Residential Carpet Cleaning in Adelaide: The Complete Homeowner’s Guide
Adelaide is the perfect place to live, but our homes are affected by the changing seasons of dry dusty winds from the Adelaide Hills in Summer through to damp chilly winters. The dirt, dust and allergens that enter our homes from the outdoors through shoes, clothing and air all get left behind on the carpet. Regular vacuuming helps to keep carpets looking clean but over time carpets act as massive room sized filters.
All the fibers in the carpet will pull in dirt, dust, pollen and other particles that are floating in the air and these get trapped within the carpet fibers. Many of these particles get ground into the roots of the carpet fibers and normal domestic vacuum cleaners are not able to pull these out of the carpet.
After a while, carpets become filters on the floor. They collect an immense amount of small things that are in the air, including dust mites, pet hair, human hair and skin, pollen from trees and grass outside, and dirt and grime from daily life. In addition to collecting this, the carpet fibers themselves can become dull and lifeless, losing their original color and becoming worn.
This can make your carpets look old and disgusting, and worse still, release all the dirt and pollutants they have collected into the air in your home. This can cause problems for people with asthma and allergies, and is something that you need to have cleaned regularly in order to keep your home and your family healthy.
The best solution for protecting the health of your family and the life of your flooring is regular professional Carpet Cleaning Adelaide. This is an area where experts have just the right equipment for deep cleaning carpet and know how to do it to ensure that all the years of dirt, grime, and polluting substances are removed leaving your carpets looking like new and your house smelling fresh.
Below, we will explore the many complexities involved in trying to maintain your carpets to last. We will go over some of the most common carpet problems that face homeowners within Adelaide and provide information regarding the differences between deep cleaning your carpets with a commercial cleaner and the do-it-yourself alternatives that are available to purchase within a wide array of retail outlets. We will also answer the question of how often your carpets should be cleaned, and provide some insightful tips on choosing the most suitable Carpet Cleaning Adelaide company for your individual circumstances.
Why Carpet Cleaning Matters for Adelaide Homes
Many homeowners underestimate the impact their floor has on maintaining healthy homes and comfortable living environments.. But for people living in South Australia it is particularly
important to look after your floor. The hot, dry and very dusty summer and the cool, damp and sometimes wet winter that we experience in Adelaide creates indoor air that is of very poor quality.
Your carpets are your home’s largest air filter. Every time you open a door or a window a load of airborne pollutants such as pollen from the Adelaide Parklands, fine dust from the dirt on the streets and exhaust from cars travel inside your home to settle in your carpet. Once in your carpet these pollutants are filtered from the air you breathe, which is beneficial.
However, once your carpet has filtered all the air born pollutants it can, they become a big problem as every step on your carpet disturbs the pollutants that have been trapped in the carpet fibers and they are released back into the air you breathe. This can cause significant health problems to people suffering from respiratory problems. In order to keep dust and allergens under control within your home organizations recommend dust and allergen management, which for Residential \ Adelaide is best managed by hot water extraction using professional-grade equipment.
Circulating the same air can cause serious health problems for people suffering from respiratory problems and even trigger attacks in people with no previous health problems. Removing the pollutants from your carpet is the only way to empty your home’s air filter, and this is best done with Residential Carpet Cleaning Adelaide. The hot water extraction used in carpet cleaning can penetrate deep into carpet piles to remove the fine dust and other allergens that have become trapped in carpet fibers. Normal vacuum cleaners are not able to pick up these fine particles and they can be left in the carpet for long periods of time causing problems.
On top of the significant health gains from fully emptying out your carpets of trapped dirt and allergens that are slowly but inexorably cutting and deteriorating them, deep cleaning also extends the life of the floor coverings within your home considerably – by a number of years in fact. And as an additional consideration, most manufacturers of large area carpets now demand ‘proof of cleaning’ by hot water extraction (or similar) on an annual basis. As with your car, regular maintenance extends the life of a major investment – the floors in your home are no different. Keep your family and your floor coverings healthy for years to come with a high quality Residential Carpet Cleaning service.
