Unfortunately, the carpet cleaning industry is one where nobody really speaks the truth about carpet cleaning and the facts surrounding the process. These days, it seems more about sales and marketing schemes to try and turn more profit. I mean, i get it to a degree as people have to survive and earn a living to support their families, but is there too much garbage nonsnese going on? There really is no discussion about this and the answer is absolutely YES! Let’s discuss it.
The carpet cleaning industry has been around since the 1940’s and has helped many families maintain their homes through the years. I mean, come on, carpet cleaning is not exactly a job that everyone wants to do and that’s understandable as it hard physical work. Most families so their best to maintain their carpet, but then again, some don’t! Vacuuming your carpet is not difficult, but many put it off and over time carpet just get’s soiled to the point of needing a good cleaning. This is where the marketing begins right? The good old carpet cleaning special, “We will clean every room in your home for $49.95 and everything will be great! Yeah right, but unfortunately, that’s not really how it works. Again, carpet cleaning is physical work which nobody wants to do anymore right? So finding good employee’s that show up for work, clean carpet all day and work extremely hard for percentage of 49.95 in today economy…I don’t think so! The be real here, we no longer live in that work, it simply doesn’t exist!
Good employee’s must be paid a good wage, trained properly and given the proper tools to do the job, so this takes time and money. Not to mention product cost, vehicle cost, fuel cost, insurance cost, payroll cost and everything else to run a business all for $49.95 right? Wrong, that’s simply not how it works! The average cost for a carpet cleaning company to send a technician out to your home is between $80.00 to $100.00 averaging all the costs involved. I think you get the point, let’s move on.
Cleaning the average single family home, 3 rooms of carpet, staircase and few hallways takes roughly 2 hours or more including set-up time. Typically, dealing with different types of stains from pet urine, coffee, wine, tea, beer and just about anything else from make-up to dish detergent and you get the point. Bottom line, this takes time and money. Some companies will use a pre-mix with solution tanks around 75-100 gallon capacities. A pre-mix depending on the mix ration can cost between $3.50 and $8.00 per gallon. Most homes can consume between 20-40 gallons depending on the method of carpet cleaning being used. Using a purge method or rotary extraction can use twice a much product depending on the square footage. Not to mention, some companies are using 100% organic cleaning solutions which cost even more. Carpet cleaning is like anything else, you get what you pay for.
Bottom line, be reasonable if you want a “REAL” carpet cleaning that does the job and makes you happy! There are always going to be marketing schemes and basic BS, but there are major differences listed above that you should consider when looking for a carpet service. You get what you pay for…period!