Here’s a press release we just issued:

Contact:  John Braun

Company:  Premium Carpet Care

Phone:  (850) 474-1110

For Immediate Release

As Seen On “20/20” and “Dateline NBC:  Consumers Are Hit By Carpet Cleaners Who Bait And Switch

ADVERTSING & SALES TACTICS.  Hard working families; men, women, and seniors who are on tight budgets tend to be attracted by advertising prominently featuring extraordinary low prices.  This honest desire for a bargain can set them up for a “horror show” in their own home.

How Consumers Are Abused

Every day throughout the United States, unethical carpet cleaners prey on homeowners.  They advertise cheap prices—with no intention whatsoever of actually delivering on this offer.  Instead, the offer is used to get in the door, where they will use all sorts of high-pressure sales tactics to increase the bill.  The methods they use are:

1. Explaining the quoted price was only meant for some types of carpet the consumer doesn’t have.  Or, it only includes basic water cleaning, and pre-spotting is needed at an extra cost.
2. They may do an unauthorized demonstration of an add-on service that leaves a clean spot in the middle of the floor, forcing the consumer to have the entire carpet cleaned.

Why Expose These Thieves?

These “bad apples” make the entire carpet cleaning industry look bad and leave consumers wondering who they can trust for honest, ethical service providers.  This concerns me greatly.

Consumer Education Is The Solution

Knowing which questions to ask are essential in avoiding scam artists.  I have dedicated my business to educating consumers on how to avoid uninformed, uneducated, and sometimes downright unscrupulous carpet cleaners.

Here’s some questions consumers should ask:  1)  What method of cleaning do you use? (there are 4 types)  2)  Does the quoted priced include pre-vacuuming, deep cleaning, and spot treatment?  3)  Do you have any formal training?  4)  Do you offer a money back guarantee if I’m not happy?

Spots and spills are probably the most common problem encountered by carpet owners. Accidents are common, especially if you have children around the house, and you may find yourself having to deal with all sorts of spills and spots on your carpet. A carpet owner wants his or her carpet to be spotless and immaculate, and knowing how to properly deal with these kinds of problems becomes a necessary part of owning a carpet.

Learning how to properly deal with the spots and spills on your carpet can come in very handy and can be instrumental in keeping it in excellent shape and appearance. Here are some simple tips which can be very helpful in dealing with ugly carpet spots and spills.

• The fresher the spill on your carpet the better your chances of cleaning it up without any problems. The longer you wait before you act and clean it up will just make things all the more difficult. This is why the cardinal rule when it comes to cleaning spills is to clean it right away before it gets worse and causes you a big headache when trying to remove it.
• Don’t rub any spill on your carpet. Sometimes the first instinct we have is to rub the liquid or smudge on the carpet to try and get it off. This is just wrong and can result to making the spill spread and become a lot worse.
• For spots, blotting is usually the best way to go. Apply some cleaning solution on the spot on your carpet and after leaving it for a moment use a clean white cloth and blot the stain to remove it.
• Use a sponge or a clean cloth to absorb excess liquid spilled on your carpet. This should be one of the first things to do when cleaning up drink spills. Clearing the area of any excess liquid first will make it a lot easier to clean up your carpet.
• When blotting spots, the best way is to blot from the outside moving inwards. This will ensure that you don’t spread the stain to other unaffected areas of the carpet.
• Rinse the area always once you are done removing the spill or spot. This is to avoid any cleaning product residue from being left behind and damaging your carpet over time.

Spots and spills may be tough to clean up but with the tips above you can have the upper hand in removing these cleaning problems completely. Keep these tips in mind the next time you have a spill or some spots on your carpet so that you can remove it easily and without any hassles.

Keeping your rug clean and spotless is just one aspect of rug maintenance. You would also need to make sure that your rug smells nice and fresh, as this is also important if you want to properly take care of your rug. Nobody wants to have a smelly rug at home and one of the common problems that rug owners have is the cigarette smoke smell, which can attach to the rug. This is a problem for homes with cigarette smokers or probably after having a poker game at home where your friends smoke cigarettes and cigars. The smoke smell can be unpleasant and can really ruin the ambiance of your home.

Removing the horrible cigarette smoke smell on your rug can be tough. This is because the cigarette smoke odor can be very strong and can be hard to remove on your rug. If you are dealing with this rug-cleaning problem at home, don’t give up on your rug just yet. Read the easy-to-follow guide below on how to deodorize the cigarette smoke smell on your rug in a few simple steps to solve this problem easily.