Common Carpet Problems in Adelaide Homes
Adelaide homes have an unusual mix of indoors and outdoors that can bring wear to flooring in homes. Our regular household cleaning will keep surfaces clean of general debris of day to day activities with hard flooring being left clean and free of dirt and odor. But for carpeted surfaces in homes deeper issues can develop.
The above regular handling of surface debris and hard floor cleaning will not prepare your carpets for the deeper local problems that they will face.
Stubborn Pet Stains and Odours
Pet accidents can occur and leave un-wanted stains and odors on your carpet. With all the recent wet weather our furry friends may have muddy paws which can leave unsightly stains and smells on your carpet. Worst of all the pet urine will seep into the carpet fibers and then travel down to the underlay of the carpet.
This causes strong ammonia type smells that can last for months and even years. At first, it is tempting to try and remove the stains yourself by scrubbing, but the reality is that this only forces the biological matter deeper into the carpet. The only way to remove deep set carpet stains like this is through Professional Carpet cleaning Stain Removal Adelaide. We are able to come and remove the worst smells from your carpet permanently, as opposed to just masking them with over the counter type products.
Trapped Dust and Allergens
Adelaide in summer is hot and very dry and in spring the pollen count can reach extreme levels. In between cleaning your carpets act as massive filters, filling with all the environment can throw at them. With the carpet fibers being the perfect size for dust mites to pull them apart to eat the skin that has been left on the fibers by you walking on the carpet, millions of particles are released into the air with every step. For allergy and asthma sufferers, this can be a massive problem and require the use of industrial grade steam cleaning to totally remove all the allergens from the carpet.
The Infamous South Australian Red Dirt
All people living near the foothills of Adelaide or regional locations know how difficult it is to remove the South Australian red dirt from the carpet. The dirt is very fine, iron rich and likes to stick to the bottom of your shoes. When the dirt is then walked on the carpet the dirt particles act like razors cutting into the carpet fibers causing permanent scratches and wear. The dirt is so fine that it can penetrate down into the carpet backing and when using your home vacuum it is almost impossible to remove all of the dirt from the carpet.
General Wear and Tear in High-Traffic Areas
No allergens, no dirt or wear & tear in your household? Unfortunately for most families that is not the case. High traffic lane ways throughout your home can soon develop into unsightly and tough to clean matted traffic lanes. Bare foot print marks, spilled drinks and constant wear from footwear can all cause the carpet fibers to be ‘kissed’ with oily residue from these. Over time this can cause the fibers in these high wear traffic lane ways to become flattened and appear to be always dirty.
Steam Cleaning vs DIY Carpet Cleaning
Many homeowners rent a carpet cleaning machine for a weekend cleaning job from supermarkets and hardware stores. But beware, what may at first seem to be a cost effective solution to getting your dirty floors clean can in fact end up costing you a lot of money in the long run.
Why can’t you just use a DIY Carpet Cleaning Machine to clean your carpet? There are many reasons why Rental Carpet Cleaning Machines found in supermarkets and hire shops fail to deliver decent results and in fact can cause permanent damage to your carpet. The major reason is that they lack mechanical power.
Most machines do not have sufficient water pressure to reach the bottom of the carpet pile and likewise they do not have sufficient suction to extract the used water from the carpet. As a result the carpet is left saturated with water. In the winter months in Adelaide this excess moisture can sit in the underlay for days creating perfect conditions for mold, mildew and musty smells to develop.
Also, the carpet cleaning solutions used in these machines can be very difficult to rinse from the carpet fibers, in fact most solutions leave a sticky residue on the carpet fibers. This solution acts as a dirt magnet, bringing to the surface of the carpet any dirt and dust that has fallen on the carpet in the following days and weeks. The result is that the carpet will get dirty again in a matter of days and in fact will get dirty sooner than it did before you cleaned it.
