Carpet Cleaning FAQ’s

Yes, there are often HUGE differences between carpet cleaning companies.  Some carpet cleaners only invest as little as $1,000 in a portable machine.  Others invest tens of thousands of dollars in their equipment.  This provides the serious carpet cleaning company with higher water pressure, higher/consistent temperature levels, and greater suction power to pull all the dirt, soap, and, debris out of your carpet.  There are also differences between truck-mounts, some having much higher power than average. Then there are the scant few who purchase power wands instead of manual wands.  The results with this combination can be dramatic.

When we leave your home the carpets will be slightly damp, not wet.  How long that remaining moisture takes to dry depends on the temperature, humidity, and airflow in the rooms that we’ve cleaned.  On average, dry times are usually within just a few hours. We never leave them soaking wet, just a little damp. We can advise at the time of your cleaning based on the weather of the day as to which drying technique is best for you. Or, email us at joe@allclean1.com to request our How to Dry Carpet Quickly Guide for detailed information.

Actually…  There is no difference.  Steam Cleaning and Hot Water Extraction are exactly the same carpet cleaning method.  “Steam Cleaning” is more of a marketing term while “Hot Water Extraction” more accurately describes the method.  Here’s how it works… 

Hot water is sprayed into the carpet and is immediately sucked back out, flushing the dirt out with it.  It truly is the best and most efficient way to clean carpets as long as the equipment is powerful enough.

One little tidbit… The truth of the matter is that nobody actually cleans with steam!  Steam is just a byproduct of the hot water!  It’s not used to clean. It’s the hot water that’s doing the cleaning!

Yes, absolutely.  Please visit our Rug Doctor vs. ALL CLEAN!, LLC page for details.

Yes. Those black lines (called filtration soil) are caused by soot in the air such as from a fireplace, wood-burning stove, candles, propane fireplace, gas heater, etc…  As your house breathes, that soot migrates to the upper level of your home and then filters back down to the lower through the perimeter of the room. This soot is made up of very fine particles which attach very strongly to the carpet fibers. Regretfully, those black lines do not come out with a regular carpet cleaning. A separate process is required which, depending on severity, can take up to 3 to 5 times the amount of time than it does to clean the rest of the carpet. Since this method is so labor-intensive, we do have to charge extra. We only recommend filtration soil removal though for newer carpets in good condition as heavy filtration soil removal can get rather costly.

Yes. We’ll move a sofa, loveseat, and a full sized recliner for free. We’ll move a dining room table and dining room chairs for free. We’ll also move an ottoman and a couple of end tables for free. After that, we will charge a nominal fee of $10 for each of the larger pieces. We don’t move beds, dressers, armoires, nightstands that are full, pianos, entertainment centers, bookshelves, sectionals, or any other extra-large items that are not previously listed.  Our focus is on delivering an incredibly deep down thorough cleaning in the areas that truly need to be cleaned while maintaining great value for our customers.

a) Clean for Health.

Your carpets act as a filter – capturing an incredible amount of dust, pollen, dander, and a host of other contaminants. Annual removal of this build-up can help improve the health of you and your family. In fact, EPA research has shown that properly maintained carpet promotes improved indoor air quality for your home and your family.

b) Clean for Your Investment / Carpet Longevity

Your carpet is probably one of your largest investments that you have in your home.  At today’s prices for installed carpet, you can see how important protecting your initial investment can be.  Dirt is abrasive to your carpet fibers.  Carpet cleaning with a truck-mounted system can considerably extend the life of your carpet by removing the abrasive dirt that a vacuum cleaner can not remove.  In fact, if you perform the yearly maintenance that the carpet manufacturers recommend from the first year onward, you can expect your carpet to look almost like new after each cleaning with an extended carpet life of at least 5 to 10 years.

c) Clean for Appearance

Aside from the paint on your walls, nothing else can impact your home’s appearance like the cleanliness of your floors.  By maintaining your carpets on a regular basis, you can expect to enjoy fine-looking carpets for years to come.  We GUARANTEE that you will be thrilled with the appearance of your carpet once they’re cleaned by ALL CLEAN!, LLC.

You can walk on your carpets immediately when we’re finished as long as your shoes are clean.  Just remember to try to keep your pets off until dry.

We use a high powered truck-mount to do steam cleaning (hot water extraction). We use soft water cleaning, rotary process, non-toxic, no-residue cleaning.

Mostly every spot and stain will EASILY come out of your carpet with just our standard carpet cleaning process.  Of those that remain, mostly every stain can be removed with a chemical-specific to the stain involved, at no extra charge. There are a couple of stains that require a significant amount of work to remove such as reds from dyes and filtration soil.  For these, we need to charge an extra fee.  On occasion, we do come across a stain that we cannot remove such as a furniture stain or a stain from hair dye.  I’d venture to say that about 99.9% of every spot or stain that we come across will be totally gone by the time we are done!

