Getting Your Home Ready for Carpet Cleaning Day
A carpet cleaning visit asks very little of you, and the few things that do help take about twenty minutes the night before. This is the list we send our own customers, with what to pick up, what to leave alone, where the dog goes and what the first hour afterward looks like.
- Pick up the small stuff: toys, shoes, cords, baskets, floor lamps, plants.
- Vacuuming is optional, because we do it as part of the visit.
- Kids and pets are safest in another room, or out on an errand, while the technician works.
- Leave a clear path from the door and, if you can, a parking spot near it.
- Smaller furniture gets moved and cleaned under; beds, dressers and entertainment centers stay put.
- A room-by-room look with the technician comes first, and the price comes in writing before anything starts.
- The carpet is dry in about an hour; furniture goes back then, with tabs under the feet if needed.
The night before: pick up the small things
Clearing the floor is the one thing that helps most. Toys, shoes, charging cables, dog bowls, laundry baskets, the stack of magazines beside the chair, the plant on the floor by the window. Anything the technician would have to lift, step around or guess about is a few seconds of cleaning that does not happen.
Breakables come off low tables and shelves that sit on the carpet, since those pieces may be moved. Pet beds and water bowls go somewhere dry for the day. If you want closet floors cleaned, pull the shoes and bins out and leave the door open so it is obvious.
Then take two minutes with a pad of sticky notes. Mark the spots you know about and jot down what caused each one if you remember. Coffee, red wine, a puppy accident and a dropped candle all get a different pre-treatment, and knowing which is which saves guesswork.
Vacuuming: you can, but you do not have to
People often ask whether to vacuum first. The honest answer is that we are going to do it anyway. A thorough vacuum is the first step of our visit, because dry soil has to come out of the pile before any solution is applied, and the technician does it with that in mind.
If you enjoy running your own vacuum over the rooms beforehand, nothing is lost. What matters more is that the floor is clear enough for a vacuum to reach it in the first place.
Furniture: what we move and what stays
The lighter pieces are moved and the floor under them cleaned: coffee tables, end tables, dining chairs, a light armchair, an ottoman. The technician slides them aside, cleans the floor and puts them back at the end of the visit.
Beds, dressers and entertainment centers do not move. They are heavy, they are full, and the carpet under them sees no traffic and little soil, so the technician cleans right up to the edges and leaves the piece alone. The same goes for pianos, china cabinets, aquariums and anything wired into the wall.
If the carpet under one of those big pieces matters to you, say a dresser that hid a pet accident, empty it and move it before the visit, and tell the office when you book so the time is planned for it.
Kids and pets during the visit
Our solution is eco-friendly, non-toxic and safe for children and pets, so the concern is not what is on the floor. It is the work itself. There are cords across the hallway, doors propped open, a machine moving back and forth, and a technician trying not to step on a toddler or a terrier.
A closed bedroom, a crate, a backyard or a trip to the park all work. Cats hide well, so note where yours likes to go and tell the technician which doors to keep shut. Once a room is finished, it stays off limits to paws and bare feet for about an hour, until the carpet is dry.
If your pet has had accidents on the carpet, this is the visit to deal with them. Ask for the pet stain and odor treatment when you book and point out every spot during the walk-through, including the ones you only suspect.
Parking and getting in
The technician carries the equipment in from the vehicle, so a parking spot close to the door you want used is a real help. On a busy street, a driveway or a cone saves a long carry. In an apartment or a gated community, give the office the gate code, the buzzer number or the elevator situation when you book so nobody is waiting at the curb.
Inside, leave a clear path from that door to the rooms being cleaned. A rug in the entry can stay down; we clean rugs on your floor during the same visit, so it is one less thing to lift.
The walk-through, and the price in writing
Every visit starts the same way. The technician goes through the rooms with you, looks at every spot you flagged and a few you did not, asks about pets and traffic, and checks the carpet's fiber and condition. Then you get a written price before any work begins. That number is the invoice; it does not grow once the machine is running.
