Mildew Carpet:

Recently I was asked to clean a two story home, approximately 2,200 square feet with wall to wall carpeting. The homeowners were moving out of state and couldn't sell the house so they decided to rent out their (6) year old residence. This home had never been professionally cleaned in the (6) years that they had lived there. There were stains upstairs, downstairs, and even on the stairs. The carpet had a definite wear pattern in the family room and the hallway.

I cleaned this carpet using my (12) step carpet cleaning method mentioned on this website. Even though the carpet had been prevacuumed by a cleaning professional I still managed to vacuum up approximately (5) quarts of dry particulates from the carpet. In case you did not know this is A LOT, especially since the carpet had already been vacuumed by the cleaning professional only two days before.

In order to properly dry the carpet I always open the windows, approximately two inches, turn on the ceiling fans, and turn the air conditioner down to around 69 degrees. It was about 94 degrees that day so it was hot. The cold air from the a/c dehumidfies the air in the house allowing for faster drying times. With the windows open, ceiling fans running, and the a/c on a typical house can thoroughly dry out in about (3) hours. I also use a special drying agent that I spray onto the carpet when I am resetting the carpet's knap. This too helps to dry out the carpets. The property manager called me two weeks later and asked me if I would re-clean the carpets because I "over wetted" the carpets. When I asked how she came to that conclusion she said the carpet had a mildew smell through out the house. So, what happened?

Drying out carpets after they have been steam cleaned is simple science. You move air over the carpet, allowing it to escape to the great outdoors, until it dries. After asking several question I was able to uncover that the father-in-law had closed up the house, turned off the fans, and turned off the a/c about (30) minutes after I left even though I gave him clear instructions as to what to do and what NOT to do. If you wash a pair of jeans in the washing machine and leave them in there won't they also have a mildew smell? Is it the machine's fault or yours? Getting the picture?

This whole problem could have been avoided had the father-in-law simply followed instructions. The moral of the story - Follow the Instructions!

Until Next Time,

Michael Hull