Do you clean rugs in the home?

[Mikey P]

Can you ID a potential bleeder from across the room?
What about synthetics, from across the room as well?
Tufteds too?


What precautions do you use to protect the floor?
Do you accelerate drying?
Will you leave a fan behind?

Where do you draw the line?

 

[Papa John]

I can't answer your poll because it's not complete.

I will only clean rugs in the home after an inspection and determine that the risk is low.
The rugs must have pads and not heavily soiled.
I inform the client of the limitations of in house cleaning. ie. I will still be leaving behind some of the soil.
For trashed rugs, I"ll suggest a proper cleaning in the plant where I can give the rug a full submersion cleaning.
I refuse to clean rugs in the house I don't feel comfortable with.

Some rugs just aren't worth the cost of in-plant cleaning- and I'll recommend replacement.

 

[Cleanworks]

I only clean synthetics in the home and only where I have a safe surface to clean and dry on. I am not going to carry plastic tarps to place under rugs. I would rather bring them to the shop and give them a proper cleaning.

 

[Cleanworks]

I just turned down 3 rugs in a condo. Would have had to clean on top of hardwood floors and let them dry there. No thanks, not worth the aggravation and I don't think she would pay the price of protecting the floors and doing them properly. I have her the name of one of my drycleaning agents where she can drop them off.

 

[Hack Attack]

I just turned down 3 rugs in a condo. Would have had to clean on top of hardwood floors and let them dry there. No thanks, not worth the aggravation and I don't think she would pay the price of protecting the floors and doing them properly. I have her the name of one of my drycleaning agents where she can drop them off.

and a lot of custys don't recognise some of the dangers of cleaning inhouse

been told more than a few times we can clean them on the wooden floor

I get 1 or 2 rugs a week with my customer base, I'm thinking of passing on all rugs that can't be cleaned onsite as too much hassle

 

[Nomad74]

I take as many as I can to the shop. People don’t want to pay for pit cleaning, so they really aren’t my target “rug shop” customer.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I retired from pickup and delivery five years ago.

I didn't like it, and you can't make me.

 

[Cleanworks]

and a lot of custys don't recognise some of the dangers of cleaning inhouse

been told more than a few times we can clean them on the wooden floor

I get 1 or 2 rugs a week with my customer base, I'm thinking of passing on all rugs that can't be cleaned onsite as too much hassle

I'll do a synthetic rug as long as there is somewhere to dry it. Linoleum, ceramic or vinyl floors are ok. Wood, natural stone or laminate are not in my opinion. I have a small rug shop and have about 20 agents in my service area. I make more money and do a better job in the shop.

 

[Cleanworks]

I retired from pickup and delivery five years ago.

I didn't like it, and you can't make me.

You have to charge enough to make worthwhile. Compare it to the time you spend cleaning in home carpets. I have a minimum pick up and delivery charge of $250. A 10 x 10 rug averages $300 and I am one of the cheaper rug cleaners.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

NO!

 

[Hack Attack]

NO!

have you heard of diversification?

If I had a bigger population base I'd be more inclined to carry on, but I'm heading to nothing offsite

*will offend rug gurus

 

[Cleanworks]

have you heard of diversification?

If I had a bigger population base I'd be more inclined to carry on, but I'm heading to nothing offsite

*will offend rug gurus
View attachment 100137

Oh yeah, that's offensive. What did you charge?

 

[Hack Attack]

Oh yeah, that's offensive. What did you charge?

$40 for vacuuming both sides, light prespray, rinse with few extra drystrokes, dry outside

 

[Cleanworks]

$40 for vacuuming both sides, light prespray, rinse with few extra drystrokes, dry outside

From the pic, it looks like a 5x7. In the shop it would be aprox $90. That's if they dropped it off. I do discount heavily doing it on site.