On the other hand, professional Hot Water Extraction (HWE) floor cleaning is considered the best and only true method of deep cleaning and sanitizing carpets. As experienced and fully
trained technicians from Professional Carpet Cleaners Adelaide use only the latest commercial grade HWE extraction machinery. By utilizing highly pressurized hot water and cleaning solutions that are specifically formulated for the task at hand, our trained technicians are able to release the dirt, oils and other allergens that have bonded to the individual carpet fibers. After the soiled water has been ‘injected’ into the carpet fibers at high pressure, the water is then extracted from the carpet utilizing the machines immense suction power, and in doing so, sanitizing the carpet fibers at the same time.
Once the solution has been injected into the carpet, the massive suction of the machine will extract the soiled water. Because of the precise temperature of the water that has been injected into the carpet, the steam will also sanitize the carpet fibers, killing dust mites, bacteria and other pests that may be residing within the carpet.
Using professional Hot Water Extraction Carpet Cleaning by Professional Carpet Cleaners Adelaide, ensures that the highest level of cleaning and sanitizing is achieved with the deepest penetration of the carpet fibers, without any sticky residue left behind on the carpet. The superior extraction ability of the commercial equipment will extract the water from the carpet leaving only the slightest amount of moisture behind to enable the carpet to dry in just a few hours.
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How Professional Carpet Cleaning Works
For homeowners who are unsure of what occurs during a deep carpet cleaning and would expect more from their cleaning than what they can achieve themselves, they need to look for a service who specialize in cleaning and are transparent about the process that they go through to guarantee the best results for every cleaning job.
(Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) a proper clean is carried out in several steps that allow for the best cleaning job for your home or office in the long run. In this article Deep Carpet Cleaning Adelaide will be listing and explaining all the steps which you can expect from a Deep Carpet Cleaning service.
- Most carpet cleaners begin by performing a pre-inspection of the carpet(s) and/or rug(s) to be cleaned. This is the beginning of the cleaning of your carpet(s) and/or rug(s). In this initial inspection the cleaner must identify the fiber(s) that the primary and secondary backing(s) of the carpet are made of (i.e. wool, nylon, polyester, etc.). The cleaner will also inspect the back of the carpet. Based on his/her findings the initial inspection will tell the carpet cleaner what cleaning solutions to use, what temperature of water is required, how much pressure can be put on the carpet without causing it to shrink or lose color.
- Dry Vacuuming – Approximately 70% of soiling on carpets is dry soiling i.e. dirt, dust and hair. Using the highest quality HEPA filter vacuums we extract as much dry soiling as possible
from the carpet prior to the cleaning process. This stops the dry soiling from turning into mud when the carpet is cleaned with water.
- Carpet Stain Pre-Treatment A carpet stain pre-treatment solution is applied to specific carpet stain(s). We carry environmentally friendly carpet stain pre-treatment solutions designed to penetrate and dissolve biological material found in most common carpet stains such as pet urine, feces, blood, and food spills. Oily carpet stains from dirt and grime are also easily removed using our pre-treatment solutions. By loosening and removing the binding material in carpet stains, our carpet stain pre-treatment solutions make subsequent cleaning of the stain easier and more effective.
- The Next Step For Your Carpet – Mechanical Agitation. Your carpet technician will then use some mechanical agitation on your carpet. Using specialized equipment or even some professional-grade brushes that he brings with him, he will agitate your carpet to make sure that all of the cleaning solution penetrates all of the fibers of your carpet. Yes, some of the deep carpet cleaning solutions that are on the market today can penetrate the deep-down dirt in your carpet but nothing can beat the power of some good old mechanical agitation that disentangles all of the matted fibers of soiled carpet.
- Hot Water Extraction (Steam Cleaning) – The most effective deep cleaning method of cleaning carpet is by using a hot water extraction machine, commonly referred to as steam cleaning. This equipment, whether truck mounted or portable, uses a solution of hot water and cleaning agents that is injected into the carpet fibers. While the solution is being pumped into the carpet, the machine extracts the solution, taking with it all of the dirt and grime that was loosened from the carpet fibers. In addition to removing dirt and grime such as sand, pollen and other small materials that can aggravate allergy symptoms, the hot water also sanitizes the carpet fibers.
