cheapest quote (which is understandable) though we are never going to be the cheapest, so there is no use in use quoting. After spending a whole week a couple of years ago running around quoting, not 1 job came our way, so we just do not do this anymore. Not only that, commercial work is generally heavily soiled areas, so our prices would be 2x-3x more expensive than domestic work. Generally companies don't want to pay the relative high prices (again I understand that) though they are jobs which take a lot longer than normal and thus we have to charge higher prices for the time. We do a proper cleaning job and charge a fair price for the time and work we do. We are not a "£50 for all" coyboy type operation. Not only that, almost every commercial job we have undertaken we have had much trouble obtaining payment and in a lot of cases we simply never get paid at all. So we no longer quote or take on any commercial work, sorry.

 

Q) Do you clean apartment buildings or flats etc ?

We no longer accept jobs which are in apartment type buildings with no internal lift. Our equipment is bulky and heavy and it is not possible to manually drag it it all up and down flights of stairs.


Q) Can you clean sofa's and chairs?

If they are a fabric such as cotton/polyester/dralon/nylon etc then we can normally clean those. Often they are a mix of cotton, polyester, nylon etc which is generally acceptable. Please look at the labeling on your sofa to see what it is made out of before contacting us. Please note that, if the content is unknown, we can only give a best guess as to if it will be cleanable or not as there is no way for us to know simply by looking at it what it content may be.

Velvet type fabrics are not suitable for wet cleaning as it will distort the texture, even plain water can damage the colour or texture. Because of such problems, we are deeming this fabric as not suitable for cleaning.

We do not clean leather items. We hardly ever get asked about leather, so we never invested in offering services for it.

Viscose cannot be wet cleaned as it will cause texture change and will leave a rough/hard pile. Because of such problems, we are deeming this fabric as not suitable for cleaning. However, a small percentage of a about 5% viscose content or below is generally acceptable.

There are also a lot of curtain type fabrics being used on upholstery in recent years, these are not cleanable due to them generally not being colour-fast, meaning the colours will run if cleaned.

 

Q) What are your opening hours ?

Currently we are working on weekdays from 9.30am to 1pm. We do not operate on weekends or do late night work sorry.

 

Q) Are you part of the Enviroclean franchise?

No! Enviroclean was trade name of Phil swinson established in 1989. When Phil became ill with cancer his son (chris) teamed up and we became "Chris & Phil carpet cleaning". Sadly after Phil's passing we changed name to simply " Chris Swinson carpet cleaning". We are still a fully independent family business who have been operating in the area for over 30 years but no longer trade under the Enviroclean name. The Enviroclean franchise which appeared in the area over the past couple of years, is definitely not part of the Enviroclean company which Philip swinson created in 1989.

 

Q) Can you explain your minimum charges & call-out charges a little more?

The minimum call out charge we have is the absolute minimum charge for us to visit your premises. This is generally £65. This price includes a single room of up to 10x10ft. Additional rooms you have cleaned of the same size (10x10ft for example) will not include the "call out charge" and is generally set at around £30 for the room. So it is better value to have more than 1 room cleaned on the same day as additional rooms do not include call out charges.

In short, we always try to be fair on our prices per job, and the more work you have done on the same day, the better value it generally becomes for you the customer.

 

Q) Can you help with flood damage ?

Dealing with flooded carpets is a complex issue that requires careful consideration. In essence, the primary solution is to remove and discard both the carpet and the underlay. This is because the underlay tends to retain a substantial amount of water, which is challenging to access and eliminate effectively through standard cleaning methods. Vacuuming and extracting water from the carpet's surface may not suffice, as the hidden moisture within the underlay can lead to various issues.

Leaving the underlay wet can lead to it rotting over time, creating a breeding ground for bacteria. Additionally, the dyes in the carpet, particularly if they are brown, have a propensity to seep into the fabric, causing unsightly staining. Furthermore, the carpet itself may experience shrinkage and other forms of damage due to prolonged exposure to moisture. Also the backing of the carpet itself which is mostly glued together will start to dissolve once left soaking in water. This itself will make your carpet frail and backing glue can soak up and distort the pile.

In situations where the flooding involves contaminated water, such as from sewerage or rainwater, professional assistance from an environmental health agency is typically required to ensure the complete removal of all contaminants. Carpet cleaners are generally not equipped to handle such hazardous substances. The accumulation of bacteria in both the underlay and carpet can result in unpleasant odors, necessitating the disposal and replacement of both.

While carpet cleaning can effectively remove a portion of the water in certain cases, a significant proportion remains trapped in the underlay. In instances of relatively mild, clean water flooding, there may be a chance to salvage the carpet by lifting it and allowing it to dry. However, the success of this approach depends on the type of carpet material involved. Manmade fibers are more resilient to water damage compared to natural materials like wool. Nevertheless, when dealing with floodwater or rainwater, it is typically advisable to replace both the underlay and the carpet for sanitary and aesthetic reasons.

 


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