How long does carpet cleaning take?

Here’s another frequently asked question we receive: “How long will it take to clean the carpet?” Of course, the answer varies, but we have general guidelines for how long it takes to clean carpet, upholstery and tile.

Carpet: Roughly one hour for every 3-4 rooms, depending on the size. About 20-30 minutes per staircase. There are companies out there who can get the work done faster because their process is not as involved as ours. They may not use fans to speed dry the carpet, or they’ll skip agitating with a powerful counter rotating brush machine, or something else to save time. We ensure that every step of our process is the highest quality it can be.

Upholstery: Approximately one hour for an average couch, one and a half hours for a sectional, 30 minutes for a chair. We also do vehicle interiors, and those will take about one to one and a half hours for the seats and floor.

Tile: This varies far more than carpet or upholstery cleaning. Tile cleaning times depend on the size of the tile, what type of tile, the amount of grout, if we are sealing it after cleaning, etc. For example, a shower tile (3 walls and floor) will take about one hour to clean and seal. But a large kitchen and dining area floor might take 2 or more hours, depending on the size.

No matter what type of residential or commercial cleaning we are doing, we always try to finish the job as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. Our carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and tile cleaning services are the top of the industry and we want to ensure your satisfaction before we leave.

Cleaning carpet when it's cold outside

It’s a very common belief that it’s better to have your carpet professionally cleaned when it is warm outside. Although there is some truth behind this, the real answer is that it shouldn’t matter, as long as you hire a high quality company.

Drying carpet is not just about temperature. In fact it’s more about airflow. We use 7 (seven!) high-efficiency fans on every fans to ensure the fastest dry times possible. While we carry 3 different types, one of them is pictured below. This fan is used for quickly drying upholstery and small rooms, while we have other fans to quickly dry larger areas of carpet after cleaning.

With this process that we use, there is no need for concern when having the carpet cleaned while it’s colder outside. Depending how warm you keep your house, it can actually be better to clean the carpet in the winter! In the summer, it gets very humid and even with airflow from our fans, it can get so humid that it slows the drying process.

So if you’re trying to decide if now or later is a good time to book a cleaning, our recommendation would be to contact us before it gets too warm out!

Why hire a professional carpet cleaner?

I get it. I am a DYI’er myself. The upside of saving money can often times make it worth it to do a project yourself. The question is, do you have comparable skill, knowledge and equipment as the pros? If so, then you’re really just putting more time in and saving money! If not, the results could be disappointing. Carpet, upholstery and tile cleaning are services that can’t possibly be performed as well with at-home equipment, no matter how high your knowledge level. You can certainly do good maintenance cleaning with home equipment, but the yearly deep cleans should always done professionally.

Top reasons to hire a professional carpet cleaning company:

• Technicians who are professionally trained and certified (like us!) will know the differences between different types of fibers and what cleaners to use on them. That way you don’t have to purchase multiple different spot cleaners to try to get spots out.

• When you rent a cleaner from a store, you don’t know where it’s been. Did the last person just rinse out a wine spill, or were they cleaning up dog urine, or worse?

• Our equipment can penetrate deeper for a thorough clean, creates higher heat (up to 240 degrees!), and has much better extraction power to remove all the soil and let the carpet dry faster. See the photo at the bottom for the machines that we use!

If you ever have questions about our carpet cleaning process, how to get spots out of carpet, or when to use something like a Rug Doctor or Bissell, feel free to reach us at 206-801-0161. Thank you!

Professional carpet cleaning or Bissell or Rug Doctor?

This is one of the most common questions we get, so we like to revisit it every now and then. Should you use a Rug Doctor, a Bissell, or another grocery store rental carpet cleaner, or hire a professional carpet cleaning company? In short, a good, professional carpet cleaner will always be best…but is it always worth the money? Not necessarily.

Rug Doctors and other similar cleaning machine certainly have their place. They are better than just vacuuming, but only if used properly. The problem is, people often put too much cleaner down on the carpet (or in upholstery) and due to the power constraints of an electrically powered cleaning machine, the carpet cleaner might not have enough vacuum power to extract the water. Then the carpet ends up being wet for a long time!