1. Get all the materials that you’ll need for this task. You’ll need some baking soda, an empty baby powder container that has small openings, and a vacuum cleaner. You may also add dried crushed herbs such as lavender if you want to make your rug more fragrant. Once you have these ready then it’s time to start.
2. Place the some baking powder into the empty baby powder container. If you plan on adding the crushed herbs, mix it into the container as well and shake it to mix it well with the baking powder.
3. Then, walk all over your rug while sprinkling the baking powder mixture using the baby powder container. Make sure you sprinkle it evenly to ensure that all parts of the rug are covered.
4. Leave the powder on your rug overnight. The baking powder mixture will absorb all of the unpleasant cigarette smoke odors and make your rug smell fresh again.
5. In the morning, use your vacuum cleaner to suck up the powder and voila, your rug is now clean, fresh, and without that nasty cigarette smoke smell.

With just a few simple steps you can get rid of that cigarette smoke odors on your rug. Follow the guide above and eliminate the unpleasant odor from your rug in no time.

Marble is a beautiful natural stone that has become very popular for use as flooring. Marble tiles bring an added element of class and sophistication to any room which is certainly a big plus for any homeowner. The problem with marble tiles though is that keeping it clean and properly maintained can be quite a hassle. It requires a different approach when it comes to cleaning and maintenance than other common types of tiles. One of the common issues with marble tiles is that removing stains can be very difficult once it has set in.

Marble is a porous natural stone and as such it can get stained fairly easily. Removing it is something that would require the right knowledge and technique as improper cleaning would only lead to damage to your tiles. If you don’t know how to get this done right, check out the tips below on how you can clean up the stains on your marble tiles easily

• Use a Poultice for Tough Stains – A poultice is a material which you can use to absorb the stain and remove it from the marble tiles. Marble is a porous natural stone and the only way to get rid of tough stains which has seeped in to the marble is by absorbing it using the poultice. You can make a poultice by mixing powdered whiting that can easily be bought in stores and hydrogen peroxide. Apply the poultice onto the stain on your marble tiles and observe as it is slowly absorbed thus leaving your tiles beautiful and stain free.
• Blot Liquid/Drink Spills on Your Marble Tiles – When dealing with coffee and drink spills, the best thing that you can do is to blot it using a clean rag or paper towels. Wiping the spill will only lead you to spreading the spill onto unaffected areas of the marble tiles. You can thus make the spill a lot worse even though you were only trying to clean it up. These sorts of mistakes are common but completely avoidable with the right advice. Simply use the rag or paper towel and blot the soiled area to absorb the excess liquid thus preventing the spill from being absorbed by the marble tiles.

Make sure that you keep these tips in mind if ever you are faced with spills and stains on your beautiful marble tiles. With the advice above, you’ll no doubt have an easy time taking proper care of your marble flooring.

Owning and having a rug comes with the responsibility of keeping it clean and in good condition. This is not always as easy as it seems as there are a lot of cleaning problems that can ruin the look and feel of your rug. This is why sometimes maintaining the good condition and cleanliness of your rug can cost you some serious money for rug cleaning products and equipment.

Having a clean and well maintained rug though doesn’t always have to mean that your wallet in turn has to suffer. There are some great, effective alternatives that you can use to help you clean your rug even on a tight budget. Here are some tips to guide you in cleaning your rug while on a budget.

1. Use Alternative Rug Cleaning Products – A big bulk of the money spent on rug cleaning goes to the purchase of rug cleaning products and stain removers. Commercial products you buy in stores doesn’t come free so in the long run you may end up spending hundreds of dollars a year just on it alone. Why spend this much money when you can make use of effective alternatives which you can find easily inside your kitchen. Vinegar and baking soda are among the most popular alternatives for commercial carpet cleaning products and will get you the same result for only a fraction of the cost. You can easily create a cleaning solution by mixing either of the two with some water which will surely get rid of any stains and marks on your rug.
2. Frequently Clean Your Rug – Prevention is always better than cure but sometimes you cannot totally prevent your rug from becoming dirty. The closest you can probably be to avoiding any rug cleaning problems is to try and clean your rug frequently. This will help avoid the dust and dirt from slowly building up in the rug fibers which can be a source for damage over time. Always vacuuming and cleaning your rug will also avoid discoloration and staining so that you won’t need to spend money on professional rug cleaners to solve these problems for you.
3. Use Household Items When Cleaning Your Rug – You don’t need to buy specific items for rug cleaning when you can in fact find similar items in and around your house. When cleaning stains, all you need to do to blot it out is to get some paper towels or used pieces of cloth. Also, you can do without a wet/dry vac if you make use of clean rags or towels to dry up your rug after cleaning it or shampooing it. Using what you have instead of buying from the store can save you some cash and still get your rug perfectly cleaned.

Cleaning your rug can easily be done even when on a budget. All you need to have is to follow the creative tips above and you will soon have a clean and fresh carpet for your home.

