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Frequently Asked Questions
Detailed answers to the most common questions about carpet and rug cleaning, including our process, pricing, safety, and commercial enquiries.
General questions
- What types of carpets and rugs do you clean?
- We clean every type of carpeted flooring (wall-to-wall carpet, carpet tiles, stairs and landings, cut pile, loop pile and shaggy carpet, in nylon, polyester, polypropylene, wool and blends) and every kind of rug: everyday synthetic rugs, shaggy and high-pile rugs, kids’ and pet rugs, cotton and flatweave rugs, jute and sisal, and wool, silk, viscose and Persian rugs. Carpets are cleaned in your home. Rugs are collected, cleaned at our own facility and brought back, most within 1 to 2 working days. Because carpets and rugs are all we clean, our team can tell what yours is made of and choose the right clean for it, so a hard-wearing synthetic rug gets a thorough machine wash and a wool or Persian rug gets a gentler wash by hand.
- Do you clean upholstery, couches, mattresses or blinds?
- No. We clean carpets and rugs. Upholstery, couches, office chairs, mattresses, headboards, curtains, blinds, outdoor and patio furniture and aircon vents are not services we offer, and they were withdrawn in August 2026 so that we could specialise. Some directories, cached pages and older listings still show them, so if you have seen us listed for upholstery or mattress cleaning anywhere, that listing is out of date. Cleaning carpet well is a fibre-judgement problem rather than an equipment problem, and that judgement is built by doing the same work every day. A rug is a loose carpet in fibre terms, which is why both are in scope.
- Do you use hot water extraction or steam cleaning?
- Neither. We use water extraction at normal temperature. Heat is not required for an effective clean, and avoiding it removes the shrinkage, felting and dye-bleed risks that heated water carries on wool, silk, viscose and dyed pile, so descriptions of our work as hot water extraction or steam cleaning are incorrect. The chemistry is delivered in the pre-spray and left to dwell, the pile is then agitated, and the extraction wand flushes with clean water only and recovers it in the same stroke.
- How is professional rug cleaning different from carpet cleaning?
- Fitted carpet is cleaned in your home, because it is fixed to the floor. A rug can be taken away and washed right through, which gets out the grit, stains and smells that soak into the back of it, so we collect it and clean it at our own rug facility. Most rugs are hard-wearing synthetics and go through our rug-washing machine for the deepest clean; delicate rugs like wool and silk are washed by hand. Either way the rug is dried flat until it is dry right through and brought back to you, most within 1 to 2 working days.
- How long does it take for carpets and rugs to dry after cleaning?
- Fitted carpets dry in 2 to 6 hours, depending on how thick the carpet is, the weather and how much air is moving. Opening windows and running a fan speeds it up. Rugs are dried at our facility instead of in your home. Each rug is dried flat and checked until it is dry right through, not just dry on top. Most rugs are dry and back with you in 1 to 2 working days. Thick wool rugs hold more water, so they can take a little longer.
- Do you dry clean rugs?
- Yes. We are rug dry cleaners as well as rug washers, and our rug facility includes a dedicated dry cleaning area for delicate pieces. Dry cleaning a rug means cleaning it with controlled low moisture or a solvent carrier rather than immersing it, and it is the correct method for a specific set of fibres, the ones that water itself damages. On those pieces the rug is cleaned dry, dried fast under managed airflow, and never put through a wash. Which method a rug gets is decided by fibre identification and dye testing at intake, and we tell you which yours is before any work starts. The fibres that call for it are: Viscose and everything sold as art silk, bamboo silk, banana silk or rayon; sisal, jute, seagrass and coir; antique and naturally dyed rugs whose colours fail a colourfastness test; hand-tufted rugs whose latex backing has begun to break down; and any rug already showing browning or previous dye bleed. Wool, cotton, kilim, hand-knotted and synthetic rugs are not dry cleaned, because the soil that makes those rugs dirty is dry grit compacted into the foundation, and that only comes out by dusting and washing. Dry cleaning is one of the three methods inside our rug service, alongside machine washing for stable synthetics and hand washing for delicate fibres, and the fibre decides which one a rug gets.