This is the moment to mention anything else you have been thinking about. A rug in the dining room, the sofa the kids eat on, the stairs. Rugs are cleaned where they lie, on your own floor. For upholstery, the technician reads the care tag's cleaning code before touching the fabric, and if you clear the cushions of remotes and throws beforehand, that piece can be added to the visit with no fuss.
While the technician works
Most people stay home and go about their day. The technician works one room at a time: a thorough vacuum, pre-treatment on spots and traffic lanes, then the cleaning itself. A controlled dose of solution works down to the base of the fibers and loosens the soil, and absorbent cleaning pads take that soil into themselves and off the floor. The pads get swapped as the floor needs it, and if you want proof of what came out, ask to see a loaded one. What came out of a hallway is always a surprise.
You do not need to hover. If you have a question, ask it; if you would rather read on the porch, that is fine too. The technician will find you when it is time for the second walk-through.
After the visit: the first hour
Because the process puts so little moisture in, the rooms are dry in about an hour. Socks are fine in the meantime; shoes, pets and heavy furniture wait until the hour is up. A ceiling fan or an open interior door moves the air along, though the carpet dries on its own without either.
The technician puts the moved furniture back before leaving. Where a wood or metal foot would sit on carpet that is still finishing, a small protective tab goes under it so nothing marks the fibers. Pull the tabs out the next day and you are done.
Then the two of you walk the rooms again. Point out anything you want another pass on and it gets one while the technician is still there. A spot that creeps back up after the carpet dries, which can happen with a deep old spill, gets another visit at no charge. Every job carries our 100% satisfaction guarantee, and the short version is that you either love the clean or you do not pay for it.
Your cleaning-day checklist
- Floor cleared of toys, shoes, cords, baskets and floor plants.
- Breakables off low tables; pet beds and bowls picked up.
- Spots marked, with a note on what caused them.
- Big pieces you want cleaned under emptied and moved, and the office told.
- A plan for the kids and the pets for the length of the visit.
- Parking near the door; gate or buzzer details sent to the office.
- A clear path from the door to every room on the list.
- Rugs and upholstery you want added, ready to mention at the walk-through.
That is the whole job on your side. If this is your first professional clean, our carpet cleaning page explains the low-moisture process in more depth, and our guide on how often carpet should be cleaned helps you plan the next one. When you are ready, book online for any of our seven markets and the office will confirm your appointment, or call 205-438-9096 with any question at all.
Cleaning-day questions
Do I need to empty the room before the technician arrives?
No. Clear the floor of small things, toys, shoes, cords, baskets, and leave the furniture to us. Smaller pieces get moved and the carpet underneath gets cleaned, while the heavy items, the bed, the dresser, the entertainment center, stay in place and the technician cleans up to their edges. If you want the carpet under one of those big pieces done, empty it and slide it out before we arrive and mention it when you book.
Can I keep working from home while the carpet is being cleaned?
Yes, and plenty of people do. The technician works room by room, so pick the room you need and we will come to it last, or first, whichever suits your calls. The equipment makes some noise while it runs, about what a vacuum makes, and the rest of the house stays usable. Just plan on the cleaned rooms being off limits to shoes for about an hour.
What should I point out during the walk-through?
Everything you have noticed and anything you are unsure about. Spots and what caused them, the lanes that look dull, the place the dog favors, a smell you cannot find, a rug you want cleaned, a sofa you are thinking about. The more the technician knows before starting, the better the pre-treatment and the better the result. There is no such thing as too much information at this stage.
Is it a problem if I forgot to vacuum?
Not at all. Vacuuming is part of our visit, so the technician does it before the cleaning begins, with equipment made for lifting dry soil out of the pile. If you like to run your own vacuum first, go ahead, it does no harm. The one thing we do ask is that the floor be clear, because a vacuum cannot do its job around toys and shoes.
How soon can the furniture go back after the cleaning?
Give it about an hour, which is how long our low-moisture clean takes to dry. The technician puts the moved pieces back at the end of the visit, with protective tabs under wood or metal feet where the carpet is still finishing up, so nothing marks the fibers. If you move anything heavier back in yourself later that day, a quick check that the carpet feels dry to the touch is all you need.
Satisfaction guaranteed on every visit.
Low-moisture deep clean, dry in about an hour · Love the clean or it's free.