Super glue can be used in countless ways in and around the house. It can be used to put together broken items such as mug handles or vases or in school and office projects that you or your family members may have. During the course of using super glue however, mishaps are not very uncommon and spilling some super glue on the carpet’s surface is certainly a very real problem that many carpet owners experience. This situation can be very tricky as super glue dries up quickly and clumps together portions of your carpet fibers, which result in a ruined appearance. Don’t worry as super glue, no matter how problematic, can still be removed from your carpet using the right technique. Read on below to find out how you can remove the super glue on your carpet.

Get some acetone, which you will be applying, onto the stained area of the carpet. Before proceeding further in the process, be sure to test out the acetone on an unnoticeable part of the carpet to see if it will cause any kind of damage. If it does not then you are safe to continue using it to help remove the super glue from your carpet.

Using a medicine dropper, put 3 to 4 drops of the acetone directly on the super glue on your carpet. Just let it set for a few minutes, letting the acetone do its work in helping break down the super glue so that it will become easier to remove. After five minutes, get a small toothbrush and gently scrub the affected areas of the carpet. This helps loosen the super glue and slowly aids in dissolving it. Scrub the area repeatedly, applying the acetone once the area becomes dried up, until all of the super glue is gone.

For the last stage of cleaning, you must remove any residue that maybe left behind. Do this by rinsing the area with a clean water to help eliminate any residue from the acetone or the super glue on the carpet. Dry everything up using a wet/dry vac and you’re done.

Super glue is a useful item that can work wonders in repairs and projects around the house. Just make sure to keep it off the carpet fibers. If ever you have this kind of problem though, just follow the advice above to help your remove super glue stains from your carpet.

Pasta is probably one of the types of food that many people love. It is great for special occasions as well as for eating by yourself while watching your favorite television programs in the living room. While pasta can be delicious to eat it can create quite a mess if you accidentally spill it on your rug. This is because the pasta sauce can quickly create a terrible stain on your beautiful rug, which can really impact its look and feel. Fighting stains caused by pasta sauce can be pretty tough as it can be stubborn and hard to get out of your rug fibers.

It’s important that your rug is clean for you and your family to enjoy its use. This is why knowing how to correctly clean up the mess and the stain caused by spilling pasta on your rug is essential. Check out the guide below for a crash course in cleaning up the pasta sauce stains from your favorite rug.

1. Remove the Loose Food Particles and Sauce – Removing the loose pasta and the pasta sauce from the spill is the first step for you to clean up the mess. Clearing the spill first is important for two reasons. One, it will help prevent the spill from staining other parts of the carpet. Another reason is that it is important in order to be able to properly clean up the stain. You can’t really clean up the stain until you clean up the mess, which caused it. Use a wet/dry vac to suck up all the loose pasta while for the sauce you can use paper towels to absorb it from the rug fibers.
2. Make a Cleaning Solution from Laundry Detergent – The next step is for you to create a solution that we’ll be applying directly onto the stain. Grab some non-bleach laundry detergent from your laundry room and mix one teaspoon of it with a cup of warm water. Place the mixture inside a spray bottle and test it out on an unnoticeable part of the rug. If it does not have any negative effects then proceed in applying it onto the stain.
3. Blot, Blot, and Blot the Stain – Let the detergent solution set for a minute or so on the pasta sauce stain first, then use a clean white cloth and repeatedly blot the stained area. The cleaning solution will break down the stain while blotting it with the cloth will transfer it from the rug onto the cloth’s surface. Do this again and again until you have successfully gotten rid of the stain. It may take several repetitions but pretty soon you’ll be rid of the stain.
4. Remove the Excess Residue – In the process of using the cleaning solution, you may have left some residue of it on the rug fibers. Remedy this by rinsing the rug with water and drying it up using clean towels. This will ensure your rug is residue-free.

Pasta sauce stains can make a bright and ugly mark on your beautiful rug’s surface. Don’t let this ruin your rug’s appearance and follow the guide above to get your rug stain-free and beautiful once again.

Stains on the carpet have to be one of the most challenging problems for any carpet owner. You have to deal with a visible, ugly mark that can really ruin the way your carpet looks. Preserving the carpet’s beauty is one of the top priorities you can have, as an owner, which is why getting rid of stains is always essential. It’s not always easy though. Some stains can be really difficult to remove while some can really make your head hurt in trying to figure out a way to get it out of your carpet. Here are some helpful tidbits of information that you can find useful the next time you are facing a carpet stain in your home.