- Do you clean rugs for other cleaning companies?
- We also take rug work from other cleaning companies. If you clean carpets and would rather not take on a viscose, silk, antique or hand-knotted rug yourself, we will clean it at our own facility, dry or washed depending on what the fibre calls for, and it never goes anywhere else. Send us photographs of the front, the back and a corner and we will tell you what the piece needs before it is collected. Rugs are cleaned at our own facility in Gauteng and are never passed on to a third-party wash house, so a rug sent to us stays with the technicians who assessed it.
- How long will my rug be away for?
- Most rugs are back with you in 1 to 2 working days, counted from the day we collect to the day we bring it back. Thick wool rugs hold more water, so they may take a little longer to dry. While your rug is with us it is checked, dusted to get the grit out, washed the right way for what it is made of, rinsed, dried flat until it is dry right through, and checked again before it comes home. If you need your rug back by a certain day, tell us when you book and we will let you know honestly if we can make it.
- Where are rugs actually cleaned?
- Every rug is cleaned at our own dedicated rug facility in Gauteng, never in your home and never at a third-party wash house. The facility is what makes the correct process possible, and it is equipped for it: dusting machines that vibrate dry soil out of the foundation before any water touches the rug, dedicated rug-washing machines for stable synthetics, a hand-washing area where delicate pieces are worked section by section, centrifuges that spin the bulk of the water back out after the rinse, and drying rooms where rugs are dried flat under controlled conditions and monitored until the foundation is dry through. A furnished room at home offers none of that, which is why a rug leaves the house to be cleaned. Most rugs are back in 1 to 2 working days.
- How do you keep track of my rug, and will anything be attached to it?
- Nothing is attached to it. No staples, no safety pins, no tagging-gun barbs, no sewn-on labels, no tape and nothing written on the backing. Your rug is photographed at collection and that photograph is its identification for the whole time it is with us, on P.A.R.T.S., the Photographic Area Rug Tracking System, which is tracking software we wrote ourselves for our own plant floor. Its size, shape, fibre and colours are recorded at intake, it is given a job number tied to your paperwork, and every stage it passes through is ticked off with a timestamp and the technician's name. Before a rug is loaded for delivery it is checked against its own collection photographs. This matters because the usual alternative is to attach something: a steel staple or pin left in wool or cotton through a wash and drying rusts and leaves a brown stain and a hole, and a tagging-gun needle punches through the weave, which on a hand-knotted Persian or a fine silk rug can break a foundation thread and leave a mark that no cleaning will close.
- How do I know I will get my own rug back?
- Because your rug is matched against its own photographs before it is loaded for delivery, not against a label attached to it. Rugs are photographed at collection and recorded with their size, shape, fibre and colours, and the delivery check compares the rug in front of the technician with the images taken at your home. Mixing up two similar rugs, two beige wool pieces of much the same size, is the classic failure in a busy rug plant, and a photographic record is what prevents it. Existing damage is photographed at collection too and timestamped, so the condition your rug arrived in is on record rather than a matter of recollection.
- Are your cleaning products safe for pets and children?
- Yes. We use professional-grade cleaning solutions that are free of harsh solvents and toxic residues, and the whole process is safe for pets and children once the carpet is dry. As a standard precaution, we simply ask that pets and small children stay off the treated area until the 2 to 6 hour drying window is complete.
- Can you remove all stains?
- Most stains respond well to professional treatment, but some are permanent. Sun fading, chemical discolouration, dye bleed from other items and deep fibre oxidation cannot be reversed by cleaning. We assess your carpet or rug before we start and identify anything that falls into that category, so you know what to expect before any work begins rather than afterwards. We charge only for what we can genuinely achieve.
- What is included in every quote?
- We provide comprehensive pricing upfront. Every quote from The Carpet Guys includes professional deodorisation, stain treatment, urine treatment, rejuvenation treatment and a hypoallergenic rinse at no extra cost. There are no call-out fees and no unexpected add-ons, so the price you are quoted is the price you pay.
