The Hidden Dangers of DIY Carpet cleaning!

The Hidden Dangers of DIY Carpet cleaning!

There’s something special about having fresh, clean carpets. It makes you feel better and gives your guests a great welcome. Cleaning them yourself may have been an idea you may have thought about before – afterall there are lots of adverts saying how you can hire ‘professional’ machines and the results look really good. Great! You may think, I’ll get them done at the weekend and save money too!

So off you go to the DIY store and hire a machine with detergents, and you get them in the back of the car and get home ready for action! After a whole day of slogging away, filling up, emptying etc – will you be impressed with the results?

The honest answer is more than likely not. But why do you say? It’s quite simple really….so be prepared for a little education based on facts, and ignore it at your peril.

A small machine from a hire store has to be small for a reason. If it’s too big you won’t be able to lift it – or fit it in to your car. Now being so small (and light) means that there is a limit on power – hhmm you may think, surely a carpet cleaning machine is a carpet cleaning machine. Yes, but there are MASSIVE differences between different types – and ALL giving different results.

Basically the bigger the machine the heavier it gets – due to much bigger internal motors and pumps for example, meaning it will have more power, allowing much better results to be had. Lets take this further. As the power increases even more (and again, along with the weight and size of the machine) the better it will perform in the worst conditions. There will be more VACUUM, more HEAT and more water PRESSURE leaving carpets  much cleaner, brighter and dryer.

So you really have to try and ignore the suggestively ‘amazing’ sales videos and literature that are associated with these machines and realise that it is essentially impossible to achieve the same result as a genuine professional machine (hire machines are certainly not professional by the way). But you have to understand that they want to sell the ‘hiring’ of these machines for a reason – it makes them money (hey they are a business afterall). So yes they will have great ‘images’ etc – merely offering visual representations (as opposed to actual genuine cleaning photos).

If you think about this situation logically – if it were true (i.e. they do the same job as any other machine) then companies (certainly in our case), wouldn’t buy machines costing many thousands of pounds – no-one would want to waste that sort of money right? – ABSOLUTELY! But they don’t do the same – nowhere near, which is why some companies invest heavily to give the ultimate cleaning experience to their clients (note: not all companies/individuals do).

So What Are The Hidden Dangers?

Well they certainly are present that’s for sure, and we occasionally SEE the result – and rectify issues commonly experienced with them. I will list them – and if you have used one before you may notice one of them – or even all of them.

1)   Poor results – due to lack of power from the machines
2)   Damp carpets for days – causing smells
3)   Mould build up – due to incorrect cleaning attempts
4)   Delaminated carpets – caused by overwetting
5)   Browning discolouration – caused by overwetting
6)   Shrinkage – caused by excessive moisture
7)   Rapid re-soiling – caused by high residue content of detergent left behind

The actual dangers are mould spores being breathed in which can cause health issues, and physically damaged carpets – which may have to be removed & replaced. THIS IS NOT A SCARE TACTIC. These are genuine problems that arise because of these machines. We had a client contact us recently who experienced the exact same problem and explained to me that it was a waste of time BUYING one of these machines as it now sits in her cupboard (and she will not use it any more). And yes, we visited her to clean her carpets properly.

So, the idea of saving a few pounds now…….well could it actually cost you more financially? Yes it could indeed, and you have been warned.