Frequently Asked Questions

How Safe Are Your Cleaning Solutions?
We are the ORIGINAL "Green Cleaner" in Ormond Beach & Palm Coast! Our Allergy-Clene System utilises allergen-free Green Seal approved cleaning solutions which are the safest, green products and utilize the most effective technology to assure not only your satisfaction, but your safety as well. We do not use any harsh chemicals! - See our Green Cleaning Link above.

Is Healthy Home CarpetCare Insured?
Absolutely Yes! We carry a One-Million dollar liability insurance policy, as well as a rider against any damage to your furnishings. We are also an CRI certified firm (in fact, the only one in the area) and we will always have an IICRC certified technician in your home which is what the carpet mills themselves recommend to homeowners.

What is the IICRC & the CRI?
The IICRC is the Institute of Cleaning, Restoration and Certification and is the leading organization for standard-setting and ongoing education in the industry. To be IICRC certified, we must abide by a code of ethics as well as pay yearly dues and supply them proof of liability insurance. To become an IICRC certified cleaning technician, the individual has to go to class for a period of consecutive days and pass a test at the end of the instruction. Continuing education and dues is required yearly to keep a certification active.

The CRI is the Carpet and Rug Institute, an entity which regulates the carpet manufacturing industry, as well as provides testing, procedures and guidelines for Certified Cleaning Companies.

We are also a Tandus CertiCare Provider - one of only two in Northeast Florida! If you have Tandus commercial carpeting in your business, we have been factory-trained in Dalton, GA, and we are trained to clean your carpet...We were awarded this coveted certification in December of 2009.

How Long Does the Carpet Take to Dry?
The normal drying time is anywhere from 3 – 6 hours. The carpet will only be damp to the touch. Depending on weather conditions, room temperature, air flow, thickness of the pile, and overall conditions this time can vary. Our cleaning dries in hours, NOT days!

How Soon Can I Walk on the Carpet?
You can walk on the carpets immediately, but make sure the soles of your shoes are clean. Soil on the sole of shoes will track off onto the slightly damp carpet. Be careful from walking from the carpets to solid surfaces it might be slippery. We will also give you booties to put on your shoes!

How Often Should I Have My Carpets Cleaned?
The five largest fiber producers–Allied, BASF, DuPont, Hoechst Celanese, and Monsanto–all recommend periodic professional cleaning. All major carpet mills also agree. Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, recommends hot water extraction cleaning by a trained certified professional. DuPont, in their report on "Indoor Air Quality: A Technical Review of Carpet Contributions" states, "Since carpets do act as a sink for many types of particles, periodic professional cleaning is very important". Exactly how often depends on a number of circumstances. Most carpet mills recommend cleaning at least once every 12 to 18 months. Other considerations increase the frequency rate: indoor smoking, children, pets, & allergies are some factors to consider when determining the ideal frequency for your home. Most of our clients are serviced every 6-12 months.

Is it best to put off having your carpet cleaned as long as possible?
No. In fact, the major carpet mills today recommend professional cleaning at least once per year. The build up of soil in your carpet in combination with foot traffic creates abrasion that breaks down you carpet’s fibers. The higher the traffic in a given area, the more often the carpet will need cleaning. If you are seeing dark traffic lanes, there is already damage being done to your carpet.

Should I Have My Carpet Dry Cleaned or Steam Cleaned?
The Major carpet manufacturers recommend hot water extraction (steam cleaning) as the preferred method for cleaning carpet. Like the laundering of your clothing, steam cleaning is highly effective in removing soil and other contaminants from your carpets. Because we use high-powered truck-mounted equipment, our cleaning process sanitizes your carpet fibers as well as rinses out all cleaning solution so that there is no residue left in your carpet fibers. Unlike “dry cleaning” processes which just clean the top 2/3rd of the fibers and leaves cleaning residue because they are not capable of rinsing...also the dry-chem method could cause pile distortion due to the high friction of their cleaning system.

I’ve Heard Carpets Should Never Get Wet. Should I Dry Clean Them?
Most major carpet manufactures REQUIRE hot water extraction as the way to maintain the carpets appearance and especially their warranties. The trick is to make sure you hire a company like Healthy Home CarpetCare who extracts the majority of the solution used, and offers completely dry and CLEAN carpets with a dry time of approximately 3-6 hours. Dry-Chem services tend to just clean the top 2/3rds of the fibers.