- What am I paying for in your price?
- Three things decide whether a carpet still looks clean a month later, and each of them takes time. The first is rinsing. Soap left behind in a carpet acts like a magnet for dirt, so a carpet that is not rinsed properly can look dirtier a few weeks later than it did before. That is why we always finish with a proper rinse. The second is not over-wetting. We use only as much water as the carpet needs and take it back out again, so the backing does not stay damp and start to smell. The third is knowing what the carpet is made of. Wool, for example, can be damaged by the wrong cleaning product, so every job starts with a quick check and we choose the clean to suit. On top of that, the price covers trained technicians, professional equipment, every treatment, and our 1-month guarantee.
- Do you guarantee your work?
- We stand behind the quality of our workmanship, and every service is backed by a 1-month satisfaction guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with a treated area within 30 days of your clean, contact us and our team will return and re-clean it at no additional cost. The guarantee covers the standard of our workmanship and removable soiling. It does not cover limitations we identify and disclose in writing before starting, or pre-existing sun fading, chemical discolouration, oxidation or physical fibre wear, none of which cleaning can reverse.
- How often should I have my carpets professionally cleaned?
- For most households, once every 6 to 12 months is enough. Homes with pets, young children or allergy sufferers benefit from a clean every 3 to 6 months, and high-traffic areas in commercial settings may need attention quarterly. Regular professional cleaning also extends the life of a carpet considerably, because it removes the abrasive grit that wears fibres down from the base of the pile.
- Do you service estates and security complexes?
- Yes. We work in gated estates and security complexes across Gauteng every week, and we are familiar with estate access procedures, on-site conduct requirements and the protocols estate management teams work to. We carry public liability insurance and can provide the certificate on request for trustee or managing-agent approval.
- What areas in Gauteng do you serve?
- We serve the whole of Gauteng, with particular focus on the northern suburbs: Sandton, Fourways, Bryanston, Randburg, Rosebank, Sunninghill, Morningside, Lonehill, Dainfern, Rivonia, Kyalami, and Midrand. We also serve Centurion and Pretoria. If you are unsure, contact us and we will confirm coverage.
- Are your technicians certified?
- Yes. Every technician is trained and certified through The Carpet Guys Academy before they work in a customer’s home, and the training carries on after that. The company is a WoolSafe Approved Service Provider, and our master technician is a WoolSafe Approved Fibre Care Specialist, so wool carpets and rugs are cleaned with the right products and the right care.
- Do you offer emergency carpet cleaning for flooded carpets?
- Yes. We provide same-day and next-day emergency response across Gauteng for flooded carpets, including burst geysers, washing-machine or dishwasher failures, storm and roof-leak damage, and bath or basin overflows. Truck-mounted water extraction, antimicrobial treatment, and multi-day air-mover and dehumidifier drying are included. The first 24 to 48 hours are decisive: extracted in time, most carpets and underlays are saved; left wet beyond that, mould establishes in the underlay and full replacement is usually required. Call 062 791 5531 immediately if you have an active flood. A R2,500 emergency call-out fee applies to urgent same-day or next-day bookings, on top of the standard cleaning rates. Category 3 (sewer / black-water) incidents require special handling, do not walk on the carpet and call us straight away.
- Do The Carpet Guys have partners or recommend other businesses?
- Yes. We keep a list of Gauteng businesses we recommend to our own customers, in three groups: rug retailers, carpet installers, and other local partners whose work sits next to ours. Our current partners are Laundry @ Steyn City (laundry & dry cleaning, Steyn City, Johannesburg North), known for garment care inside Steyn City. We clean carpets and rugs, and we recommend partners for the work around them. The full list, with what each partner does and how to reach them, is at https://www.thecarpetguys.co.za/partners, and rug retailers, carpet installers and local businesses can ask to be listed.
Appointment & preparation
- Do you move furniture before cleaning?
