The Dangers of DIY Carpet Cleaning

A great article by a professional  carpet cleaner on why you should think before hiring or buying  a DIY machine. The Dangers of DIY Carpet Cleaning « TACCA.

We recently saw an advert in our local shop window from a so called 'Professional Carpet cleaner'.
He claims to use 'top of the range carpet washers'.
A true professional would never call a carpet cleaning extractor a 'carpet washer'.
He goes on to say that 'Heat is directed onto the carpet for improved washing and drying performance'. Now i dont know about you, but if someone was going to 'wash my carpets'  using direct heat, I would be getting slightly alarmed by now. His final claim to fame is that he can 'wash your carpets', using direct heat AND leave them touch dry and ready to walk on all for a pricely sum of £8 per room!!!
Ohh AND  he also offers a discount on that £8 per room for more than 3 rooms and regular customers!

Anyway, being a PROFESSIONAL carpet cleaning company ourselves, who have spent thousands of pounds on machinery, training, and more importantly insurance, we decided to give this fellow professional a call.

He offered me a through lounge and H/S/L with stains removed EXCEPT for paint or grease as these apparently can't be lifted but anyway if I book it would cost me £40 for his service.
I did ask him if he was insured and he said he was.
Was he trained? ahhhhhhhhhhh well .......... he is self taught so apparently there is no need for training, no need to be able to identify the many different carpet fibres and paint cannot be removed neither can grease.
So after my grandkids have managed to throw their chippy chips on my carpet and after the Mrs has painted the lounge cause she's peed off with waiting for me to do it and she has splashed paint on my carpet thats it..... i cant get a carpet cleaner to remove these marks.
According to him they CANNOT be removed!
Sooo do I buy a new carpet?
Absolutely not! This is where a true professional shows his true colours!
Fitz2kleen has in the past removed paint that has been spilt dubiously accidently and as for grease its a doddle,
With the right equipment,good training and experience these are things a professional carpet cleaner will do day in day out without thinking about it as a quick look at the carpet fibres will quickly identify what needs to be done to rectify these minor problems.
These are the so called professionals that give true professionals a bad name and further encourage people to try it themselves at home using inferior equipment which in turn give an inferior result.
Its like going round and round on a roundabout, a viscious circle, but once you get off and see the results that are achievable , you WILL see that there is no going back!