Carpet Cleaning Services in Baltimore, MD (Maryland)

Baltimore Carpet Cleaning

Few homeowners in Baltimore professionally clean their carpets on a regular basis, and even fewer are aware that almost every major carpet manufacturer in the business recommends that their carpets be cleaned once or twice a year by professional carpet cleaners in Baltimore. That might seem like a tall order to some, but Baltimore carpet cleaning, in conjunction with regular carpet cleaning maintenance, is hands down the best way to get the longest life, best looks, and optimal comfort from the carpets you paid a pretty penny for in the first place.

Cleaning Costs Annual carpet cleanings are quite a commitment, and the first thought most homeowners have is in regards to how much bringing in a pro is going to cost. In Baltimore, the average carpet cleaning for an entire home runs just less than $200 ($198 to be exact). How do we know? As part of our commitment to quality customer service, ServiceMagic.com collects data on all of the jobs that begin as contractor referrals on our site. Based on that information, we not only can say that carpet cleaning services in Baltimore average $200, but that they can cost as little as $49, and as much as $600, especially if you traded in your row house in the city for a larger home out in the suburbs. With carpet installation costs that run anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000 in Baltimore, a few hundred bucks is a small price to pay for carpets that will look, and feel, as new a decade down the road as they did the day you had them put in.

Cleaning Methods Deciding that it's time to hire a Baltimore carpet cleaner to come in and clean your carpets is the easy part. Deciding who to call and which method is going to be best is the real challenge. While it can be overwhelming to surf the yellow pages and find the right carpet cleaner for you, it helps to know what your options are, and when each method is most appropriate, before you start fishing around. To simplify things, most carpet cleaning methods break down into two categories: maintenance cleanings and deep cleanings. Knowing which type you need is the best way to determine which carpet cleaning service in Baltimore is the right one to call.

Maintenance Carpet Cleaning We'll start with the obvious. By the far the best maintenance you can provide your carpet is regular vacuuming. There's simply no other way to fight the day-to-day dust, dirt, and debris that any carpet accumulates with regular use. Beyond that, there are several carpet cleaning methods out there that are good options for an intermittent cleaning between the times when you really deep clean your carpets. Bonnet cleaning and dry carpet cleaning in Baltimore are your best bets for "maintenance" cleanings, since they do a nice job of cleaning your carpets, and take very little, or no, time to dry. Neither method gets deep down into your carpet pile, however, so the best strategy is to alternate these with an annual deep cleaning as well, but we'll get to that in a moment. Shampooing and foam carpet cleaning in Baltimore also fall into this category, though these methods have fallen out of favor of late. Your carpets will look great right after the clean, but these processes often leave an unseen residue on your carpet that actually attracts dirt over time, necessitating even more cleanings in the end.

Deep Carpet Cleaning The type of cleaning that most carpet manufacturers recommend is hot water extraction, also known as steam cleaning. Baltimore carpet cleaning is usually associated with this process, and when it comes to getting your carpets clean, down to and including your carpet padding, there is no equal. The only downside to this process is the drying time. Baltimore carpet cleaning services that use this method inject a warm water and detergent solution into your carpet, which is then immediately vacuumed up along with all the dirt and stains it washes out. That means you'll likely have to wait up to eight hours for the carpet to completely dry before you can start using it again. It's an inconvenience for certain, especially if you're doing your entire home, but there's no comparison when it comes to ending up with carpets that look and feel like new.

To DIY or Not to DIY The majority of the carpet cleaning machines you can rent at the supermarket or big box home improvement stores like Home Depot are of the hot water extraction variety. And it's true, you can save quite a bit of money doing it yourself as opposed to hiring Baltimore carpet cleaners to come in and do the job for you. Keep in mind, however, that the results will be dramatically different. A stand alone unit will leave your carpets cleaner than before. There's no question of that. But the big advantage of hiring the job out is hiring someone who uses a truck-mounted unit. Because their cleaners are powered by their vehicle's engine, these carpet cleaning services in Baltimore are much more powerful than stand alone units. They suck up more soiling agents and water from your carpet, which leads to cleaner carpets and quicker dry times; consequently, ask your potential contractor whether they use truck-mounted units before you hire. The truth is that if you can afford it, hiring Baltimore carpet cleaning services pretty much guarantees better results than if you go it alone.