In the UK we do not necessarily think of carpet cleaning as a necessity. I don't think I can put it in a more straight forward (or inelegant) way than that.
To anyone in the carpet cleaning industry though it makes perfect sense to us that if a house is being emptied of all its normal furniture, bookcases, sideboards, tables and chairs, beds, wardrobes and other furnishing clutter the carpets should be steam cleaned.
By that I mean properly steam-cleaned - not brushed over with some luke warm water and a load of cheap sudsy carpet shampoo whereupon this un-holy mess is badly hoovered up with a hired carpet cleaner from the DIY shop! Yes you know the brand - worse than useless!
We cleaned what is known in the trade as an 'EOT' the other day - nothing remarkable about that, an End of Tenancy is usually an opportunity for the landlord to get a good look at their investment when the previous tenants have moved out but before they get their deposit back from the letting agent.
We try to encourage our letting agent clients to remind their landlords that after any re-decorating and the general cleaning is done the last thing before new tenants arrive is to have the carpets thoroughly steam-cleaned by one of our truck-mounted units.
This is usually a great chance for us to do the very best job we can by having access to every square centimetre (or inch if you like) of carpet and to survey and clearly identify all dirty traffic lanes and stains and to really go to town on the clean.
These are very satisfying jobs for us because we go away feeling we have really earned our corn by getting into every nook and cranny and giving the landlord a report on the state of the carpets as they were at the end of the last tenancy and as they were left by us at the start of the new tenancy.
So if you rent from a letting agent or own a property that is rented out or are buying a property for your family home then please work out a time when the property will be empty and you can give a reputable carpet cleaning company a window of opportunity to work their magic. You know it makes sense...
