Carpet and Upholstery Care That Comes to You

December 19, 2022/in Uncategorized /by Chauncey Haworth

You pour your heart and soul into your home. You take pride in the way it looks, smell, and feels. But if you have carpets and upholstery, you know that they can be a big challenge. They’re often neglected by homeowners, but carpets and upholstered furniture are one of the most important ways to protect against allergens and mess.

Make Sure Your Carpets Are Clean with Professional Carpet Cleaning

If you are in need of a professional cleaner, we are more than happy to help. Our cleaners use green products and steam cleaning methods that will leave your carpets looking like new! Be sure to ask about the cleaning process and what can be done to remove stains so you know exactly what you’re paying for.

Stain-Resistant Carpet Can Still Have Stains

Even if you have stain-resistant carpet or upholstery, it can still have stains. For example, any liquid will create a stain. Food and dirt easily get into carpets and upholstery because pets walk over them all day long and children drop food on them regularly.

So what do you do when these things happen? First off, don’t panic! Most stains are easy to remove with some work and a few common household items like baking soda or vinegar.

How Often Should You Get Your Carpet Professionally Cleaned?

When it comes to frequency, it’s important to think about the type of carpet you have and how much traffic your home receives. If you live in a multi-person household or have animals, consider getting your carpets professionally cleaned every 6 months.

If there are no stains on the carpet and you don’t have pets, annual cleaning is sufficient. However, if you do spot stains, clean them as soon as possible so they don’t become permanent! Professional cleaners are experts at stain removal—they can even remove ink from carpets.

What Can You Expect During Professional Carpet Cleaning?

Professional carpet cleaning is a process similar to washing a car. Your carpet is vacuumed, cleaned with a machine, dried and deodorized. Then it’s sanitized before being dried again. The cleaning solution used during this process will remove dirt, stains and odors from your carpet.

Other Benefits of Regularly Cleaning Your Home’s Carpets

Your home’s carpets and upholstery can harbor a variety of allergens, including dust mites, pet dander and bacteria. These contaminants can cause respiratory problems such as asthma or eczema. Allergy sufferers will also benefit from regularly cleaning their homes’ carpets and upholstery to reduce the amount of dust mites. Regularly cleaning your carpets and upholstery will also help lift dirt before it becomes embedded in the fibers. This way, stains are less likely to occur.

Don’t let your carpets go without professional cleaning.

Years of wear and tear can build up dirt and grime, making it necessary to have your carpets professionally cleaned. If you don’t clean your carpets regularly, they can become damaged by spills and stains. With children and pets running around constantly, it’s important to keep up with carpet cleaning. Our friendly, experienced staff will take care of anything from small jobs like spot removal or deodorizing your carpets all the way up to large-scale projects. We provide free estimates on all our work so that you know exactly what we’re going to do before starting any job. Give us a call today.

Clean your house after the holidays to start the new year off right

December 19, 2022/in Uncategorized /by Chauncey Haworth

After the holidays, it’s time to clean your home. You may have spent weeks decorating and cooking, but now you need to get back to normal. If you don’t clean up after the holidays, all that mess will set in and be much more difficult to remove later on. Here are some quick tips for cleaning your house after the holidays so that it looks great again in no time:

Shake out and clean rugs, upholstery and curtains

After shaking out your rugs, you can vacuum them. You may be able to get away with using a standard vacuum cleaner, but the best way to clean rugs is with a rug-cleaning machine or by a rug cleaning professional. Vacuuming upholstery and curtains is another matter. For those, you’ll need an attachment or special tool. If you have curtains that aren’t too delicate, you can run the lint roller over both sides of each curtain panel. This will remove dirt and give it a fresh look! It’s important not to use chemicals on upholstery or curtains because they could damage the materials.

Vacuum your carpets or get them professionally cleaned

Don’t underestimate the importance of a good vacuum. A good vacuum can help you make sure every inch of your home is as clean as it needs to be, no matter how much you may have neglected it during the holidays. Vacuuming can help remove dust and dirt from carpets. It improves their appearance and keep them healthier in the long run.

If you don’t want to do all that work yourself, consider hiring someone for professional carpet care services once or twice a year. Maintain the carpet in-between with regular vacuuming with your own machine.