 

[Hack Attack]

From the pic, it looks like a 5x7. In the shop it would be aprox $90. That's if they dropped it off. I do discount heavily doing it on site.

they were 20 min drive from me, I quoted $160 to take offsite and redeliver within 7 days

 

[Cleanworks]

they were 20 min drive from me, I quoted $160 to take offsite and redeliver within 7 days

That's why I have drycleaners take in rugs for me. My minimum to pick up and deliver is $250. It's always a hassle to make a specific time to pick up and drop off a rug. With the dry cleaners, I pick up when I'm going past.

 

[Papa John]

Had this rug come into the plant yesterday. Odd that they agreed to an expensive inplant cleaning.
I'll give a discount, so that I can live with myself.

 

[Nomad74]

They probably have some weird-o Bay Area attachment to the rug. Like, "That was the first rug my puppy ever peed on."

 

[Jimmy L]

I will if they have NEVER had pets in the house.
Too many times I have done them and get that call the next day that they still stink. And I no longer pick them up and deliver them.

 

[Papa John]

I consider my rug plant as my Man Cave.
I enjoy putting on the headphones and listen to music or comedians on Youtube while making the money.

 

[Hack Attack]

They probably have some weird-o Bay Area attachment to the rug. Like, "That was the first rug my puppy ever peed on."

I had a custy who wanted her rug cleaned other than the 2 paw prints that her (sob) beloved (sob) dog, had left as a puppy after the deck had been stained...

I almost had a heart attack when I lost track of where they were and thought I'd removed them

 

[Bob Pruitt]

I clean them and always have - in the home.
Cleaning methods vary. Regular wanding, dry compound, upholstery dry type tool...whatever it takes. Chemistry will obviously vary as well.
I know I'm not an "Expert" but I have cleaned hundreds over the years.
I don't get any of them very wet. I do dry them and groom them.
Taking any precautions to protect flooring as required...but in Florida it's almost always laying on top of tile...so no issues.
Yesterday second job was 2 couches and 2 living room chairs plus the fragile wool rug that really would not have survived a in plant soaking. I cleaned it with the upholstery tool. It all looked good and they were happy.
First job yesterday was wool wall to wall carpet. Cake.

 

[Jim Williams]

I clean them all in home, unless they are urine soaked. Then I recommend a rug shop that can float the urine out.

Low water pressure and only key the wand on the back stroke. Never had a problem.

 

[Doug Cox]

Most area rugs I clean are on site. I don't clean polypropylene rugs. I get a little worried on laminates, but won't clean on it if they are too thin. Never had a problem and don't clean on tarps.

 

[Mikey P]

. I don't clean polypropylene rugs.

Why not?

 

[sassyotto]

I clean what I can safely do in the home which is about 90% of the time. Since I run the biz out of my home and my van doesnt have room for rugs and most importantly I dont have insurance for anything taken out of the customers home, i dont clean anything offsite.

The problem here is that the nearest rug plant is 1 1/2 hours away. Somebody could make bank here.

 

[Acp]

Its pretty easy to spot the bleeders and obviously we pass on the rugs so thin they are like a blanket.

most people dont have super delicate rugs and we have always just done in home cleaning.

 

[Doug Cox]

Why not?

They like to ripple.

 

[Mikey P]

They like to ripple.

they also like to un ripple as they dry.

I tell the customer that there is a 50% chance of it happening and they have these choices to deal with the ripples

-wait it out, they almost always lay flat again in time
-roll it up super tight inside out and tie or tape it rolled for a few days
-use a close steamer to relax the ripples
-pay me to take it to a shop who will clean and block it for 10 times whats it's worth
-visit overstock.com

 

[The Great Oz]

You have to know enough about rugs and flooring to to do more than a quick skim on-location. Anything else you're taking a big risk, and no matter what the customer says, like, "just do your best" they'll expect you to buy it when you ruin it.

Make sure your insurance covers your workmanship, since most policies don't. (I suppose if you wreck a rug you can take it back to your shop for additional work and have it "fall off the truck" on the way.)

Target/Walmart rugs are usually safe to clean and don't cost much to replace, but there's a lot of very expensive junk out there. Be careful!

*will offend rug gurus

Hack Attack is pretty honest, so no offense.