Best Carpet Cleaning Services

How often should I clean my carpets?

Professionals recommend deep cleaning your carpets once every 12-24 months. You may need to clean your carpets more frequently than this if you have kids, pets, or live in a busy urban area with smoke and pollution often floating in through open windows.

Whether you choose to hire a professional carpet cleaner or settle for a DIY job, carpet is notorious for gathering dust, and the daily grime of life means that avoiding a deep clean can lead to bacteria and odours building up.

To get the most from your carpet in between cleans, you should vacuum at least once weekly and clean up spills straight away with carpet shampoo so stains don’t become deeply ingrained.

Types of Carpet Cleaning Services

Steam Cleaning

Also called hot water extraction, this carpet cleaning method uses a mixture of hot water and chemicals to deep clean your carpets. The carpet is pre-vacuumed to get rid of any top-layer dust. A cleaning chemical is applied and bonds with dirt within carpet fibres.

Hot water is injected into the carpet at high pressure, and extracts the dirt and grime underneath. If you have stubborn stains, they should be treated with a pre-spray to soften the surface of the carpet and get to the root of the stain under the surface.

Dry Carpet Cleaning

Dry carpet cleaning is also known as a surface clean, as it’s not as thorough as steam cleaning.

It involves pre-vacuuming carpets to remove surface dirt. A dry cleaning solvent like a powder is then pushed into carpets using a rotating brush, mixed with a small amount of water. This process breaks down oil and dirt clinging to it in the carpet. An extraction tool then removes both the powder and grime.

Bonnet cleaning

This is a type of dry carpet cleaning that uses a rotary shampooing machine fixed with a circular, cotton pad at the end. The pad is soaked in a cleaning solution.

The machine uses a high-speed motion gitate carpet fibres and dislodge dirt - making it stick to the pad. Any residual dirt left on the carpet is vacuumed afterwards.

Upholstery cleaning

This is a specialised type of cleaning to spritz up your upholstered furniture. This includes cleaning your couch, dining chairs, and even the upholstered headboard of your bed. Not all fabric is the same, and will have different 'care instructions,' so to speak. A professional cleaner will determine the material of your upholstery, for example wool, cotton or silk.

Accordingly, they’ll select a cleaning product and a cleaning method that's suited to the material so it won't shrink and will remain colourfast. For example, some upholstery fabrics can be shampooed, while this would ruin others. Similarly, upholstery can be dry cleaned or you can use a couch steam cleaner.

Should I hire a carpet cleaner or DIY?

Arguments in favour of hiring a professional - Is carpet cleaning worth the money?

• Getting your bond back: Showing that you've hired a professional to do your end-of-lease cleaning will usually help ensure you get the entirety of your bond back when moving out. Talk to your real estate agent or landlord to see if they have a recommended company that they usually work with.
• Speed and accuracy: A good carpet cleaning professional, when selected carefully, will have the equipment and the expert knowledge to clean your carpets effectively and efficiently. They'll be able to remove both surface-level stains and deeper stains the first time around.
• Deep stains like pet stains are more likely to be removed as professional carpet cleaners have the equipment and pre-spray needed to loosen carpet fibres enough to reach the stain below.
• They'll use the right cleaning products: It's true that there are plenty of carpet shampooing products on the market, some of them costing as little as $20. However, these are made with a variety of chemicals that may not suit the fibres of your particular carpet of rug. If the wrong chemical is applied, it can damage the carpet or make a stain more deeply ingrained.
• Steam cleaning done incorrectly can damage carpets as using too much water can cause the flooring underneath to become soaked and develop mould and mildew that's expensive to remove. Without an industrial-strength pre-vacuum, dirt can remain behind while hot water is injected - creating mud.
• All remnants of carpet shampoo and detergent will be effectively removed. Sometimes it can be tricky to extract all detergent and shampoo, but if there's any left behind, it'll simply trap more dust and grime (if you're keen for a visual, think of dreadlocks).