- Deodorising and Pile Grooming – Our top grade deodorizer is used to eliminate any remaining odors and leave your carpet and room smelling the freshest. For final completion of cleaning we use a carpet rake to brush the carpet fibers to their original pile formation restoring new appearance to the carpet.
How Often Should Carpets Be Professionally Cleaned?
Well, there is a basic rule of thumb that most carpet manufacturers follow which is every 12 – 18 months for a deep hot water extraction clean to protect the carpet fibers and ensure the carpet warranty remains valid. But the answer really depends on so many factors of how you live in your home and how big your family is.
Even houses with the odd spill here and there will benefit from a ‘deep clean’ every 12-18 months. But a house with 4 kids and 2 dogs will probably require a ‘deep clean’ every 3-6 months. The odd muddy paw here and there can create matted carpets and create horrible odors that never seem to go away, not to mention hair and dirt from four kids. A house like this is a breeding ground for hair, dander and dirt and the need for regular cleaning is paramount inhouses like these to remove any dirt, pet hair and allergens in the home to keep your home clean and hygienic.
For tenants it is generally a condition of your residential tenancy agreement and when you are vacating rental property it is expected that the carpet is returned to its original state. To ensure that you receive 100% of your bond back when you are moving, booking a Move Out Carpet Cleaning Adelaide service is recommended. When you are moving and you need carpet cleaning, we recommend that you book a comprehensive move out cleaning package that includes the carpet cleaning.
We also offer a comprehensive package to help in your move, combining the best of carpet and Upholstery cleaning services to help you in your stressful time of moving, to get the best of handover to your landlord.
To give you a better idea, we have laid out a quick reference guide below to help figure out how often you should be having your carpets cleaned in your home.
Benefits of Professional Carpet Cleaning
At first glance, there are the obvious benefits of having your carpets cleaned professionally. However, there are many more benefits that have in the long term when your carpets are cleaned on a regular basis.. Adelaide homeowners can see the many benefits that have
long-term effects that can help to keep your home and family healthy and can even add value to your home in the long run.
Trapped Pollutants Removed – Air Quality Improved One of the main functions of carpet is to act as a filter and to trap a variety of pollutants such as dust mites, pet dander, cockroach allergens and fine particle pollution. These types of pollutants are tracked into homes on the soles of shoes and into homes with pets on their animal’s feet.
Over time these pollutants become trapped in the carpet fibers and in the air quality in your home. Professional hot water extraction of carpet removes these pollutants from the carpet fibers. Removing these pollutants from your carpet by using hot water extraction improves the indoor air quality of your home giving you and your family more air to breathe. It is said by health authorities around the world that to have a healthy home with fresh air to breathe you need to have clean, dust free floors.
Stain Removal – Reducing Damage to Your Carpet Many permanent carpet stains are caused by accidents with liquids such as wine (especially red wine like Barossa Shiraz) and by pets, including dogs and cats. Others are caused by food and drink spills and by scuff marks and marks left by mud. In most cases the Professional strength cleaning solutions are by far the best way to remove a variety of different types of stains from your carpet. Not only can these powerful cleaning solutions remove red wine, coffee, ink and other tough to remove stains, they
can be used on just about any type of carpet fiber and will not cause any type of damage to your carpet after the stain has been removed. The solution works by breaking the chemical bonds that hold the stained area together, allowing the area to be removed from the carpet fibers.
This can particularly occur in the cooler winter months where there is generally more moisture present in homes. A professional carpet cleaning service utilizing hot water extraction for carpet cleaning can remove up to 95% of the moisture from carpeting thus drying the carpet quickly thus negating any risk of mold and mildew to grow in the underlay of your carpet. And thus no chance for any bad odors to develop and cause damage to your home or building.
Look & Feel of New Carpet Finally, there is nothing that can compare to the feel of new carpet, that’s been thoroughly cleaned. Grit has been removed from the carpet fibers that were wearing them down, and the oily residues have been removed from the carpet pile that were causing it to appear flat.In addition to the carpets from your home professional cleaning will make them look fresh and colorful and help them look new longer and thus protect your investment in them.