Wash all bedding

While you’re cleaning your bedroom, you should also wash all bedding. Wash blankets and sheets, pillowcases and pillows. Wash comforters and duvets—they’ll last longer if they’re washed regularly. It’s also important to wash mattress pads and protectors regularly to keep them in good condition.

Check bulbs, outlets and smoke detectors

If you haven’t checked your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in a while, it may be time to do that now.

Check bulbs, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Replace any light fixture if it’s old enough that its base is made of metal rather than plastic. This could indicate corrosion at the contacts between the wires running through the fixture’s base, which can lead to fires when they heat up.

Inspect outlets for loose wires or other signs of damage (e.g., discoloration or fraying on wires). If anything looks suspicious, shut off power at an exterior panel box and call an electrician. Most of all, be safe about it.

Check windows and doors for drafts

A quick inspection of windows and doors will help you identify any problems. This way, when you’re ready to seal them up properly, you won’t have any unexpected surprises.

Check the frame around each window and door for gaps or loose screws or nails. If there are gaps between the caulking and frame of your window, you should tighten up those screws or nails to ensure that they stay put once they’ve been covered with caulk.

Windowsills are often overlooked when it comes to sealing out drafts. To check for gaps, stand outside on a medium-to-warm day and look through one of your windows from an angle where you can see through the entire sill length. If there’s a gap between your sill and wall, then use some thick foam adhesive tape or weather stripping. You may want to call out professional help here depending on how large a gap exists between these two surfaces; smaller ones can usually be filled with fabric glue bought at a local hardware store instead (no need for special tools!).

Scrub down the bathrooms

When it comes to your bathroom, there are several surfaces that need a good cleaning. The toilet is one of the most important areas in your home and should be cleaned regularly. You can spray disinfectant on the inside and outside of the bowl, then wipe it off with a cloth. Next, clean all of the sink fixtures (including faucets), as well as any mirrors you have around the house that may have gotten dusty over time.

Finally, get rid of any leftover medication or beauty products in your medicine cabinet. Throw them out or donate them to local shelters/charities. Once done, give everything else a thorough scrubbing with soap and water. If possible, look for products labeled “green” or “eco-friendly,” which tend to be less harsh on both humans and our environment.

Dust light fixtures and ceiling fans

Dusting light fixtures and ceiling fans is a breeze, but you’re likely to miss them if you’re doing general dusting. As long as they aren’t covered in cobwebs or grime, they’ll only take a few minutes of your time each year.

Wipe the blades down with a dry microfiber cloth or paper towel. If there’s dirt on the blades that won’t come off with water, use a small amount of nonabrasive soap and water on the cloth. Clean the fan housing with clear glass cleaner and cotton swabs until all streaks are gone.

Your home will be looking good in no time.

You can do it yourself. If you’re an orderly person, you might be able to clean your home without much help.
You can hire a professional. If you need some extra help getting things done around the house, you can hire someone to take care of it for you.
You’ll feel better when your home is clean! A lot of people find that when they’re stressed out or tired, just looking around at their messy spaces makes them feel worse instead of better.

When everything is in its place, it’ll be easier to relax and enjoy yourself while taking care of other things on your list (like watching TV). And once everything’s back in order again? You’ll immediately notice how much nicer it feels knowing that your house looks good as new! How do you like to clean your house? Are there any tips or tricks that you use to make the job easier?

My carpet needs to be cleaned, now what?

April 10, 2019/8 Comments/in Uncategorized /by nichole

Carpet is a go-to flooring option for many and can provide a whole host of benefits to your home. But just as every other surface in your home, it collects dirt and dust over time and must be cleaned. The issue with carpet is that debris and particulates that build up are often not visible to the eye, and cleaning gets put off for longer than it should. If left uncleaned, carpets and rugs in your home can have an effect on the indoor air quality and by extension, your health. So it’s important to keep it clean not just for aesthetic reasons, but for the well-being of you and your family.

Read more about the most commonly used methods for cleaning carpet.

