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Carpet and upholstery cleaning companies

Carpets, rugs and upholstered furniture that took on water or smoke can often be saved if they are cleaned properly and soon. These cleaners handle extraction, deodorizing and delicate materials such as oriental rugs.

Can it be saved?

Often, if it is dealt with quickly. Carpet soaked by clean water, such as a burst supply line, can usually be extracted and dried in place if the work starts within a day or two, though the pad underneath is often replaced. Carpet and upholstery soaked by flood water or a sewage backup carry contamination, and are usually thrown out rather than cleaned.

After a fire, smoke odor settles into fibers, and cleaners deodorize as well as clean. Upholstered furniture carries a cleaning code on its label, which tells the cleaner which methods the fabric can take. Wool and hand-knotted rugs can bleed dye when wet, so they are usually taken to a rug cleaning plant rather than cleaned on the floor.

Questions to ask before you hire

Do you clean on site, or take rugs and furniture to your plant?

Delicate rugs and heavily damaged pieces are often cleaned off-site. Ask what will be taken, how it is tracked, and when it comes back.

Will the pad be replaced?

Pad soaks up far more water than carpet and is hard to dry, so it is often replaced even when the carpet is saved. Ask what the crew recommends and why.

Are your technicians certified?

The IICRC's Carpet Cleaning Technician and Upholstery and Fabric Cleaning Technician courses are the usual credentials. Ask whether the crew holds them.

How long before we can use the room again?

Ask how long the carpet and furniture need to dry, and whether they should be kept off the floor until then.

Does Restoration Advertising check these companies?

No. The companies supplied their own listings, and the directory does not rate, rank or vet them. That is why the questions above are worth asking whoever you call.