• Cleaning up the stain immediately is the general rule when it comes to stain removal. Trying to clean it up as soon as the spill or accident that caused the stain is your best bet to remove it easily. There are exceptions though as some types of stains would require you to let time pass first before trying to clean it up. such as when dealing with mud stains.
• In treating different kinds of stains, you may have to use several combinations of cleaning solutions to get the best results. Only using the same commercial carpet-cleaning product that you have may not always get the job done. Sometimes you have to use additional products on the stain, such as homemade cleaning solutions, to make stain removal easier. If one product won’t give you the results you want, move on to another one which may yield better success.
• Blotting is usually done when handling all kinds of stains. This procedure will help transmit some of the stain off of your carpet and onto the surface of the cloth or paper towel you are using. Blotting the right way should be done to get the job done easier; the recommended way to do it is blotting from the outside of the stain moving inward.
• Rinsing the carpet after removing the stain is a common step found in stain removal procedures. This may not sound like much to you but it actually is an essential step in closing out your cleaning task. Rinsing the carpet helps remove residue from the carpet cleaning products you use from being left behind and slowly building up. This way, you won’t have to worry about residue build-up on your carpet anytime soon.

Cleaning the stains off of your carpet may not be a pleasant job, but it can certainly be made easier and more effective using the right approach. Make sure to follow the tips above the next time you try to clean up carpet stains to help make the process simpler and hassle-free.

There’s a reason why they named permanent ink that way. It stays and is hard to remove from surfaces you use it on. This is great if you intend on naming objects, boxes, or activities and projects. One place where you don’t want to get it on is the surface of your wool carpet. Sometimes though, no matter how hard you try you can still accidentally swipe a permanent marker or spill some permanent marker ink on the carpet. This is a situation I wouldn’t want to be in as removing permanent ink on wool carpet is a very tough job.

Removing it completely without damaging your carpet is still possible, though you will need to work hard to get it done. Here are some tips that you can follow on how to best clean up permanent ink on your wool carpet.

1. Remove the Excess Permanent Ink – This is essential to contain the stain and prevent it from soiling other areas of the carpet. Quickly get some paper towels as soon as you spill the permanent ink on the wool carpet and use it to blot out and remove as much of the excess ink as you can.
2. Apply Some Cleaning Solution Onto the Stain – The next step is to apply some cleaning solution onto the stain to help remove it. For permanent ink stains, the best cleaning solution you could use is a homemade concoction made by mixing a teaspoon of non-bleach detergent, a teaspoon of white vinegar, and a quart of warm water. Mix all of this up and place some inside a spray bottle and spray it onto the stain. Make sure not to use too much as it can leave behind residue, which can damage your carpet, and it won’t improve your chances to remove the stain.
3. Blot the Stain Using a Clean Cloth – With the cleaning solution already applied onto the stain, the next thing that you need to do is to get a clean white cloth and blot the stain. Blot the stained area, working from the outside inwards to have a better chance to get the stain out. The permanent ink will transfer from your wool carpet onto the cloth. Continue with this step until you completely remove the permanent ink stain. It may take several tries but eventually you’ll get rid of that nasty ink stain.
4. Rinse the Area – Rinsing the area you finished cleaning is important to remove any cleaning solution residue that may remain on your carpet. Use clean water and dry it up using a wet/dry vac or some clean towels to finish the job.

Permanent ink is a tough adversary but is not something that can’t be cleaned from your wool carpet. Remember to follow the tips above to successfully get rid of any permanent ink stains and make your wool carpet clean and ink-free again.

If you have a carpet at home, one problem you must always be tackling with is how to get it clean and fresh. This is not always an easy task as your carpet constantly faces several cleaning threats such as dust, dirt, fungi, and all kinds of unwanted particles. Carpet cleaning can be tough but there are certain ways to help you do it effectively and efficiently. Below are some quick tips that you should remember the next time you clean your carpet to help you get better results.

• Test Your Carpet Before Using New Cleaning Products – Some carpets are more sensitive to acidic cleaning agents than others, which is why you should always take a minute to test any new carpet cleaning products before using it. This may seem like an unnecessary chore but this can actually save your carpet from potential damage. Test out new cleaning products you are planning to use on an inconspicuous part of the carpet first to see it is safe to use.
• Attend to Spills Immediately – This is a very simple tip but can greatly improve your chances of getting your carpet cleaned easily. Spills are very common and one thing that you should remember is to attend to it immediately. Cleaning up spills as they happen will give you the best shot to remove any stains from your carpet without much hassle.
• Only Use Adequate Amount of Carpet Cleaning Products – Some people think that the more cleaning product you use the more effective it will be in cleaning your carpet. Well, this is not always true as there is an appropriate amount that you should use when dealing with stains or dirt on your carpet. Using an unreasonable amount of cleaning product will only result to having residue on your carpet, which can build-up over time and cause damage. Only use the proper amount to avoid this problem.
• Always Rinse After Cleaning Up Stains – Speaking of residue build-up, another way to remedy this is by rinsing the area you just cleaned after cleaning your carpet. This will help remove the residue from the carpet-cleaning product that you used and prevent the build-up from happening altogether.

These tips can really make a difference in making carpet cleaning easier and hassle-free. Just keep them in mind the next time you clean your carpet to avoid making carpet cleaning harder than it has to be.