As a professional carpet cleaner in Maryland, I get asked all of the time:
"Does the carpet protector really work?"
The short answer is, Absolutely!
Most of the carpet protectors availble today will offer 2 benefits:
1. Creating the "Repellency" Factor:
The repellency factor is most easily witnesses if an accidental spill occurs. The spill will bead up on top of the carpet fiber for a length of time before it is actually obsorbed into the carpet backing and carpet fiber.
This allows you more time to easily clean up the spill so that you do not have to use specialty spotting products or calling a professional for a simple spill.
2. Dry Soil Removal
The barrier that the carpet protector lays between the carpet fiber itself and the actuall dry, particulate soil that is tracked onto the carpeting will actually allow the dry soiling to be more easily vacuumed up by you, the homeowner.
This benefit, although you cannot directly observe this benefit immediately, will allow your carpeting to look cleaner longer as well as last longer.
It is a well known fact that carpeting 'uglies' out long before the it wears out. There are many factors that contribute to this such as:
a. Waiting too long to have your carpeting professionally cleaned
b. Improper Cleaning
c. Not having your carpeting protected after each professional cleaning.
Carpeting, is the most expensive furnishing in most homes today. Make sure to keep care of your investment by having your carpeting professional cleaned on regular schedule and be sure to have your cleaner of choice apply a qualified protector to your carpeting to keep it looking its best for years to come.
If you are looking for a professional carpet cleaner in Maryland, we can help. Please visit us at www.carpet1st.com for more information. Also, if you live in Maryland and are unsure about how to choose a professional carpet cleaner, feel free to download our FREE "Insider's Guide to Carpet Cleaning" from our website.
Until Next Time...
Kris Sokalski
Professional Maryland Carpet Cleaning
Carpet 1st, LLC
www.carpet1st.com
410-747-2447
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, March 21, 2008
Give me 10 minutes of your time and I guarantee you that you will know how to find only the best cleaning company.
"WOW!" I bet that is what you say when you search the internet or look through the phone book to try and find a cleaning company to take care of your carpet and upholstery cleaning needs.
I am a professional cleaner and I say the same thing when I take a look around at the other businesses just in my immediate area. It can actually be very overwhelming to think that you can only choose 1 out of a 1000 to 1500 cleaning firms in your immediate area. I always tell everybody that it is not expensive to have your textiles cleaned professionally correctly if you know who to call, but it is VERY EXPENSIVE to choose 4 to 5 cleaning firms in a row that do not perform satisfactory work before you finally settle for mediocre service.
The truth of the matter is that if you know what you look for, you can find a GREAT cleaning company that will absolutely wow your socks off if you know what to look for and what questions to ask.
"So just what is it that I must look for and what questions do I ask to make sure that I am making the right decision?" I am glad that you asked because I am going to educate you on just that.
There are 5 main areas that we will be exploring for you so that you can lessen your frustration in the hunt for a great cleaning service.
1. The "Professionalism" of the Company
2. The Company's Previous Customers
3. The Company's Customer Protection Policies
4. The Cleaning Process
5. The Workmanship Guarantee
I. The "Professionalism" of the Company:
For those of you reading this article that have a 'horror' story about the cleaning industry, this section will ring a bell with you rather quickly. The problem with our industry is that it is a non-regulated industry. This means that ANYBODY can go and purchase a carpet cleaning machine...Call themselves a "professional cleaner" and start doing business. Just because somebody has the capital to purchase cleaning equipment does not make them a professional, therefore, you have to know how to quickly sort through the companies that are here just to make a quick buck.
How To Tell If a Company/Technician is a True Professional: (Some of these bullet points may seem elementary to you, but many times they are passed quickly due to time restrictions for the cleaning, budget concerns, etc....so make sure to take note of them.
