Is Professional Carpet and Sofa Cleaning Safe for Your Home?

Before people book, most of them ask us the same thing. Is it safe? Safe for the carpet, safe for the sofa, and safe for the kids and the dog who will be rolling about on it later.

The short answer is yes, when it is done properly. A safe clean comes down to three things. Knowing what you are cleaning, using the right method for it, and leaving it dry with no soap left behind. Here is what that looks like in practice.

It starts with looking, not cleaning

Before anything gets wet, we check what the carpet or fabric is made of, how dirty it is and what the stains are. A wool carpet needs a gentler approach than a synthetic one. Some fabrics react badly to water, and a few are marked dry clean only.

On a sofa we also try the cleaning solution on a small hidden area, so we know how the fabric will react before we do the rest. If something is not safe to clean, we tell you before we start, not after.

The right method for each material

No single method suits everything in a house.

• Most carpets and fabric sofas get a deep clean. A cleaning solution is brushed in to loosen the dirt, then a hot rinse washes it away and is pulled straight back out.
• Natural fibre rugs such as sisal, jute and seagrass shrink or turn brown with too much water, so they are dry cleaned with a low moisture powder instead.
• Leather gets its own gentle clean, then a conditioner to keep it soft.
• Hard floors are cleaned to suit the floor, with no harsh chemicals left behind.

Matching the method to the material is what keeps a clean safe. Using one method on everything is how carpets shrink, fabrics mark and finishes get damaged.

What goes on your carpet

The products we use are pet and child safe. Most of them are non toxic and many are 99% natural. We do not use harsh chemicals unless a job really needs them, which protects your home and the environment.

What gets left behind matters just as much. Soap left in a carpet attracts dirt, so it looks grubby again within weeks. We rinse the cleaning solution out along with the dirt, so nothing sticky stays in the pile.

Damp is the real risk

A carpet that stays wet for a long time can start to smell musty. That is why the rinse is pulled straight back out, and why we comb the pile back into place and use fans or fresh air to help it dry. Carpets are usually dry within a few hours, depending on the carpet, the weather and how well the room is aired.

You can walk on the carpet straight after, carefully. Keep it to a minimum and keep pets off until it is dry. Once it is dry the room can be used as normal.

Hire machines and shop bought sprays

A hire machine can do a decent job on the right carpet if you follow the instructions. The usual problems are too much water, too much cleaning solution and not enough rinsing. That leaves a carpet that is slow to dry and gets dirty again fast.

Shop bought stain sprays can set some stains or take the colour out of a carpet, so try any product somewhere hidden first. If a stain will not shift, leave it and ask us rather than scrubbing harder. Scrubbing spreads the stain and roughs up the pile.

Questions worth asking any cleaner

• What will you check before you start?
• Which method will you use on my carpet or sofa, and why?
• Are your products safe for children and pets?
• How long will it take to dry?
• What happens if I am not happy with an area?

A good cleaner will answer all of these without any fuss. Our answer to the last one is our re-clean guarantee. If any area is not right, tell us within 24 hours and we will come back and clean it again.

So, is it safe?

Yes. A professional clean done the right way is safe for your carpets, your furniture and everyone who lives with them. We are trained and certified, fully insured and family run, and we have cleaned more than 5,300 carpets and 3,100 sofas.

If you have a carpet, sofa or rug you are not sure about, send us a photo on WhatsApp or get in touch and we will tell you how we would clean it.