Spot Cleaning & Home Methods

The internet is full of hacks and tips to do any number of things. Fix your car yourself, make your own candles, and on and on. Carpet cleaning is no exception. There are tons of articles on how you can get stains out, clean your carpet just like the professionals, and make your own carpet cleaning products. Some are helpful and accurate, but many will waste your time, money and maybe even cause damage to your carpet that will cost you more in the end when you have to call in a professional to fix it.

When looking for information on how to spot treat or clean your carpet at home, be sure to consider the source and the credibility, and look for multiple articles that say similar things. Although it’s not advised to use at-home “hacks” to clean your carpet, at the very least getting info from credible sources can reduce the chances of making the damage worse.

DIY Carpet Machines

These are the machines you see by the front doors of the supermarket that promise an effective carpet cleaning at a bargain price. You usually rent these for a day or two (costs vary but average between $30-$60) and operate it yourself. You’ll need to buy the cleaning detergent that goes with it, which is used in conjunction with hot water to loosen dirt from the carpet and then extract it. This can be an acceptable solution if you are on a tight budget, but only if you are a skilled operator and you don’t need a very deep clean.

Here’s why:

DIY machines tend to be less effective for a few reasons. Typically, they aren’t able to heat the water to the temperature that professional cleaning machines can achieve. They also lack the same power as professional equipment, meaning they can’t extract as much of the dirt (via the water) from the carpet.

Lastly, the skill of the person operating the machine is a factor. In order for the machine to work properly, many things have to go right during the process, including keeping a steady and even pace across the carpet, using the correct amount of cleaner, and other user-related factors.

Professional Carpet Cleaning

If you want to be sure your carpet is thoroughly cleaned and you don’t want to have to deal with it yourself, the best option is professional cleaning. High-quality professionals have a multi-step process that ensures the job is done correctly the first time. Here’s our process here at Master Cleaners:

Pre-Inspection
Traffic Area Preconditioning
Spot Removal
Edge Cleaning
Furniture Moving
Heavy Duty Hot Water Extraction (Steam Cleaning)
Post Inspection & Spotting Treatment

While DIY methods (and some discount professional cleaners) aren’t able to get beyond the surface level of the carpet, high-quality professional cleaners have the equipment and skill level to pull out bacteria and other harmful debris that lie beyond the surface.

Not all cleaning services are created equal. There are many that have popped up in recent years that use lower quality equipment and don’t use the proper techniques. They entice with low price offers, but often do not deliver results that are any better than DIY methods. In fact, they can often create more problems for you – more than 30% of our jobs here at Master Cleaners are fixing the mistakes of low-quality work.

Which service should I use?

Here are some ways to determine if the service you are using is on the level:

Avoid scams by checking with the Better Business Bureau to ensure a business is legitimate
Check their reviews
Check out their blog to get a sense of who they are and what they value
Ask questions
Take the customer service for a test drive (for example, call the customer service line or send an email and see how long it takes them to respond and how courteous they are)
Research how long they have been in business

So it may cost a little more to have a high-quality service clean your carpet and rugs, but in the end, it’s likely worth it for the peace of mind you’ll have knowing your home is in good hands.

Spring cleaning? Don’t forget your soft surfaces

March 25, 2019/22 Comments/in Uncategorized /by nichole

For many, a spring cleaning to-do list usually includes things like deep cleaning in the bathroom and kitchen. These are the tasks that easily come to mind, partly because it’s usually quite visible as you walk around the home that it’s time to give these areas a good scrub. It’s no surprise why an attic or garage are the go-to places for stacks of random objects that go untouched for years– out of sight, out mind!

Another reason kitchens and bathrooms tend to get attention is because they are so frequently used. They come into contact with humans, pets, water, food, dirt and dust just to name a few. So deep cleaning should be done on a regular basis, not only for sanitary reasons but for health reasons as well. If not cleaned well, hard surfaces can easily attract mold and mildew that can cause all kinds of issues.

But what is often neglected are the areas of your home that are used even more frequently than the bathroom and kitchen and come into contact with the same exact things. The only difference? You can’t always see when these areas are dirty.

The areas in question are the soft surfaces of your home. Soft surfaces include things you can’t easily throw in the washer like carpet, rugs, drapes, and upholstered furniture. These surfaces can get just as dirty as the hard surfaces but are often overlooked because it’s difficult to tell when they’re in need of cleaning. And often if you can see that they need cleaning, the dirt, dust, dust, and allergens have already been affecting your home.