Is The Company and Are The Technicians performing the work in your home certified by the IICRC:
The IICRC is a non-profit organization that trains and certifies those companies and individual technicians in our industry who choose to step above the 'norm' and learn the science behind cleaning. To review more information regarding the IICRC please feel free to visit their website at iicrc.org .
In order to obtain a true answer from any company that you call, simply ask them - "Can you tell me a little bit about the IICRC?"
If they cannot respond intelligently to this question or even tell you who the IICRC is, I can almost guarantee you that they are probably not certified by the IICRC. If they are certified, please also be sure to ask them if the technician that will be cleaning your carpeting or other textiles is personally certified as well. If they state that he or she is...make sure to make a request for them to bring their IICRC identification card along with them to show you.
QUESTION TO ASK:
"Is your company insured and (if they have hired help) bonded?
Minimum general insurance is $300,000 in most states, it may vary from state to state, but the important matter is that if by any chance an unfortunate circumstance does occur, you need to know that you are covered. (You would be absolutely amazed if you knew just how many companies and technicians are not insured...kind of scary too.)
QUESTION TO ASK:
"Do you subcontract out the work to a third party or do employees of your own company perform the work?"
This is a VERY important question to ask. First of all, even employees of a GREAT company will have more 'gumption' to offer you top notch service than a sub-contractor, MOST OF THE TIME. From time to time, you may find a good technician that is a sub-contractor for another company; however, the good sub-contractors NEVER last long because they are building up their own business very quickly because of their own professionalism.
A tell-tale sign of sub-contracting is the vehicle that the technician pulls up to the house in. If the technician pulls up to your house in a personal vehicle with their equipment hanging out of the trunk, my best advice to you would be to send them back down the road.
II. The Company's Previous Customers:
This section is almost self explanatory; however, if you want to see what type of work a company does, look at what their customers have to say. Some steps to take to ensure that the company is creating happy customers are:
Kris Sokalski
Carpet 1st, LLC
www.carpet1st.com
410-747-2447
Maryland Carpet Cleaning
Maryland Upholstery Cleaning
Maryland Carpet Repair
Maryland Tile and Grout Cleaning
Baltimore Carpet Cleaning
Baltimore Upholstery Cleaning
Baltimore Carpet Repair
Baltimore Tile and Grout Cleaning
Howard County Carpet Cleaning
Howard County Upholstery Cleaning
Howard County Carpet Repair
Howard County Tile and Grout Cleaning
Columbia Carpet Cleaning
Columbia Upholstery Cleaning
Columbia Carpet Repair
Columbia Tile and Grout Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Carpet Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Upholstery Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Carpet Repair
Anne Arrundel County Tile and Grout Cleaning
I am a professional cleaner and I say the same thing when I take a look around at the other businesses just in my immediate area. It can actually be very overwhelming to think that you can only choose 1 out of a 1000 to 1500 cleaning firms in your immediate area. I always tell everybody that it is not expensive to have your textiles cleaned professionally correctly if you know who to call, but it is VERY EXPENSIVE to choose 4 to 5 cleaning firms in a row that do not perform satisfactory work before you finally settle for mediocre service.
The truth of the matter is that if you know what you look for, you can find a GREAT cleaning company that will absolutely wow your socks off if you know what to look for and what questions to ask.
"So just what is it that I must look for and what questions do I ask to make sure that I am making the right decision?" I am glad that you asked because I am going to educate you on just that.
There are 5 main areas that we will be exploring for you so that you can lessen your frustration in the hunt for a great cleaning service.
1. The "Professionalism" of the Company
2. The Company's Previous Customers
3. The Company's Customer Protection Policies
4. The Cleaning Process
5. The Workmanship Guarantee
I. The "Professionalism" of the Company:
For those of you reading this article that have a 'horror' story about the cleaning industry, this section will ring a bell with you rather quickly. The problem with our industry is that it is a non-regulated industry. This means that ANYBODY can go and purchase a carpet cleaning machine...Call themselves a "professional cleaner" and start doing business. Just because somebody has the capital to purchase cleaning equipment does not make them a professional, therefore, you have to know how to quickly sort through the companies that are here just to make a quick buck.
