End of Lease Carpet Cleaning – Steam Cleaning or Dry Cleaning
When you move out of a rental property, you need to ensure the house is clean. To be specific, you need to ensure it is cleaned to a standard that is acceptable to your property manager and/or landlord. You need to ensure that it’s to a level where you get your bond back, which means getting is as clean as it was when you moved in. This Fair Trading page can explain more about what is required when Ending a Tenancy.
Many tenants choose to clean their rental property themselves. Others choose to pay for end of lease cleaning to ensure they get their bond back. A part of the end of lease cleaning process is carpet cleaning. End of lease carpet cleaning can generally be done in one of two ways – dry cleaning or steam cleaning. You could hire equipment and clean your own carpet, or you can engage the services of an expert.
With this article we wanted to cover the differences between dry carpet cleaning and steam cleaning. Both dry carpet cleaning and steam cleaning have their benefits. We generally recommend and offer steam cleaning but will outline the differences below to help your understanding.
End of Lease Carpet Cleaning – Steam Cleaning or Dry Cleaning
Dry Cleaning Your Carpet
Dry cleaning basically involves vacuuming and can also involve dry cleaning chemicals. Doing this as part of your end of lease cleaning will help remove dirt and grime. Dry cleaning chemicals can also sometimes remove other stains from carpet fibres, leaving your carpet looking fresh and clean.
If you choose to dry clean your own carpets, you won’t have to wait for them to dry. You should be able to walk on the carpet as soon as the cleaning is done. Dry cleaning your carpet is quick and effective but it is not as in depth as steam cleaning. You might want to consider dry cleaning if you need to clean your carpet regularly – i.e. if your carpet is a high traffic area.
Before applying your dry cleaning chemicals, you should first thoroughly vacuum the carpet that needs to be cleaned. This ensures that any surface dust and dirt is removed from the carpet. If you don‘t vacuum the carpet first, then you may end up embedding dirt into the carpet and it may be harder to clean later.
After you have finished vacuuming it’s time to add the dry cleaning chemicals to the carpet. These chemicals work by being absorbed into the carpet fibres. This breaks down any trapped dirt and grime. The broken down particles are then raised to the surface so that they can be removed more easily.
A vacuum or sometime even a dry cleaning machine is then used over the carpet. Dry cleaning machine uses absorbent pads and a spinning motion to collect the loose particles that have been drawn to the surface. A conditioning rinse is added to the surface so, once completed, your carpet should look a lot better.
Carpet dry cleaning is suitable for high traffic carpet areas that may need to be cleaned regularly. It is not necessarily the best choice for end of lease carpet cleaning, which is why we do not offer this service.
Steam Cleaning Your Carpet
As the name suggests, steam cleaning is a water based approach to cleaning your carpet. Steam cleaning sprays high pressure hot water into your carpet. This injection of hot water extracts dirt, dust, and dander particles from your carpet fibres. It also improves the hygiene of your carpet. Steam cleaning is an effective solution for your end of lease carpet cleaning.
With steam cleaning, we start with a vacuum to remove surface based dirt and debris. After a preparation vacuum, a mild cleaning solution is poured into the steam cleaning machine. Once the cleaning solution is added, it’s time for the main steam cleaning process.
High pressure water is sprayed into the carpet to loosen the dirt and stains collected within the fibres. After the water has collected the loose stains and dirt, it is extracted from the carpet using a strong vacuum. After extraction your carpet will be far more hygienic than it was before. The water extracted from the carpets is brown and will be tipped down a drain.
Unlike dry cleaning, steam cleaned carpet needs time allowed to dry. Drying time depends on the size of the carpeted area and the temperature outside. Fortunately, steam cleaning doesn’t use as much water as carpet shampooing, so the carpets will dry relatively quickly and will only be left slightly damp at most.
One disadvantage of steam cleaning is that it is not suitable for extracting tough stains or rejuvenating old carpets. For this reason, we do not recommend steam cleaning as a stain removal service and we do not guarantee the removal of stains. If you have a carpet that has tough stains, or if you’re expecting your carpet to change colour, then we recommend contacting someone who does carpet shampooing and rejuvenation instead.
Image Credit: Popular Mechanics
So Which Option Should You Choose?
Both carpet cleaning options are effective and have their place.
Dry cleaning is most appropriate for maintaining your carpets and cleaning them regularly because it is something that you can do at home with the vacuum and a dry cleaning chemical, like the ones you can buy at the grocery store.
On the other hand, steam cleaning will clean the carpets more deeply and improve the hygiene of the carpets better than dry cleaning can. Steam cleaning is often a requirement for end of lease cleaning.
One of our key services is end of lease cleaning. At the end of your lease, if you need end of lease carpet cleaning, then we can offer steam cleaning as an optional service that you can add onto your booking (it’s optional because not everyone has carpet).
If you are about to move out and want a no obligation quote for end of lease cleaning, then click the “quote me” button below to create a customised quote online. Just follow the instructions for steps 1 to 3 to get a quote, and then complete the form if you’re ready to make a booking. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call.
Book a home cleaning service or end of lease cleaner online instantly!
Book a home cleaning service or end of lease cleaner online instantly!
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