Preparing Your Home for Carpet Cleaning
Before we arrive to provide your carpet steam clean for your Adelaide home it would be wise to prepare your home to allow us the best chance to provide the very best possible results and ensure that your carpet cleaning technicians can provide the very best possible clean for you and your family. In the main, the actual cleaning is done by professional carpet cleaners, but some preparation needs to be done prior to their arrival.
Before we arrive at your Adelaide residence with all of the cleaning equipment for the professional steam cleaning, it would be a good idea to tidy up the floor space by picking up any items i.e. children’s toys, shoes and magazines etc. and put them in their respective storage locations to allow our cleaning technicians to move freely throughout your home.
As well as this, it is a good idea to remove any delicate floor lamps, fragile glass ornaments and small rugs that are made of delicate materials and can be damaged by the cleaning equipment. Some examples of non-carpeted rooms that we can use to store these items in are the kitchen, bathroom, laundry and outdoor areas.
No Need to Move Heavy Furniture There is no need to move large heavy furniture items like bed frames, wardrobes and large entertainment units as our Adelaide carpet cleaning technicians are able to perform an excellent clean right up to the edge of these very heavy pieces of furniture. However we do recommend for optimum cleaning results that you move all of your lighter weight of furniture such as dining chairs, small coffee tables and ottomans out of the room to be cleaned.
Protect Window Treatments Window treatments that rest on the floor such as curtains and long drapes can be a problem. Pin them up about six inches from the floor to prevent getting them wet or covering them in your pre-treatment solutions. This will prevent damage to your costly window treatments.
Prepare Your Pets This is one of the biggest reasons we ask you to remove your pets from the house before we arrive, the biggest concern for us is the stress that loud noises and strange objects can cause to animals, we also are worried about pets getting under foot while we are working with large amounts of equipment. If for some reason you are unable to remove your pets from the house then we ask that you please put them in the laundry with a treat and a toy to keep them occupied, or better yet to put them outside in the back yard for the duration of the clean.
Choosing the Right Carpet Cleaning Company in Adelaide
Choosing the right carpet cleaner for your home can be a very important decision, so choosing the best carpet cleaner for cleaning your home, you can trust them to do the very best job for you.. With so many Carpet Cleaning Companies in Adelaide these days, it can be difficult to choose the right one. What is the real difference between a quality Carpet Cleaner and a cheap carpet cleaner who will only complete the job to a very poor standard and charge you an arm and a leg for it? We have outlined a few points below to help…
Transparent Pricing (No Bait-and-Switch) So you come across a very cheap carpet cleaning service in Adelaide, only to find later it is Bait-and-Switch or bait pricing.. In essence this is when you are first shown to what appears to be very affordable prices; but once the cleaner arrives at your property you’re presented with lots of additional hidden fees that vastly exceed the original advertised price.
Some services might even require you to use specialized chemicals for particular stains and you may find that there’s an additional fee for these products as well. The carpet cleaning services we promote take a very transparent approach to pricing in order to build confidence in our recommended carpet cleaning companies for their clients.
Quality of Service – Eco-Friendly Solutions. While the home is your haven and you look after your family, the last thing you need is a host of toxic carpet cleaning chemicals left in your carpet fibers for babies to crawl on and for pets to sleep in. Your premium service will utilize the most advanced carpet cleaning solutions that are of the highest quality eco-friendly, non-toxic,
child-safe and pet-safe chemicals. These carpet cleaning solutions are known as green chemistry or carpet cleaning solutions that are ‘tough on dirt’ and ‘gentle on carpet and family’.
Insured and Police-Cleared Technicians It is extremely important that only fully qualified tradespeople enter your home. These people must hold relevant Police Clearance Certificates and also be fully insured to protect you against any form of damage. We meet all of these criteria to give you complete peace of mind.
