Hiring a supermarket machine for the weekend or picking up the phone — most Sydney households weigh this up at some point, usually the week before visitors arrive or the week before a final inspection. The honest answer is that both have a place, and which one is right depends less on the carpet and more on what has gone wrong with it. A light refresh of a lightly used bedroom is a reasonable do-it-yourself job. A traffic lane that has taken five years of grit, a pet accident that has reached the underlay, or a bond clean an agent has to sign off on are not.
The gap between the two is mostly water temperature, suction and what happens afterwards. A hire machine puts water down at roughly room temperature and lifts a fraction of it back out. A truck-mounted unit heats water well past what a domestic machine can reach and recovers most of it, which is why a professionally cleaned carpet is walkable in a few hours instead of damp overnight. Carpet left wet for a day is where musty smells and, in a bad case, mould come from — see why carpet smells after cleaning.
The other thing worth knowing before you start is what your carpet is made of. Wool, nylon and polypropylene all react differently to heat, pH and moisture, and the most common way people ruin a carpet themselves is using far too much detergent on wool. Our guide to carpet fibre types and cleaning techniques explains what to check.
Homeowners might not prioritise carpet cleaning that much, but we’re here to tell you that, if you have carpeted floors in your house, it’s something you should highly prioritise for various reasons as supported by studies. Removal of allergens and detrimental bacteria can improve the quality of indoor air and make allergy breakouts less often. Apart from scheduled cleaning, it’s also necessary when you’re renting out your home or when you’re hosting a party of some sorts. Generally, you’d have two options for carpet cleaning to choose from, you can either have your carpets professionally cleaned, or clean them on your own.Let’s go through some of the pros and cons of each option:DIY Cleaning
Homeowners who opt for DIY cleaning are likely to rent or purchase cleaning equipment for their carpets. It’s cheaper to purchase/rent cleaning equipments compared to hiring professional cleaners, but in order to determine the better of the two options, we’ll have to look at more advantages than cost savings.Pros
- Homeowners can witness remarkable cost savings through renting or purchasing cleaning equipment instead of getting professional cleaners, the saving would mainly be from cost of labour.
- DIY cleaning is more feasible for pet owners, because your cleaning equipment can quickly take care of the mess left on your carpets by your pets.
Cons
- What DIY cleaning lacks is labour, you might ask your family members to help in cleaning, but there would be inconsistency in your cleaning.
- DIY cleaning process takes up a lot of your critical time. Moreover, rented equipment is only available for a certain amount of time, so you might end up rushing through the cleaning.
- Homeowners using DIY carpet cleaners are unaware of the amount of cleaners to be used. Many of them end up applying way too much chemicals, which damage the carpets. Similarly, improper cleaning techniques might also cause wear to the carpets.
Professional Cleaning
Many homeowners don’t consider cleaning carpets themselves, for that reason they opt for professional carpet cleaning companies. While these services might cost homeowners more than DIY techniques, the investment is worth it.Pros
- People clean carpets as a profession, these are people with years of experience in carpet cleaning, dealing with every type of carpet stain imaginable. They’re better equipped to treat your carpet stains than anybody else.
- Professional cleaners have specialised equipment, which offers more cleaning power than the commercial cleaning equipment consumers can rent/purchase. This leaves you carpets drier and cleaners than you’d get yourself.
- Finally and most importantly is the convenience. You’d have to lay back and relax as the professionals do their job, and you’d not be losing any of your precious time on the work.
Cons
- It has already been determined that hiring professional cleaners is more expensive than DIY carpet cleaning. One way people might save money on professional dry cleaners is by only having the high traffic parts of your house/workplace cleaned like the hallway, entrance etc.
Getting a price before you decide
Cost is usually the reason people lean towards doing it themselves, so it helps to know the real numbers rather than guessing. Professional carpet cleaning in Sydney starts from around $40 to $60 an hour, with a two-bedroom home from $120 and a three-bedroom home from $150. Once you add machine hire, chemicals, petrol and most of a Saturday, the gap is smaller than it looks. There is a fuller breakdown in how much does carpet cleaning cost.
Some jobs are not a fair comparison at all. Pet urine needs treating at the source in the underlay, not deodorising on the surface — that is pet stain and odour removal. Water damage from a burst hose or a storm is an emergency and a hire machine will not save the carpet; that is flood carpet cleaning and drying, and we run it same-day. And a bond clean needs an itemised invoice from a professional, which is the whole point of end of lease carpet cleaning.
Adam’s Carpet Cleaning is family-run, has been working across Sydney since 2004, and every technician is IICRC-certified. We will quote for free and tell you straight if a mark cannot be removed. Phone 1300 309 276 or request a free quote, and if you would rather pick a time yourself, book online.