We get the following spots and stains out included with the price of your cleaning*… Wine, soda, juice and food stains including coffee and chocolate are removed. We can remove organic matter such as blood stains, urine, feces, and vomit stains. Yes, we can even get out mold and mildew stains!

Also, for no extra charge*… We can remove fingernail polish, grease, gum, and ink stains. We also can remove candle wax, crayon, candy, lipstick, mascara, and eyeliner. We also get rust and water stains out. We can remove sticky adhesives left behind from tape. All at no extra charge!*

For an additional fee we remove filtration soil. (You know, that black line around the perimeter of your carpet caused from soot). We have to charge extra for that because it is very labor intensive.

Also, for an additional fee we can remove red stains such as from Gatorade. This requires opening windows, wearing a gas mask, and can take a considerable amount of time. Hence the reason we need to charge an additional fee for this service. This is the only chemical that we use on rare occasion that we don’t consider to be safe and prefer not to use it whenever possible.

Here’s what we can’t get out… We can’t get out large paint spills. Small drops of paint can be removed, but if the spill is too large we recommend repairing or replacing the carpet. The reason for this is the solvent that removes paint can also delaminate your carpet. That can happen if too much is used at one time. Therefore, only small amounts of paint can be removed at a time.

We also can’t get out hair dye, shoe polish, and some furniture stains. Other than that, mostly everything comes out without a problem.

*Under normal conditions (in over 99% of the houses that we clean) we don’t need to charge extra for these spots and stains. There are however rare exceptions in which staining is so extreme that an extra fee is required. Sometimes a repair or replace is advised. We’ll recommend what we believe to be best for your situation!

ALL CLEAN!, LLC will not apply any toxic chemicals such as ScotchGard to the carpet or upholstery that we’ve just cleaned for you. Though it is very profitable for a carpet cleaning company to apply and charge for these chemicals, it can be unsafe for you, your children, or your pets.  The chemicals become airborne when applied and are inevitably inhaled by the occupants of the home. Sometimes they are touched by a baby or pet before the chemical dries. Consider that if ScotchGard can stick to your carpets for years, it can also stick to your lungs as well.  It has been reported that it will even enter your bloodstream and remain there for years, as documented in the article below.  My advice is to save your money and apply that money towards next year’s cleaning.  At least 99% of all stains can be removed whether you have ScotchGard applied or not and most carpets should still be cleaned at least once a year anyway, with or without fabric protection.

Is there a safe stain repellent?

“Here’s why stain repellents are simply doing us no good: All stain repellent finishes used in textiles are based on fluorotelomer chemistry – which means it pertains to chemicals which become perfluorocarbons (PFCs) when they are released into the environment.   PFC’s break down in the body and in the environment to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanyl sulfate (PFOS) and similar chemicals.  These are among the most persistent synthetic chemicals known to man. Scientists noticed in the 1970s that PFOS was showing up everywhere: in polar bears, dolphins, baby eagles, tap water and human blood. So did its cousin PFOA. These two man-made perfluorochemicals (PFOS and PFOA) don’t decompose in nature. They kill laboratory rats at higher doses, and are toxic to humans, with health effects ranging from birth or developmental effects to the brain and nervous system, immune system (including sensitization and allergies) and some forms of cancer.  Once they are in the body, it takes decades to get them out – assuming you are exposed to no more.” Click here for the full article. 

Technically, a bleach stain isn’t actually a “stain” per se.  It’s the absence of the dye that was originally in the carpet.  So even though it’s not possible to clean the stain to make it go away, there are still 3 options that I know of that can fix this problem.

Replace: You could replace the entire carpet. But of course that would only be warranted if the stains were extremely bad or the entire carpet was in need of replacement anyway.

Repair: You could have a carpet installer repair just that section of carpet. If you don’t have a remnant, he’ll have to cut good carpet from in inconspicuous area. He’ll use that good carpet to replace it with the stained area.

Dye: With the first being rather costly and the second having a questionable outcome, my preferred method is to use an online company such as bleachstain.com. All you need to do is send them a small sample of your carpet and they’ll send you a vial of dye that matches your carpet’s color.  My understanding is that it’s a high-quality dye that should last for years.  If you try this method please let me know how it turns out for you.  I’ve heard of great results from some of my other customers who have used them and it only costs about $100.

My first question would be; how far from the nearest parking space is it to the furthest room to be cleaned?  Since I use a truck mount I am limited with some apartments and condos due to a hose length of about 150 feet (or 50 paces).  If you are interested; please confirm before calling that your furthest room to be cleaned is within 50 paces from the nearest parking space. This is not an issue with single dwelling houses.

No, you do not… Well, in most cases that is.  Unless your floors are so full of debris that you can barely take a step without stepping on something, you need not worry about pre-vacuuming. We’ll take care of that for you.