Common Mistakes Homeowners Make When They Try to Clean Their Own Carpets

Lots of people like to take the bull by the horns and do their own home maintenance. And in a lot of cases, they do a great job. Replacing tiles in the bathroom, hanging new light fixtures or hanging a new front door are all projects DIYers typically excel at. The most important thing about the do-it-yourself impulse though, is knowing when to step back and call the pros. And carpet cleaning is one such case. Carpet cleaning? Yup.

5 Common DIY Carpet Cleaning Mistakes

Just because something seems like it should be easy doesn't mean it is. Dieting, for example, only requires that you eat less. Simple right? Not really. And carpet cleaning is the same way. Just to drive our point home, we're going to look at common mistakes we see all the time that point to the need for hiring professional carpet cleaning services. Let’s get started.

1. Using too much shampoo - This one leads the list because we probably see it more than any other. Homeowners renting carpet shampooing devices want to be sure they’re getting their carpets really, really clean. So they load up on the shampoo. Then, to make matters worse, they don’t rinse the carpet enough to remove all the soap and myriad chemicals. The result is carpeting that smells to high heaven and is actually unsafe for kids and pets to be rolling around on. At Steve's, we use a high pressure, truck-mounted steam cleaning method that cleans right down to the root of the pile then removes every last drop of residue and deposits it in the truck. Nothing is left behind except spotless carpets.
2. Getting the carpet too wet - Millions of dollars’ worth of carpeting is ruined each year by do-it-yourselfers who use too much water when shampooing their carpet. The effects of this mistake are sometimes immediately apparent: the carpet feels squishy, and it might even make the bottoms of the feet damp to walk on it. Other times it's not until a week or so later that the homeowner realizes something is amiss. That's when they start noticing a musty odor like you sometimes smell in a damp basement. In both cases, the carpet is likely ruined. Our truck-mounted carpet cleaning services employ steam power instead of water to lift every last grain of dust and every last dust mite out of your carpeting. Actual moisture content is kept to a minimum and what water there is is removed by way of our high powered vacuum.
3. Ignoring the warranty - If you try to repair your furnace yourself, you're going to void any warranty that might still be in force. Ditto if you try to repair any other appliance, or various components of your car. The same also applies to carpeting. Lots of carpeting these days comes with a warranty that covers cleaning and/or stain removal. The thing is, if you read the fine print (and you should always read the fine print) you’ll often discover that it says that if you clean the carpet yourself the warranty is void. Even if there is no particular stain involved, the warranty may stipulate that the carpet has to be professionally cleaned once a year (or something similar) or else the warranty is void.
4. Using too much deodorizer - Everyone wants their home to smell fresh and clean. And since the carpeting is such a big part of the interior it only makes sense that the clean, fresh scent should start with it. All too often, we encounter carpets that have had deodorizer piled on in order to mask unpleasant odors that may have been left after an attempted cleaning. Perhaps the DIYer wasn't able to remove the pet odor, or they used too much water, and the carpet started to smell moldy. In either case, they went all-in on the deodorizer, and now they have a dirty carpet giving off an overpowering deodorizer scent. It's not pretty. And, with deodorizers, it's never a case of "more is better."
5. Not knowing how to handle specific stains - A wine stain is treated differently than cat pee. Pasta sauce is handled differently than shoe polish. And on and on. Not only that but the same stain is treated differently on different types of carpet. So, if you're going to try and remove stains properly, you really have to know what you’re doing. Or you could wind up making things worse by adding to the stain, forcing it deeper into the fibers or smearing it around and expanding the stained area. Oh yeah, and attempting to remove a stain yourself will also likely void the warranty. Do yourself and your wallet a favor and make sure you call the pros from Steve’s carpet cleaning services to handle any stains.

Conclusion

Steve’s is Colorado’s #1 name in carpet care. We work hard to earn the trust of our customers, day in and day out. If you're thinking about renting a machine, we'd urge you to reconsider and call Steve’s for professional carpet cleaning services instead.