Rental Carpet Cleaning Machines – Do They Work in SW Florida?

Images AFTER Carpeting Had An Opportunity To Dry

Recently a realtor called us to evaluate the carpeting in a rental home.  You see, a couple weeks earlier, the tenants moved out and invited the property manager to do a walk thru so they could resolve any issues and qualify to get their security deposit back.

The manager did a walk-thru, noticed everything was in order and the carpeting had been cleaned and promptly authorized the return of the tenant’s security deposit.  (Note to self – carpeting always look better when wet – the true result of the cleaning effort will appear when it dries)

Fast forward two weeks.  The property manager met a prospective new tenant at the home to show it and was horrified to see the crème carpeting now had brown splotches throughout and what looked like moss could be seen on the window sills.

What we have here folks is someone “pretending” to be a professional carpet cleaner.

In this instance, the tenants, to save money regardless of the impact it may have on the homeowner, decided to pretend to be carpet cleaners and rented a “carpet cleaning machine” at the local grocery store.  They purchased the “over the counter” cleaning solutions as recommended, and dutifully returned to the home where their six-hour journey in carpet cleaning would begin.

They read the directions on how to mix the watered down cleaning solutions, filled the unheated small tank with water and turned on the undersized suction unit.  They were set!  Now for the next six hours, they would labor over refilling the tank, dragging the machine against the carpeting and change partners every twenty minutes.

The end result?  A surface cleaning combined with a sopping mess of water and cleaning solution.  It took the carpeting three days to “dry”, left a saturated mess in the padding, and because of the length of time it took the carpeting to dry, browned the carpeting throughout.

And let’s not forget about the mossy growing stuff on the window sills.  Yup, that was mold and mildew due to the elevated humidity in a locked up house with no electricity for over a week!

Rental carpet cleaning machines are useless.

To properly clean carpets according to ALL major carpet mills, most carpeting must be steamed cleaned.  A store rental unit can’t “steam clean” anything.  They lack sufficient psi to properly apply commercial grade cleaning solutions deep in the carpet fibers without saturating the padding.  They lack heat to create steam so once again, they soak the carpeting and padding.  And one more thing.  They lack vacuum to extract over 90% of the water they apply.  In the end, the homeowner is left with a mess.

ALL RESIDENTIAL LEASES SHOULD FORBID CARPET CLEANING RENTAL MACHINE AND DEMAND TENANT PROVIDE THE RENTAL AGENT WITH A RECEIPT FROM A PROFESSIONAL CARPET CLEANER.

Tru-Clean is a Certified Partner with the prestigious Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the International Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI).  In addition, we are A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau and a four-year-in-a-row winner of the coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award.  We are also the “cleaner of choice” to many of our areas leading property managers, investors, and homeowners who are serious about protecting their investments while extending the life of their carpeting.  All of our cleaning efforts are in strict adherence to manufacturer recommendations including Shaw, Karastan and Mowhawk.

For more information about Tru-Clean and our thoroughly exhaustive approach to carpet cleaning, please visit us online at www.trucleansurfacecare.com or call us anytime at 239-541-4888 – Lee County, 239-206-1935 – Bonita Springs, Naples and Marco Island or 941-621-2198 – Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.

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