With a professional, you can get a much deeper clean, faster dry times, and a healthier home. But again, this is also only if it’s done correctly! When hiring a carpet cleaning company, make sure they know the proper processes, have the best equipment, and use products that are safe for your home, pets and children!

Best time of year to get carpet cleaned?

Did you know that carpet cleaning tends to be a very seasonal business? Often times it is slower in the winter, as people don't want the cold air getting in their house, kids aren't playing outside and running in with dirty shoes, and pet stains don't have as noticeable of smells when it's cold out. However, with our unique process, it doesn't matter what time of year we do carpet cleaning for you.

We use several high efficiency fans, so even if it's not as warm in your house, the carpet will still dry quickly! Also, we take extra precautions to keep the door closed when it's cold out. 

As spring is upon us and the warm weather starts to hit, we get very booked up. Make sure to contact us right away for a free quote!

Best time of year to clean carpet

Often times, carpet cleaning businesses are most busy in the spring and summer. Any idea why? It's usually because of the idea that the carpet will dry faster when it is warmer outside. There is some truth to this, but only if the cleaner isn't doing everything possible to dry the carpet quickly. 

At Sno-King, we use several high-efficiency fans on every job to ensure quick dry times. We recognize that your carpet being wet is an inconvenience to you and your family. So our carpet drying times range anywhere from 1-5 hours depending on the type of carpet. By doing this, we can achieve quick dry times in any time of year!

Best spot cleaner for carpet

What's the best spot cleaning product for carpet? Is it Resolve, OxiClean, or something else? Well...the answer is definitely something else! The two mentioned above have what's called "optical brighteners." These are disguised in the ingredient list with really long names, but essentially what they do is make the carpet look brighter so it looks clean. However, they're not actually cleaning. Over time they can make the dye in the carpet unstable, leaving it susceptible to bleaching.

For store bought cleaners, we recommend using Folex. But if you hire us, we give you a free lifetime supply of our Spot Out spot cleaner! Even if we're not at your place to clean, we'll just drop one off at no charge!

Carpet is wet too long after cleaning

Have you ever had your carpet cleaned, and then woken up the next morning to still wet carpet? This is a sure sign that the cleaning was not properly done! Typically, our dry times are no more than 8 hours. A few more hours doesn't cause serious concern, but mold can begin growing between 24-48 hours. 

If you have your carpet cleaned and it does not dry quickly, we can come in and do a proper extraction of the water, as well as put high efficiency fans down to speed dry the carpet. 

Safe carpet cleaning chemicals?

We often get questions about which products we use and how safe they are. This is, understandably, of high concern to people, particularly those with children and pets in the home. In our industry, we are required to keep SDS (Safety Data Sheet) binders that have information for every single product on our van. Unfortunately, companies aren't always diligent about knowing how safe their carpet cleaners are.

At Sno-King Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning, everything we use is non-toxic (so long as they're not ingested). Also, because of the process of carpet, upholstery and tile cleaning that we use, there's only water left behind when we are done, because we neutralize the pH value when cleaning. So you don't have to worry about your children rolling on the freshly cleaned carpet, or pets sleeping on it. In fact, it can actually help them breathe better by unclogging all the dust and debri in the carpet!

Rug Doctor rental carpet cleaner vs. professional carpet cleaning

There are a lot of DIYers out there, and the carpet cleaning side of things is no different. I get it, I do lot of work on my house myself in order to save money. While rental carpet cleaning machines like Rug Doctors certainly do a better job than vacuuming and they do have their place, there are many things they can't do. Below is a list of a few of the differences between hiring a professional carpet cleaner in the Edmonds area and renting a Rug Doctor.

• Rug Doctors don't allow for dwell time, which is a key component of the cleaning process for carpet, upholstery, and tile

• Rug Doctors don't clean as deep, as they only have up to 28 psi, while we run at about 350-400 psi for carpet, and up to 1000 psi for tile.

• The extraction on a professional hot water extraction carpet cleaning machine is much more powerful, typically at 20+ horsepower, while Rug Doctors have 1.74 horsepower.

If you are in the Edmonds, Shoreline, Lynnwood, or surrounding area, feel free to get in touch with Sno-King Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning for the most thorough process in the industry!