Arguments in favour of a DIY job

Hiring a carpet cleaning machine

• A cost-effective option if you don't mind putting in the grunt work to achieve clean carpets. You can hire a Britex carpet machine (a carpet steam cleaner) from Woolworths or Bunnings, which costs $38.60 for 24 hours, and $47 for 48 hours. You may also have to chip in for an industrial-strength cleaning agent and a spot and stain remover (both around $25) that targets either water-based, oil-based or organic stains. This will cost you around $88.60 at the cheaper end of the spectrum.
• Cheaper than buying a carpet cleaning machine, especially considering most carpets only need to be thoroughly cleaned once a year.
• More allergy friendly as you can rest assured the cleaning products you've selected aren't laden with chemicals and won't trigger allergies or other adverse health reactions.

Buying a carpet cleaning machine

• Conveniently located at home, you won't have to bother with making the yearly trip to Woolies or Bunnings to hire equipment.
• More options available than when hiring. Along with the more standard selections of carpet shampooing machines and steam cleaners, you also have more specialised appliances like spot cleaners and upholstery cleaners.

Buying a carpet cleaning machine can be expensive

For example, cheaper carpet washers are more modestly priced at $200, while a Britex Carpet cleaner (like the ones available from Woolies and Bunnings) will set you back around $1, 500. Considering you'll be cleaning your carpets every 6 months at most, this will probably not be worth it for most people.

How much does it cost to have someone clean your carpet?

• Per hour: The average cost of carpet cleaning in Australia is around $35-40 per hour. Most cleans take around 2 hours, which include 3 standard-sized rooms, with a steam clean and carpet shampooing job). This means that can cost $70 for a carpet clean.

• Per room: Other carpet cleaners charge per room rather than per hour, with a national average cost at around $55 per room. Small rooms are around $25 at the cheapest rate, whereas large rooms can cost $100 per room.

At this rate-by-room, three small rooms will cost $75, while three large rooms can cost $300 in total. It can be tricky to pinpoint an exact cost however, as it depends both on the individual cleaning company's rates and a number of subjective factors outlined below.

Factors that affect your carpet cleaning quote

• The square footage of the rooms you're getting carpet cleaned.
• The type of service you're getting done and the scope of the work. For example, steam cleaning generally costs more than dry cleaning, because it provides a deep cleaner that involves more steps and time. Similarly, if you opt for a one-step service, it'll be cheaper (as low as $25 per room). If you have a dual cleaning service (both dry and steam cleaning), and any add-ons like spot cleaning, it'll fatten up your bill.
• How soiled your carpet is. If your carpets have lots of stubborn stains, they will be more time-consuming and expensive to remove.
• If the rooms have furniture in them. Unfurnished rooms will generally be cheaper to clean than those with couches or beds, as you won't have to pay the carpet cleaners to move them.
• Location of the carpeted rooms. If you live in an apartment on the 11th floor, it'll be harder for the carpet cleaner to bring up all their equipment and supplies - making the job more expensive than if you lived on the ground floor.

How to choose a carpet cleaning service

Carpet cleaners don't need to be licensed, or have formal qualifications or training to work in their trade. As a result, it's helpful to do some prior research to ensure you'll get the best quality carpet cleaning service for your home or commercial space.

• Check credentials and experience. This includes looking into how many years the company has been operating for, and whether carpet cleaners have completed any voluntary training, such as a Certificate III in Asset Maintenance - Carpet Cleaning.
• Professional association membership can be a good indicator that the carpet cleaner adheres to best practice standards for their industry.
• Ask for 3 references from past customers, written within the last month. You can also look on ProductReview.com.au to read reviews for potential carpet cleaning company near you.
• Measure your room first if the company charges based on square footage of a room, rather than an hourly rate. While it may be an innocent mistake if there are innacurate measurements, you don't want to be short-changed as a result of any errors.
• Ask for a written quote outlining the type of cleaning service and scope of work done - such as any extra charges incurred for deodorising or shifting furniture.