How To Tell If a Company/Technician is a True Professional: (Some of these bullet points may seem elementary to you, but many times they are passed quickly due to time restrictions for the cleaning, budget concerns, etc....so make sure to take note of them.
Is The Company and Are The Technicians performing the work in your home certified by the IICRC:
The IICRC is a non-profit organization that trains and certifies those companies and individual technicians in our industry who choose to step above the 'norm' and learn the science behind cleaning. To review more information regarding the IICRC please feel free to visit their website at iicrc.org .
In order to obtain a true answer from any company that you call, simply ask them - "Can you tell me a little bit about the IICRC?"
If they cannot respond intelligently to this question or even tell you who the IICRC is, I can almost guarantee you that they are probably not certified by the IICRC. If they are certified, please also be sure to ask them if the technician that will be cleaning your carpeting or other textiles is personally certified as well. If they state that he or she is...make sure to make a request for them to bring their IICRC identification card along with them to show you.
QUESTION TO ASK:
"Is your company insured and (if they have hired help) bonded?
Minimum general insurance is $300,000 in most states, it may vary from state to state, but the important matter is that if by any chance an unfortunate circumstance does occur, you need to know that you are covered. (You would be absolutely amazed if you knew just how many companies and technicians are not insured...kind of scary too.)
QUESTION TO ASK:
"Do you subcontract out the work to a third party or do employees of your own company perform the work?"
This is a VERY important question to ask. First of all, even employees of a GREAT company will have more 'gumption' to offer you top notch service than a sub-contractor, MOST OF THE TIME. From time to time, you may find a good technician that is a sub-contractor for another company; however, the good sub-contractors NEVER last long because they are building up their own business very quickly because of their own professionalism.
A tell-tale sign of sub-contracting is the vehicle that the technician pulls up to the house in. If the technician pulls up to your house in a personal vehicle with their equipment hanging out of the trunk, my best advice to you would be to send them back down the road.
II. The Company's Previous Customers:
This section is almost self explanatory; however, if you want to see what type of work a company does, look at what their customers have to say. Some steps to take to ensure that the company is creating happy customers are:
- Look at the customer testimonials on their website.
The longer that the company has been in business, the more testimonials that they should have gathered. Granted, everybody does not offer a testimonial for services performed in their home so for brand new companies, follow the next two bullet points as well. - Check for any 'bad' reports on the BBB website.
A company does not have to be a member of the BBB in order for the BBB to report negative findings on the company. When you are looking through any negative reports, look for trends of customer complaints and also look for how the company resolved the complaints. The resolution to customer complaints will tell you A LOT about how any company does business. - Check into consumer reporting websites such as AngiesList.com
Again, even if a company has no customer testimonials on their website, review resources online that allow customers to offer non-biased opinions of the company's business practices. What you are ultimately trying to do is to "prove that the company is not professional". If you cannot prove this, than you may have yourself a winner.
III. The Company's Customer Protection Policies:
Okay, this section can go into a couple of different areas, so if you have a concern for your own family, BE SURE to add it into your checklist of items to look for. A couple areas to get you started are:
- What is the company's Hiring Practices?
With the way that our world is today, you have to be careful who you let into your home. It is very imperative that the company performs background checks on ALL employees and has a 'no-tolerance' policy for in-appropriate behavior.
You may be thinking; the best of the best are going expect to be paid well. You are absolutely correct and that may mean paying slightly more for your services to ensure that the company is only allowing the appropriate individuals to enter your safest place....your home. - How will the company protect your personal belongings during the cleaning process?
