My name is Joel Belmont. I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide you with information about carpet cleaning and help you choose a carpet cleaning company.

As the owner of Belmont Clean Carpet and Upholstery Care, I have spent over 10 years cleaning textiles in the Roaring Fork Valley. I have attended numerous schools, workshops, and seminars to stay abreast of changes in carpets and fabrics. I am certified by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification).  I also spent over a year in training with my father, Charles Belmont, founder and president of the Certified Cleaners Association.  I am the only carpet cleaner with a Five-Star rating on www.EthicalServices.com (a nationwide watchdog featured on ABC’s 20/20) in Aspen, Snowmass Village, Woody Creek, Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, CO.

During my years of cleaning, I’ve learned that carpet cleaning is the subject of much confusion. In fact, people have so many misconceptions about carpet cleaning that I decided to offer this consumer education message, so when you select a carpet cleaning company, you can make an informed, intelligent decision.

I’m going to share with you 7 costly misconceptions about carpet cleaning. Plus, I’ll offer 4 recommendations. And, I’ll give you 8 questions you should ask a carpet cleaner before you invite them into your home.

: You should wait as long as possible before cleaning your carpet.

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Dirt is an abrasive – like sandpaper. Every time you step on the carpet, you grind dirt into your carpet fibers. This cuts your carpet, just as if you had used a knife, causing it to wear out faster. A soiled carpet will not last nearly as long as a clean carpet. And while vacuuming helps – by itself, it’s simply not enough. The longer you wait to have your carpet cleaned, the more damage you do to your carpet and the faster it wears out.

: The only reason to clean carpets is to remove the soil and improve the appearance.

NOT TRUE! As you probably know, outdoor air contains pollens, fungus, bacteria, air pollution, cigarette smoke, car exhaust – and hundreds of other harmful chemicals. When you and your family members come into your home, you carry those pollens and chemicals in your hair and on your skin, clothing, and shoes. Not surprisingly, all those chemicals, pollens and bacteria end up – you guessed it – in your carpet.

Carpet cleaning is not just about removing soil and improving the appearance of your home. It’s about protecting your family and safeguarding their health by removing pollutants and contaminants that can affect your quality of life. In some instances, INDOOR AIR QUALITY can be 70-100 times more polluted than outdoor air. Since carpet is the lowest and largest horizontal surface, it acts as a “sink” or filter, which needs to be emptied and cleaned regularly.

Another factor to consider is that carpet fibers are made to hide and camouflage soil and debris. So, by the time you can see evidence of soiling, your carpet is already overdue for a cleaning. Naturally, some colors do a better job of hiding soil than others. For example, earth tone colors (browns) do a beautiful job of hiding soil, so you cannot depend on appearance as a basis for deciding when it is time to clean your carpets.

: ONE METHOD OF CARPET CLEANING IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER!

No.  In fact different carpet cleaning companies use VERY different systems, and many of them can cause soil to reappear soon after they have been cleaned, and can permanently damage your carpet and upholstery!

Here are the most common methods:

The first one uses a water-based , which is applied to the carpet, allowed to dry, and then simply vacuumed. Can you imagine applying shampoo to your hair, allowing it to dry and then removing the shampoo from your head with a vacuum? This method can leave a tremendous amount of soapy residue in your carpet, and it doesn’t provide adequate agitation to clean and lift the carpet fibers, making it an un-effective way to clean.

The second method uses to try to float dirt to the surface.  Carpets need to be deep cleaned with an effective cleaner and a thorough system, and effervescent bubbles simply do not provide a thorough cleaning.

Third, the method spreads an absorbent mixture that looks like wet sawdust all over your carpeting. Then a machine brushes the mixture into the carpet, which in theory causes dirt to absorb into the mixture. When the mixture has dried, a vacuum cleaner sucks the material out of the carpeting.    In a cut pile or berber carpet, it is impossible to vacuum it all out, leaving both the cleaning compound and soil in the carpets.