Guaranteed Results A tradesperson who has taken the time and investment to become a skilled tradesperson takes great pride in their work. That’s why it’s important for you to choose a service provider that has a satisfaction guarantee. That is, if you’re not totally satisfied with the carpet cleaning results then they’ll return and redo the work until you’re 100% satisfied.
We understand what’s important when it comes to choosing a local carpet cleaner in Adelaide and we outline these core values as well as some additional information on our local team in Adelaide on our Core Values / About Us page.
Conclusion
Your home is your sanctuary. It is where you live with your family and therefore should be the healthiest place for them. However, carpets can quickly become a collection point for many of Adelaide’s dust mites, allergens and stains. Vacuuming regularly is not enough to provide protection for your family’s health or the longevity of your carpet. Hot water extraction, the deepest of carpet cleaning methods, needs to be done regularly to remove the tiny health hazards that are hidden in the fibers of your carpet, remove stubborn smells and return your carpet to its original state – deep, plush and clean.
Do not allow persistent carpet stains and unknown allergens to affect the health of your loved ones or the appearance of your home. Here at Gifted Hands Cleaning Services Adelaide we are a family owned business with Fully Qualified Technicians and Insured to use the latest
Eco-friendly Carpet Extraction Systems for the superior deep cleaning of all Domestic Carpets. Our Business Practice embodies the very highest standards of quality, honesty and competitiveness together with a guaranteed service that our customers can depend on time and time again.
Ready to put the sparkle back into your carpets and give your home the deep clean that it deserves? The friendly and local team at Gifted Hands Cleaning Services are waiting to hear from you – get in touch today, or visit our website here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Carpets Drying Times – Steam Cleaning Adelaide – How Long Will They Take To Dry?
The amount of time a carpet takes to dry from a steam clean can vary from 4 hours and up to 24 hours and beyond, depending on weather, indoor humidity and indoor air movement. Our tip for quickly drying carpets is to open windows, run your aircon and turn on ceiling fans etc. Will professional carpet cleaning remove all stains?The majority of stubborn stains are removed from carpets with professional cleaning
However there are occasions where some stains cannot be removed from carpets. This could be due to the urine having set in the carpet fibers, or the bleeding of the carpet fibers. This is more noticeable with red or orange Berber type carpets and other colored carpet fibers. Some stronger bleaches such as oxidizers can also leave permanent marks on the carpet fibers. Our Carpet Stain Removal Adelaide technicians can provide an honest assessment of any pre-existing stains or carpet damage prior to any carpet cleaning work being carried out.
Do I have to vacuum prior to arrival?
To better assist you with our Carpet Stain Removal Adelaide services, when our technicians come to your door they are looking for a very clean carpet prior to cleaning. If there are any toys, clothes etc. lying about on the carpet it would be appreciated if you could pick them up for us prior to our arrival.
Also, we find that prior to our arrival if you could run a dry roller over the carpet to pick up as much pet hair as possible that would be fantastic as well. We use a commercial dry vacuum with HEPA filters to vacuum the carpet prior to the hot water extraction during our deep carpet cleaning process. Our Professional Carpet Cleaners Adelaide are more than happy to help with the vacuuming as well if required.
Is carpet cleaning bad for pets and children and can all stains be removed from carpet?
The Eco-Friendly carpet cleaning solutions we use are totally safe for pets, children, the sensitive nose and for people who suffer from allergies. These solutions are totally non-toxic and are also 100% biodegradable. What this means is that the solution is 100% washed from the carpet by the hot water extraction process and once your carpet has been cleaned and extracted and is 100% dry your babies can crawl all over it and your pets can sleep on it.
I got carpets cleaned & can I walk on them yet?
In an effort to prevent any ‘accidents’ falling on recently cleaned damp carpets we recommend that you wait for carpets to fully dry. Typically for homes that are completely climate controlled the carpets will take only 4 hours to dry but as a general rule the carpets will take anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours to fully dry and be safe to re-occupy. As carpets dry they can be slippery so we recommend wearing clean white socks as you transition from your carpeted area to your hard flooring surface.