With this bullet point, just be right up front and ask the company you are interviewing for your cleaning services. For example if I had a potential customer ask me that question, I would tell them:
"...there are a couple of things that we do to protect you, your family and your belongings. First, we always wear shoe covers when entering your home because it is our job to take the soil out of your house and not bring more in. We will also use specialized corner protectors around so that our equipment does not damage any of your walls. Along with this, we will also have appropriate caution signs to lessen the potential of slipping on wet floors. It is also our goal to strive to keep our equipment orderly during the cleaning process so that any potential dangers from our cleaning equipment are centralized to the immediate area of cleaning." - Please feel free to add any additional questions that you may want to ask to a potential company that you will hire. The most important concern that you should have is for the safety of your family first.
IV. The Cleaning Process:
I would place money on a bet that this section probably offers the most confusing answers from the companies that you call. One of the main sources of this confusion is that you will receive answers from companies that their cleaning process is cleaning with a 'truck-mounted' unit.
Okay, cleaning with a truck-mounted unit is great and wonderful, but that does not describe 'HOW' they will clean your textiles.
FACT: A competent cleaning technician can do just as good as a job with either a portable cleaning extractor or a truck-mounted cleaning extractor.
Carpet 1st, LLC, my company, we actually use both. We use truck-mounted equipment for those service calls that are within 200 feet of a parking space for efficiency purposes and then we use portable extraction equipment for those service calls that are not within reach of a truck-mounted unit.
When we are talking about the cleaning process, the minimum that you should look for is the following process:
1. Vacuum all areas to be cleaned.
2. Pre-spotting with appropriate spotting agents.
3. Pre-spraying all areas to be cleaned with appropriate detergents to loosen soil
4. Some sort of agitation - if required
5. Steam or Hot Water Extraction with a pH balanced rinsing agent to remove as much soil and detergent as possible
6. Grooming of the carpet fibers to re-align them for appearance and drying purposes.
If the company that you are interviewing does not offer, at a minimum, the above mentioned processes...move on to the next company. For an example of our carpet cleaning process, please visit www.carpet1st.com/marylandcarpetcleaning.html .
V. The Cleaning Process:
And finally, which could easily be interpreted as the most important, find out what type of workmanship guarantee that the company offers.
If the company does not 100% back their claims, their workmanship, and your satisfaction...don't put yourself through the pain of using the company.
In my opinion, the company's guarantee should be easy to understand and straight forward as to what the guarantee is. As an example, our guarantee is:
NO FINE PRINT, NO GIMMICK GUARANTEE:
If you are not absolutely thrilled with our services that we have provided to you, we will come back and re-clean your areas of concern for FREE.
If you are still not absolutely thrilled with our services we will offer you a FULL REFUND of your money with no questions asked.
It is really easy to tell the intentions of a company by simply looking at what type of guarantee that they offer to you as their customer.
I hope that this article has helped to educate you on exactly what to look for in a professional cleaning firm. I am sure that the information contained here will help you avoid any frustrations that you may have encountered without it.
If you live in Maryland, I would be more than happy to offer you a FREE carpet inspection and price quote for our services. If you live outside of Maryland, this article will help you find a competent and professional cleaning firm for your cleaning needs. Also, if you have any questions regarding any information found within this article, please feel free to contact Kris directly at 410-747-2447. I am more than happy to help.
Kris Sokalski
Carpet 1st, LLC
www.carpet1st.com
410-747-2447
Maryland Carpet Cleaning
Maryland Upholstery Cleaning
Maryland Carpet Repair
Maryland Tile and Grout Cleaning
Baltimore Carpet Cleaning
Baltimore Upholstery Cleaning
Baltimore Carpet Repair
Baltimore Tile and Grout Cleaning
Howard County Carpet Cleaning
Howard County Upholstery Cleaning
Howard County Carpet Repair
Howard County Tile and Grout Cleaning
Columbia Carpet Cleaning
Columbia Upholstery Cleaning
Columbia Carpet Repair
Columbia Tile and Grout Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Carpet Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Upholstery Cleaning
Anne Arrundel County Carpet Repair
Anne Arrundel County Tile and Grout Cleaning
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