You might be wondering if a carpet cleaning company will take furniture movements into consideration when you’ve been quoted for a clean, or whether or not they expect you to move it yourselves.
If you haven’t had this conversation to clarify what happens, it can be a bit awkward when it comes to the day they arrive.
To avoid this, let’s have a look at some common questions surrounding this topic and answer them one by one.
Common questions about moving furniture during carpet cleaning
Do you have to move the furniture yourself?
Do carpet cleaning companies charge for moving furniture?
How much might they charge for larger furniture?
Can Professional Carpet Cleaners Work Around Furniture?
Will Carpet Dry With Furniture On Top?
What if my furniture is damaged?
1. Do you have to the move furniture yourself?
Most carpet cleaning companies will offer to move furniture for you. But, this isn’t always the case, especially with larger items of furniture.
You may have to make arrangements to get larger bits of furniture, such as your mattress yourself if you want it cleaned underneath.
More often than not though, if it’s a one man band carpet cleaning service, they will just ask you for a bit of help when moving the larger items.
If you are unable to help for, it may be a case of rearranging the appointment so they can bring help. To avoid this problem, have the conversation before booking in.
2. Do carpet cleaning companies charge for moving furniture?
Some companies may factor the cost of moving furniture in with your quote. Again, this is especially true of larger household items.
It makes perfect sense for them to do this as most heavy items can only be moved with two people, and 2 people mean 2 wages. Not only that but the time taken away from cleaning adds up if furniture needs shuffling about a lot.
If it is only a few small items then no reasonable person will charge you for it and if they try to, find another company!
3. How much might they charge for larger furniture?
So let’s take that bed as an example, we personally would charge an extra £10 for every item that needs two people to move it.
Of course, if you’re able to help us with it yourself, then we would only charge for the extra time taken and it wouldn’t cost much more than the original quote.
Every company is different though so make sure you clarify this with them before proceeding.
4. Can Professional Carpet Cleaners Work Around Furniture?
In many cases, you can simply clean around any furniture. Your carpet cleaning professional will take the necessary measures to protect the furniture while extracting and there are usually no drawbacks to doing this.
When You Might Have To Empty A Room For Carpet Cleaning
There is an exception where you will need to empty a room of all furniture for carpet cleaning to take effect and that is due to infestation. If you have carpet beetles, bed bugs, ants or some other creepy crawly living inside of your carpets, then the entire room will need emptying and cleaning.
Also, if you have a bad odour that needs removing, you may need to remove furniture to make sure that every nook and cranny is deodorised. This is particularly important if you suspect that the bad smell could be mould or mildew.
5. Will the carpet dry with furniture on top of it after cleaning?
This can be a problem with solid tables and underneath other items with no footstools. The carpet will take longer to dry and potentially can lead to mould spores becoming prevalent.
What we personally do to tackle this is to dry the area out with a large fan before we leave, and then put the furniture back over.
Occasionally, if the customer doesn’t have time to wait, we will apply an enzyme cleaner to that area which will prevent any mould from growing in that area for months, thus removing the risk.
Does Putting Foil Under Furniture Allow It To Dry?
Yes, this is a great tip if you can’t wait to move your furniture back in place after cleaning it. Get some aluminium foil and fold it a few times, then place it under the feet of your furniture. If the furniture is flat, place the foil to the same width of that item and fold it a few times to ensure it doesn’t break.
6. What If My Furniture Is Damaged?
If your furniture has been damaged significantly by the carpet cleaning process by either over-wetting or a corner of your table has been chipped by the wand, you can expect to be compensated.
The carpet cleaner may want to refund you with cash to avoid excessive insurance costs but ultimately it’s down to your discretion.
How To Protect Your Furniture When Carpet Cleaning
If you decide not to move furniture during cleaning, there are ways of protecting your household items before the process begins. Foam blocks can be used to raise your furniture off the ground away from the carpet which will remove the possibility of them getting wet or damaged through contact.
Carpet cleaning companies sometimes have these with them, or they will simply place a towel by the furniture during the clean to protect it, then remove it after they’re finished.