After enjoying the comfort that comes with a new or newly cleaned carpet, it doesn’t take long before the dust, pollens, pet dander and all other bits of contaminants come settling down especially on high traffic areas.
With these problems, you do regular dusting and vacuuming, but there comes a time and you have to hire professional carpet cleaners.
Professional carpet cleaning is an awesome way to deeply clean a heavily soiled carpet. With hot water extraction (also known as steam cleaning), you are guaranteed of eliminating most of the contaminants. This includes parasites and disinfectants that can multiply and linger in your home forever, leading to a host of health challenges.
One question that might bother you as a customer though is whether carpet cleaners move furniture. Of course this is an important issue to ponder and enquire about.
Read on to see why…
Do Carpet Cleaners Move Furniture?
Yes! Carpet cleaners move furniture but not every piece or unit as you might be thinking. They mostly concentrate on smaller items that would not cost an arm and a leg to replace, with dinning sets, coffee tables, knickknacks, stools, beds on wheels and arm chairs making to the list of perfect examples.
Generally, most carpet cleaners do their best to keep their hands off heavy and bulky items, electronics, fragile valuables and any other thing that is not easily replaceable.
Normally, most companies train their personnel on how to move the things that need to be moved, and also how to work around items that are not easy to move.
Sometimes companies use weight as a measure to determine the items they can move, and the ones they cannot. A good example is Electrodry, which only moves items that are 20 kilos or less.
After searching for the best carpet cleaners and making a call to them, it is good to let them know about all your concerns including moving furniture. A credible company explains all the nitty gritties via the call or email.
Most importantly, they also send a representative for inspection, providing you with a golden opportunity to show the person the area that needs to be cleaned and ask all the questions.
Some high-end companies agree to move most of the furniture at an additional fee. In most cases, the amount depends on the terms of the company or the agreement you enter with them.
To avoid inconveniences incase something valuable breaks down, it is always important to enter into a written agreement. You don’t want to go through a nerve-racking back and forth process.
Carpet cleaners that refuse to move bulky valuables do so for a good reason. Replacing expensive customer items can be a pocket-draining ordeal, leading to losses and a broken business-customer relationship.
Some malicious customers can also lie about the cost of their accidentally broken items to generate some money from innocent carpet cleaners.
How much do Carpet Cleaners Charge to Move Furniture?
It is hard to say the much carpet cleaners charge to move furniture because the charges vary from company to company and the items being moved also count. Another thing that cleaners consider is the number of rooms they are moving furniture from and the time it takes.
Ideally, the best approach is to have a company representative inspect your place to help you reach a fair agreement with the company. According to Steamyconcepts, some companies can charge up to $200 to move furniture for 2 hours.
Do you need to Move Furniture before Carpet Cleaning?
If you are doing regular carpet cleaning, you do not need to move heavy furniture. You can move small portable items so that you can clean the areas where they sit. That said, it is important to move all possible furniture for deep carpet cleaning.
After waiting for at least half a year to have your carpet deep cleaned, it goes without saying that dust sits all over the place including some of the sections that hide under heavy furniture.
Ignoring such areas during the cleaning process by leaving the furniture intact means that substantial dirt and probably some parasites are left comfortably sitting in your house. This denies you the possible chance to enjoy fresh air and a heathy environment.
Speak to your carpet cleaners on time to know the items they are willing to move. If it is just some light items (they mostly move between 5-10 items), move them as you move the heavy furniture to an area that is not covered by the carpet.
If you intend to have multiple rooms cleaned, choose a spare room to keep the items and have it cleaned at a later time. Alternatively, keep the furniture in the garage or outdoors depending on the conditions outside.
If your furniture are too delicate and heavy, you can hire movers to move and return them after the carpet is cleaned.
What to do Before Carpet Cleaners Arrive
There are several things you can do to prepare your carpet before carpet cleaners arrive.
Begin by Clearing the Room
You will hardly lack clutter on the floor if you have an active home. The kids tend to leave their toys just laying all over the place, and forgetful adults might have something fall on the floor and forget to pick it.
Some times cable sit on the floor recklessly and there might be a collection of other items placed on the floor intentionally. Such things include floor lamps, animal carvings and area rugs. Collect or the bits and bobs to ensure that you do not waste time when the carpet cleaners arrive.
Dust the Room
Dust everything including the walls to ensure that all the dust comes setting on the floor. You do not have your carpet cleaned only for dirt to start settling as soon as the day after.
Proper preparation allows you to enjoy a cleaner home for much longer after carpet cleaning.
Vacuum the Room
Now that the room is clutter free, begin to vacuum the carpet from end to end. A vacuum with high suction power collects all dirt and debris that can make it harder for carpet cleaners to do a thorough job.
If you have some furniture left in the house, use different vacuum attachments to vacuum them as well.
Spot Clean
As a last preparation measure, spot clean areas that are heavily stained. This does not imply that you are taking over some responsibilities from the carpet cleaners. Take it as a way to ensure that your carpet is not in extremely filthy condition when the carpet cleaners arrive.
It is easier for professional cleaners to work on a carpet that is spot cleaned. Their equipment does an extremely good job on such spots after injecting the cleaning solution and pulling it out.
How long should I wait to put Furniture Back after Carpet Cleaning?
The appropriate time to put furniture back after carpet cleaning is 24 hrs. However, the carpet does not take that long to dry. Depending on the expertise of your cleaner and the equipment used, the carpet can take anywhere from 4 to 10 hours to dry.
That said, give your carpet ample time so that heavy furniture does not crush delicate fibers.
If you hired Rug Doctor or some other equipment and did the cleaning yourself, give your furniture at least 48 hours before moving the furniture back in.
Placing furniture on a semi-dry carpet can lead to mold issues. Mold can ruin your carpet and void the warranty, and it is also a serious source of health problems.
How do you Clean Heavy Furniture in Carpet?
When getting your carpet deep cleaned, you would probably also want to get rid of dirt and dust from heavy furniture. The best way to achieve this by vacuuming and spot cleaning the items before the carpet cleaners arrive, unless you intend to have the furniture moved.
Use a vacuum with an upholstery attachment to suck dirt from the furniture. Next choose appropriate spot cleaners to remove food, beverage and other kinds of stains from the furniture.
If a bad odor is emanating from the furniture sprinkle baking soda all over them and let it sit overnight then vacuum it up. Baking soda is a topnotch absorbent for different kinds of smells.
How do you clean a carpet without moving the furniture?
In as much as deep cleaning a carpet without moving the furniture is not recommended, it happens for several reasons. Firstly, it is better off to clean without moving the furniture that ruin both your furniture and carpet in a failed attempt to move the furniture like an expert.
Secondly, hiring licensed furniture movers or carpet cleaners who do the same is an added cost to that of cleaning.
That being the case, learning how to do carpet cleaning with the carpet intact is as important learning to do it with the furniture moved.
Begin by decluttering the room. Move everything that you can from the floor and ensure that the room is well organized. Next, vacuum thoroughly by using the vacuum cleaner. Use the right extension tools to suction dirt from the carpeting sections beneath the carpet. Lastly, spot clean your carpet before engaging carpet cleaners.