What company do you hire to clean your carpeting?

[yellowfan]

on reliable carpet cleaners in St. Louis area. Would like to know which companies to avoid. If it makes any difference I have berber carpeting.


Thanks,

Lori

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I clean our carpeting myself because I''ve heard scary stories about carpet cleaning workers memorizing the layout of a customer''s home and then later coming back and robbing them. I''m pretty sure there was TV news story about this happening to people.

We bought our own cleaner and it worked fine for about two years and then fizzled out. Even if you spend $500 on a decent cleaner, it''s worth its price.

Oh, and cleaning is a GREAT workout. lol

FWIW, we had berber in our previous house and in our new house too and it''s very easy to clean.

 

[Jennifer5973]

We use a local, family owned "ChemDry" carpet cleaning firm. They did a great job and the process they use doesn''t involve making the carpet wet, which can damage the backing and actually make it get dirtier over the long term.

 

[Mara]

we also used ChemDry...about a month ago...we have very pale berber carpeting and it was filthy on some of the entry stair areas (ala portia and grassy feet from the park!).

I went with the ChemDry people because they didn''t use soap that would stick to the carpet and leave the steaming residue which they told us picked up MORE crap and dirt...probably why after we steamed our carpet ourselves they looked dirty again within a day! Jen..our process did make the carpet wet though, they just did not use a soap but rather some sort of carbonated liquid which they noted broke down the dirt and brought it to the top.

So far we love it and people who visit said our carpet looks almost like new again. I just had them do our entry areas and family room which are our most high traffic areas...the upstairs of the house is pretty pristine due to the fact that we don''t wear shoes in the house.

Of course the day after we had the areas cleaned, and they got out all the Portia puppy-training spots from months ago, she got sick off some new food and had a huge accident in a prominent place.....thanks Portia!

Oh Chem Dry!!

 

[yellowfan]

vice! I guess I will go with ChemDry over Stanley Steamers. I don''t want to risk cleaning myself and soaking the carpet. Berber takes longer to dry than regular carpeting. If I had regular carpet I would do it myself, as in the past it dried fast with a fan especially for carpets.


Thanks again,

Lori



ps Mara, my beagle gals are the ones staining my carpet! Misti took an avocado in the living room and smashed it in!

we also do not wear shoes in the house.

 

[Mara]

Lori what is with these dogs ruining the carpet?! Worse than kids!

Our berber took a full day to dry after the ChemDry even though they said it dried in a few hours...it was about a full 24 hours before we could truly see the carpet ''lighten'' and see the real difference that it made!

Good luck!

 

[yellowfan]

I know! My fur children have made more messes than the 12yr old, who takes her shoes off! The dogs like to get into the kitchen and steal a treat and run directly to the carpet and drop it to eat! I have no clue! They have made the majority of the messes but I love them so! It will come out, soon we will rip out that carpet and do pergo floors like we have in the kitchen, halls, sunroom, and lanudry. It holds up well and many ppl dont even realize its a laminate floor!

 

[Patty]

We''ve always used Woodard here in St. Louis. (Brentwood) They are very good and they usually run a special a couple of times a year.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Mara, I clearly didn''t understand why ChemDry is better long-term--it is becasue of the soap--not the wet!

Thanks...whatever, it does work/hold true. I actually wasn''t home when they did the carpets, which we have upstairs in the bedrooms...we had not moved into the house yet and my husband supervised them, so I don''t know if it was wet or not, but it probably was now that I understand what goes on!

if you really want to keep your carpets--and all of your floors--in like-new condition, don''t wear shoes in the house. We grew up that way and that''s how I run my house and it makes such a big difference!!!! Of course, when guests come over (other than close friends and family) we don''t ask them to take off the shoes (but that''s also why I have hardwood on all my lower level, incl kitchen).

I''ll never forget when my mom went to sell her house and the realtor said, "Oh, I see you have new carpet." And my mom was like, "Uh, no...this carpet is 10 years old." The woman couldn''t believe it...NO SHOES (and weekly vacuuming).

 

[hoorray]

Date: 3/27/2005 11:31:37 AM
Author: Jennifer5973
Mara, I clearly didn''t understand why ChemDry is better long-term--it is becasue of the soap--not the wet!

Thanks...whatever, it does work/hold true. I actually wasn''t home when they did the carpets, which we have upstairs in the bedrooms...we had not moved into the house yet and my husband supervised them, so I don''t know if it was wet or not, but

I forget what the actual Chem-dry process is, but it is wet, and it ruined my sofas once. My white cotton-ish sofas turned a horrible yellow orange over time after they dried from the Chem-dry process. They looked fine the day of the cleaning, but 3 months later they looked awful. The Chem dry people finally admitted that they process caused it, and worked to get it out, but they were never the same. Since then, the best carpet people I''ve evef had, who did all the processes, said that the best method for cleaning anything was the truck mounted steam cleaning. That''s what I''ve used ever since, and I''ve never had any problems.

Chem-dry might be good for some fabrics/applications, (it didn''t seem to harm the carpets), but the lesson I learned is that it is not what it sounds like, and you should ask a lot of questions before just buying into the concept. I got the feeling it was somewhat of a scam -- the whole name implies no water, which is what people buy into, but that''s not the case.