You may be wanting to book your carpets in for a deep clean, but you’re unsure if you will have time to stick around while it’s getting done.
With people living such busy lives these days, planning is absolutely key!
There are a few factors to consider when answering this question, but first, let’s give you the average answer:
How Long Does Carpet Cleaning Take?
On average, it takes around 30 minutes per room. This can vary depending on the room size but also what kind of carpet you have and if there are particular stains that need addressing.
But then you have to allow 10 minutes for setting up time, liaising with each other to make sure you get the best results, and then if you have different types of carpet within your house, it can take even longer.
How long to carpet clean an entire home?
Let’s use a 3 bedroom house with normal synthetic carpets as an example:
Setup Time (20-30 minutes): Chemicals will need mixing regularly, water tanks will no doubt need changing at least once on average, tools will need to be swapped around and spray bottles refilling. All of this will take time.
The cleaning process (3-4 hours): Cleaning your house will take a while that’s for sure. For a thorough clean expect it to take at least 3 hours. Carpets need pre-spraying, dwell time, specific stain removal and then extraction.
Rinse after clean (40 minutes): This is an important step in the cleaning process as it removes any chemicals and detergent left inside. It prevents the carpet from feeling sticky, stops dirt from getting trapped inside easily and helps in the drying process.
Assistance in drying (Optional 1 hour): Your carpet cleaner could stick around after the clean to help dry the carpets if you wish. They have large fans which can increase ventilation and dry those carpets faster. This is a completely optional service, your carpets will dry out on their own, but can take up to 10 hours to dry fully. See our guide on how long will it take to dry carpet for some great tips on speeding this process up.
So, for a full 3 bedroom home to be carpet cleaned throughout will take at least 4 hours.
Do All Carpets Take The Same Cleaning Time?
No, some carpets will take a bit longer to clean. Natural carpet fibres will take longer to clean due to the care being taken and sometimes the extra thickness.
There are really only 4 kinds of natural fibres that are used in the west (although i’m sure someone somewhere could prove me wrong, but in general,) Wool, Sisal, Coir and seagrass.
Each of them have different cleaning methods and will take a little extra time, care and attention to clean.
How Long Will It Take To Clean A Carpet Myself?
To clean a carpet yourself properly will take a considerably longer period of time, and that’s presuming you can truly deep clean it on your own. If you are trying to clean your carpets with a rental such as a rug doctor, you’re going to be there all day.
Not to mention the products provided (which are pretty expensive I might add) don’t compare to the commercial chemicals a professional is accustomed to.
These machines simply aren’t powerful enough for a deep clean and while you may be able to freshen the carpets up after a clean, you will be disappointed with the results if you want to significantly improve the look and feel of your carpet.
How Long Until I Can Walk On Carpet After The Cleaning Process?
As long as your feet are clean, there’s nothing really stopping you from walking on it straight away. Don’t wear socks though, nothing more annoying than a soggy sock!
If you do walk on your carpet while it’s wet and you are wearing shoes, that will be the reason why your carpet gets dirty faster after cleaning, especially if it hasn’t been rinsed properly.
However, if what you are really asking is when will your carpet dry, it can take up to 10 hours if you don’t ask your carpet cleaner for assistance and if you don’t use any of the steps provided in the previous link.
Is it safe to stay in a room that has been carpet cleaned?
Yes it’s perfectly fine to stay in a room that has been carpet cleaned by a professional, you can even sleep in the room if you want. The only time it can be unsafe is if after 24 hours the carpet has not dried out as it could develop mould spores. However, if it has been cleaned by a professional, that drying time will be nothing like 24 hours.
Conclusion
We hope that your questions have been answered in this blog post. While you can’t be specific with every carpet, you can expect an estimated timeframe from your carpet cleaner.
Carpets are wonderful but can be a nightmare to clean sometimes, so many questions come with owning carpets, we have lots of information surrounding carpet care so don’t forget to check out our other articles.