It’s likely that you’ve had your carpets or rugs cleaned before, but many people don’t get cleanings as often as they should. It’s recommended that you have your carpet professionally cleaned every 6-18 months. If you have many people living in your home and/or pets, you should probably go with the shorter end of that frame. Rugs can go a bit longer, possibly a few years between cleanings. Master Cleaners also offers rug cleaning in our state-of-the-art plant, allowing you to conveniently drop off and pick up without having to schedule an appointment in your home.

A word of caution when you look for carpet and rug cleaning services: While it may be tempting to hire a discount carpet cleaning service to clean your carpets and rugs, be aware of the risk that entails. More than 30% of the jobs we do at Master Cleaners are fixing mistakes from cleaners who did not use the right equipment, cleaning materials, or proper techniques. So saving a few dollars up front can cost you big time in the end.

A lesser known fact is that you can also get your upholstery and drapes cleaned the same way your carpet is cleaned. It may be tempting to just spray some fabric freshener on these items and call it a day, or only spot-clean as it is needed. But upholstered furniture can hold similar unpleasant things as your carpet does, like dust mites, allergens and other bacteria. It’s safe to say if you get your carpet cleaned, you should do the same for furniture and the other soft surfaces in your home.

So start this spring off right by giving everything in your home a cleaning – both the hard surfaces and the soft ones!

Protecting the Investment INSIDE Your Home: Maintaining Carpet & Rugs

March 5, 2019/2 Comments/in Uncategorized /by nichole

Imagine you spend thousands of dollars on a product that you use every single day. It’s a no-brainer to maintain it, right? The first thing that might come to mind is a car or computer. But what you may not immediately realize is that the rugs and carpeting in your home are used just as (and perhaps more frequently) as your car or computer.

We change the oil in our cars and protect our computers with virus software and device insurance. We even routinely maintain other systems in the home, like changing the filter for our furnace or getting our A/C checked. This is just part of the homeowner checklist to protect a costly investment that would be a hassle to replace. And it’s widely known that routine maintenance pays off in the long run when it comes to items of value.

These same principles apply to the carpeting and rugs in your home. Yet many people are not taking the proper steps to maintain this investment and ensure it lasts as long as possible. Just like car tune-ups, maintenance will extend the life of your carpeting and rugs. In fact, having your carpet and rugs professionally cleaned regularly can significantly improve the likelihood of them lasting. And it doesn’t take complicated math to realize that the more frequently you have to replace something, the more it costs you.

Why should I maintain my carpet and rugs?

Carpet, if well maintained, can last 15-20 years or more, and high-quality rugs can last hundreds of years. In many cases, homeowners go through a long process of choosing just the right carpet and rugs. They factor in budget, the style of the décor, their lifestyle, and the feel and look of the fibers. After all this time, effort, and money is spent to create the perfect look for the home, it makes sense to take the same care in keeping it up.

Another factor to consider is the warranty on the carpet. If something goes wrong, you may have to show that you have held up your end of the deal by following the terms of the warranty and taking care of the carpet as instructed. So not only will proper maintenance help keep your carpet looking good, but it will also provide peace of mind in case something happens that would cause your warranty to kick in.

Frequency of Maintenance

So how often should you get your carpet cleaned? Typically you should consider a cleaning every 6-18 months, and the exact time frame depends on your lifestyle. If you have a full house and/or pets, you probably want to go with the 6-12 month range. For rugs, the general guidelines for cleaning are between 1 and 10 years. Your best bet is to go with a professional cleaning service that will assess the situation and provide you with reminders to help you schedule cleanings at the proper intervals.

Another advantage of using a professional cleaning service is that they’ll often help you in between these routine cleanings if you are in need of emergency spot-cleaning. At Master Cleaners, service is our top priority, so we want to make sure you’re feeling confident and proud of your carpet and rugs and that they are in tip-top shape at all times.

So consider getting your carpet and rugs on a routine maintenance schedule the same way you do for your car. It may cost you some throughout the years, but in the end, it could mean big savings if you can prolong the life of these assets.