-
Mar 24, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
3 On Your Side: Best Carpet Cleaners
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Winter's grime and slush can really do a number on your carpets. So if you're thinking of hiring someone to clean it, how do you know who will do a good job? 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan has the dirt on some national carpet-cleaning services.
Are your carpets looking shabby after the long winter? "At least once a year, it's a good idea to have your carpets professionally cleaned by an outside service," recommends Carolyn Forte with the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. You'll get a better deep-down cleaning than you could if you did it by yourself. But not even the pros can get out every single stain. So the Institute evaluated four national carpet cleaning services.
Stanley Steemer's scores tied with Sears, overall. Both companies used a process where they inject a hot water and cleaning solution into your carpet and then use powerful equipment to extract the dirt and any residue that might be left behind. "Both were very cost-effective in our tests at under $.30 a square foot," said Forte. But Stanley Steemer was the only one who located the pretreated stains in all of our testers' homes, as well as explained what to do should a stain reappear.
Good Housekeeping says Home Depot's Chem-Dry service was very professional. The company uses a carbonator extractor that shoots out a carbonated solution from the truck outside, down to the carpet and it sucks up all the soil.
Remember, it's a good idea to have your carpets professionally cleaned every twelve months. But if you've got children or pets, more often is recommended.
Stanley Steemer
http://www.stanleysteemer.com/
Home Depot
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=SV_HS_ChemDry_Landing&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)