When I first started my carpet and upholstery business in Swindon, finding out what to charge was one of the most difficult tasks. Even after many carpet cleaning training courses and hours and hours on carpet and upholstery cleaning forums, it still seemed as though there was no set pricing method. Other carpet cleaners are very secretive about their pricing methods and prices, even on the carpet cleaning courses it was hard get an answer.
Many different ways are used to calculate carpet cleaning prices, some carpet cleaners charge by the square meter, others may charge by the room or even by the house. Some carpet cleaners may come out to give a quotation when others may quote over the phone or by email. Personally I choose to provide Swindon residents with quotations over the phone, by email or by the contact form on my website. I charge an overall job price rather than charging by the square meter, I find this pricing structure offers better value to customers when pricing on larger jobs. When quoting for commercial jobs I usually carry out an onsite quotation.
It’s not just the carpet & upholstery cleaning pricing methods that vary either, the actual prices vary even more! The main reason for this is that not all carpet cleaning is the same, far from it in fact. This is why when choosing a carpet cleaner, more needs to be taken in to account than just price. Before I started my carpet cleaning business in Swindon I thought a DIY carpet cleaning machine could do just as good a job as a large industrial machine but just take longer, this is not the case. To clean a carpet properly a pre-treatment procedure needs to be carried out followed by a rinse from a powerful hot water extraction machine. Some carpet cleaners carry out the pre-treatment but use chemicals that are safe to be left in the carpet so the rinse process doesn’t have to be carried out. Other carpet cleaners choose not to carry out the pre-treatment and go straight for the rinse process. Both these methods can be effective and have their place but personally when cleaning a homeowners carpets I believe they should be pre-treated and thorougly rinsed and neutralised afterwards.
Something to take into account is that the most expensive carpet cleaner may not always be the best carpet cleaner and the cheapest carpet cleaner may not always be the worst, this is certainly true in Swindon and the surrounding areas, there are some carpet cleaners in Swindon doing a great job and following all procedures but charging half that of a lesser cleaner doing half a job. When asking for a quotation the most important thing to remember is knowing which service you are being quoted for. Ask some questions about cleaning methods and machinery and if pre-treatments and stain removal are included (if you are unsure about the information you have been given call another carpet cleaner for a quote and ask them about what you have been told) make sure you get a few quotes and know exactly what each one is for.
RB Professional’s carpet cleaning process consists of a pre-vacuum, pre-spray treatment, spray treatment agitation followed by rinsing with an enormous hot water extraction machine, with RB Professional this is all done as our standard carpet clean. Many other reputable carpet cleaners do the same, make sure you find one.