Does Your Cleaning Process Soak the Backing of the Carpet?
Absolutely not! Dry cleaning companies tend to use this scare tactic. Our process completely cleans and rinses all the fibers including the lower 1/3rd of the fibers. No moisture penetrates through the backing or gets to the pad. We wouldn’t be able to clean them if moisture penetrated through the backing, and if this were the case, the carpet mills would not allow the hot water extraction method.

My Carpets Don’t Look Dirty; Why Should I Have Them Cleaned?
All carpets act as a sink. Carpeting filters and collects sources of soil, bacteria, allergens and pollutants from the indoor environment. This collection and filtering process allows carpet to trap contaminants within the carpet and, like any filter, it needs to thoroughly cleaned out from time to time. These contaminants in your carpet can contribute to an unhealthy indoor environment, whether in a home or office. These days, carpets are designed to hide soil and maintain a clean appearance. By the time your carpet looks dirty, it is very dirty. A soiled carpet will wear more quickly and will not last as long as a carpet that has been properly maintained.

Can You Get the Pet Odor Out of My Carpet?
Pet odor is a very common problem. At Healthy Home CarpetCare, we can help you deal with your pet challenges. From minor problems to major headaches, we can help find the solution that works best for you.

The problem with pet odor is that it can be much deeper than it first appears. Pet urine can easily soak through the backing of the carpet into the padding underneath. In more severe cases the urine can penetrate into the sub-floor beneath the padding. This creates a problem that is multi-layered. We can use a urine detector which is a probe that is injected in the carpet from the top side which will go off where there is live active urine. We can then determine the severity of the contamination of urine.

The urine also provides for the growth of bacteria. This, in turn, contributes to a worsening of the odor problem and can contribute to permanent color loss of the carpet fiber.

To eliminate this problem the urine must be neutralized from each of the layers effected. If the contamination is limited to only the face yarn of the carpet then the cleaning itself may effectively remove the odor. In more severe cases a urine neutralizer may be applied in the areas detected.

In the most severe cases, replacement of the carpet padding, treatment of the under-side of the carpet and the sub-floor may be required. Even replacement of the carpet, however, cannot guarantee complete removal of the odor.

Left untreated over a period of time pet odor can become absorbed into many of the porous materials in your home. Draperies, sheet rock, upholstered furniture, base-boards, even the concrete foundation are just a few of the materials that can absorb these odors.

At Healthy Home CarpetCare we offer a range of solutions to help you with your pet odor problems. In the long run, however, it may be more a matter of proper maintenance instead of total elimination. After all, we love our pets and want to keep them a part of our family. Pet ownership adds to the challenge of maintaining a clean and healthy home. We can help you meet those challenges.

I Get Coupons All the Time for Really Low, Whole-House Rates. What is the Difference Between You and Those Guys?
Sometimes when I am asked this, I don’t even know where to begin. We all know the old adages "if something seems to good to be true, it probably is" and "you get what you pay for", yet some of us seem to throw caution to the wind when it comes to choosing service providers for our homes. Healthy Home CarpetCare has invested thousands of dollars into our cleaning systems, as well as continuing industry education. We will never run a "whole house for $89.95" special. Why? Because you simply will not get a thorough cleaning for that price.

That is the bait to get the cleaners in the door. You can bet that the person sent to your home has little or no carpet care training or experience. He will, however, be schooled in high-pressure sales techniques. The switch is the next step. Extra charges for spot cleaning, traffic lane treatment, basic furniture moving, even for a "cleaning chemical" to be added to the carpet will rack up quickly. You lose in the end because now you have paid much more than you ever expected, and your carpet has probably been poorly serviced as well.

Some of these low-ball companies might not bait & switch you, but simply don't clean thoroughly, because they go so fast through your home! Where a typical home with furniture in place may take us 2-4 hours to clean thoroughly, some of these companies are all finished up and ready to leave in less than an hour. Needless to say these companies use cheap harmful janitorial-grade chemicals and the toxic residues are left in your furnishings. Companies who engage in these practices are not ethical. And if they don’t practice ethics in their pricing, do any of us really believe they are going to go the extra mile to make sure your cleaning is performed with care? I have heard and seen enough horror stories to last me a lifetime from folks who couldn’t resist the siren call of a dirt cheap price. Ask around – some of your friends and neighbors have used these coupon people. Find out what their experiences have been. And remember, the bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of a cheap price is forgotten. A good website to go to see reviews is www.palmcoast.biz, and look for "carpet cleaners" under the home & garden link. We recommend that if you hire anyone to come into your home, wether it be a painter or an electrician, etc. that you at least look for online reviews to see if they are an ethical service provider.