The fourth method is called . This is a quick, one-step process where boiling temperature water, loaded with soap, is injected into the carpet at 400 pounds of pressure per square inch.  This carries soapy water through the carpet, and often through the carpet pad and into the sub-floor.  It can take literally days for the soaked carpet to dry out, which can cause mold problems.  Also, the extremely hot temperature of the water can soften the glue in the carpet backing, causing the fibers to permanently distort, and the combination of moisture and temperature can shrink the carpet away from the walls, or stretch it, leaving ripples and causing permanent damage.  Pre-vacuuming is usually left out, it doesn’t afford adequate agitation, and the soap residue left in the fibers attracts the spots and traffic lanes right back to where they were before!  Within a few weeks, it can look like your carpet was never cleaned, and over time it can ruin your carpet.

In summary, the reason why none of these methods are effective, is because they are lacking 4 important elements of a proper cleaning: (1) they leave a residue to attract soil, (2) they don’t pre-vacuum, (3) they use too little or too much moisture, and (4) they don’t agitate the carpet fibers enough to clean and restore them to a healthy pile.

The last method is a .

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First, the carpet is pre-vacuumed with a 3hp commercial extractor and pile lifter.  Scientific studies show that 70-75% of all the soil, allergens and foreign objects in carpeting can be removed with a professional vacuum, making this a critical step for a thorough cleaning.

Next, an environmentally friendly cleaner that contains no soaps, bleaches or caustics—thus leaving no harmful residue to attract more soil—is gently applied to the carpet fibers, allowing it to penetrate to the base of the carpet pile.  The cleaner is 100% safe for you, for your carpets and for the environment, and because it doesn’t leave any residue, the cleaning will last 3 to 4 times as long!

Third, a rotary floor machine with a nylon brush (or a softer brush for wool and other delicate carpet fibers) is used to clean all four sides of the carpet fibers.  This breaks up stubborn spots, liquefies any remaining soil or bacteria, and lifts the carpet knap back up to its original condition.

Once the soil has been liquefied, special cotton bonnets are used on the floor machine to absorb and thoroughly remove the liquefied soil, leaving the carpets fibers clean, healthy and beautiful.

The last step is to groom the carpet by hand with a pile lifting brush, leaving all the fibers lifted up in one direction. This helps the carpet to dry in just a few hours and leaves the carpet like new again.

Without question, the most effective way to clean carpeting is with a five-step, low-moisture, no residue system. It’s the most effective cleaning method on the market and the only method that thoroughly removes dirt, harmful bacteria, fungus, chemicals, pollens and other residues, while restoring the carpet fibers to their original condition.  This is the method my company uses.

: ALL METHODS OF CARPET CLEANING ARE GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

Unfortunately, no.  There are three important factors that make a system environmentally friendly:  one, the equipment must be powered by clean energy; two, the cleaning solution must be certified as non-toxic and safe for the environment; and three, a carpet cleaner must dispose of the waste water correctly.

(1) Many carpet cleaners use machines that are petroleum powered, using diesel fuel or unleaded gasoline to run their equipment.  That means that not only is your neighborhood being polluted by the exhaust from their van and equipment, which runs for the duration of the cleaning whether it’s 1 hour or all day long, but this also adds unnecessary greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere, increasing the effects of global warming.

Other carpet cleaners use equipment that is just as powerful, but is powered by electricity, which is a cleaner and more efficient form of energy.  So make sure that the company you hire uses clean energy—electricity—to power their equipment.

(2) Many carpet cleaners use chemicals that non-biodegradable, and are harmful to people as well as the local watershed.  A cleaning solution that is Green Seal Certified is a good standard to use when making sure a chemical is environmentally friendly.

(3) It’s unfortunate, but some companies do not dispose of their wastewater correctly.  I have seen carpet cleaners on several occasions pump their wastewater right out into the street, which locally runs through the storm drains and right into the river, with no treatment.  This can cause big problems for our local rivers, and there have been many occasions were carpet cleaning companies have been sued for improper wastewater disposal, resulting in fish kills and damage to the local environment.  An ethical carpet cleaner