We name the guilty...

Just another normal upholstery cleaning job today. Typical in many ways because the homeowners i.e. my clients have done what many, many other carpet and furniture owners have done - they have self-medicated!

It sounds a bit dramatic but I can't think of any other way of describing this obsession people have with cleaning their own carpets and upholstery. Many are called to this job but few are chosen to do it -- properly.

As with today's victim who has fallen for the beautifully labelled bottle of soapy gunk that purports to be the one shot solution to dirty, grubby carpets and upholstery.

The problem is that even if it provides a brief holiday from the grubby appearance of the carpets and soiled furniture, this holiday will last for a very short time indeed.

As soon as the carpet or furniture dries and goes back into normal circulation it will start to 'grub-up' much quicker than normal because the soapy residue left behind by the amateur textile technician is now actually attracting dirt!

Soon the furniture is looking worse than ever and needs cleaning again - so the instant supermarket-bought remedies come out from under the sink and the cycle begins again - except this time there is more gunk on the furniture and carpets than before and hence the problem just gets worse.

I am not saying there is anything inherently wrong with these products - but then I would not say that outright as I do not want to be sued by these multi-national behemoths - it is just that the products have the capacity firstly to be overused and secondly to be wrongly applied and thirdly to not be rinsed out after they have done their job.

I do feel that 'doing their job' does not really cover the effect they have on carpet and upholstery. Undoubtedly the greatest problem is the residual product left in the carpet or on the upholstery and this can only be solved by the rinsing action - this rinsing action almost never happens to the degree required to flush all the product out of the fibres being cleaned - hence the problem.

This is not an exhaustive list but the products include:  Vanish, 1001, Rug Doctor Pro, Vax AAA, Tesco Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Sainsbury Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Essential Waitrose Carpet Cleaner