Getting Ready for the Carpet Cleaner

Experts advise that you have your carpets cleaned professionally every one to two years, more often if you have children and/or pets. But once you’ve picked out a carpet cleaning service, how do you prepare for their visit? Here are some tips:

Take at least a half day off from work. Carpet cleaners tend to arrive in four hour windows, and their work schedules can be unpredictable. Someone should be home to see them in—leaving a key is a bad idea. And you don’t want to be trying to rush home from work, only to miss the carpet cleaners who will claim they sat outside your house for ‘hours’ waiting for you.

See to it that pets are locked up somewhere comfortable near their litter pan, and with food and water available to them. This is for your pet’s own protection as well as your peace of mind. You don’t want to be worrying that the carpet cleaners will accidentally let your pets out of the house while they come in and out with all their equipment. You also don’t want to worry about your pets getting hurt by the equipment or sick on the chemical treatments that the cleaners will use on your rug. And of course, you don’t want to risk that your pets get spooked and bite or otherwise attack your carpet cleaners. Finally, the noise of the machines can terrify some pets—if they’re secured away in a place that they feel comfortable and safe, it will help calm their nerves.

Even though most carpet cleaners will help you move furniture out of the way, try to get as many items up off the floor as possible. This will make the job of cleaning the carpets easier, but it will also help protect your furniture and other items. Moreover, it will help you find any stains you might not have seen before, so that you can point them out to your carpet cleaners when they come.

For that matter, get rid of most breakables and put them away. You don’t want your carpet cleaners being too gentle—they have to give your carpets a vigorous cleaning—so they shouldn’t have to worry about knocking over fragile knick-knacks and glassware.