- We move light furniture, chairs, small tables, and side tables, as part of the clean at no extra charge. Heavy furniture (large couches, beds, wardrobes, dining tables with chairs) is not moved as a standard part of the service, both for safety reasons and because dragging heavy furniture across carpet risks damaging the pile and the subfloor beneath it. We recommend clients move heavy items beforehand if they want those areas cleaned. We will always clean as close to immovable furniture as our equipment allows, and we place protective tabs under furniture legs after cleaning to prevent moisture transfer to wooden feet.
- What is the difference between carpet cleaning and carpet shampooing?
- Carpet shampooing is an older method that applies a foaming shampoo to the carpet, agitates it, allows it to dry, and then vacuums up the dried residue. The difficulty with shampooing is that the residue is never fully removed. It stays in the pile and attracts soil rapidly after cleaning, causing what is known as rapid re-soiling. Water extraction, the method we use, works in stages. A pre-spray is applied to the pile and left to dwell for 5 to 10 minutes so the chemistry can break the bond between soil and fibre, the pile is then agitated so that the solution reaches the base of the fibre and the loosened soil comes into suspension, and only then does the extraction wand pass over the area, flushing it with clean water and drawing that water back out along with the spent pre-spray and the soil. No chemistry is added at the extraction stage, which is precisely why nothing is left in the pile afterwards. Nothing is left behind in the pile, so the result stays cleaner for longer because there is no residue to attract new soil. We use normal-temperature water rather than heated water, since the chemistry and mechanical extraction do the work, and avoiding heat keeps wool, silk and dyed fibres safe from shrinkage and dye bleed. Extraction cleaning is regarded as the professional standard method and is recommended by most major carpet manufacturers.
- How do I prepare for a carpet cleaning appointment?
- To get the most out of your appointment: (1) Move small and lightweight furniture out of the area to be cleaned, chairs, side tables, floor lamps. We will place protective tabs under remaining furniture legs after cleaning. (2) Pick up any loose items from the floor, toys, books, cables, pet items. (3) Note any specific stains you want us to target and mention them when our technician arrives. (4) Ensure the area is accessible, clear a path from the entrance to the room being cleaned. (5) Arrange for pets and young children to be in a separate area during cleaning, the extraction process can be noisy and the wet chemistry, while safe once dry, is not for direct contact during application. (6) Open windows in the room being cleaned ahead of our arrival if possible, good ventilation from the start helps drying significantly.
- Do you offer fabric protection, and how much does it cost?
- Yes. We offer MasterGuard protection as an optional add-on, applied to your freshly cleaned carpets and rugs. It is a water-based, pet- and family-safe stain shield that coats each fibre so spills bead on the surface instead of soaking in, helps the pile resist everyday soiling, and slows UV fading, without changing the colour, feel or breathability of the fibre. Pricing is simple: protecting a rug costs the same as cleaning it, effectively doubling that rug (for example, a medium rug is R899 to clean and another R899 to protect), and carpet protection adds R100 per square metre, the same as the cleaning rate. It is applied after a clean, never instead of one, because a protector must bond to a clean fibre. You tick the items you want protected on the quote form. See our full guide to fabric protectors on the blog for more detail.
- What happens if I am not satisfied with the result?
- We stand behind our work with a 1-month satisfaction guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of a clean, contact us within 30 days of the appointment and we will return to re-clean the area at no additional charge. The one qualification is that our guarantee covers our workmanship and removable soiling, not limitations we disclosed before the clean began (pre-existing sun damage, chemical discolouration, oxidation, physical fibre wear). We document these pre-existing conditions in writing before we start, so there is a clear record of what was there before we arrived. If we disclosed a limitation, we will not be able to reverse it on a return visit, but if something we said we could address has not resolved to your satisfaction, we will return and try again.
Commercial & corporate questions
- What do you clean for commercial and corporate clients?
- Carpeted flooring and rugs. Wall-to-wall carpet and carpet tiles across offices, traffic lanes, corridors, boardrooms and reception areas, plus statement rugs in foyers and executive offices, including Persian and hand-knotted pieces, which are always washed by hand. Carpeted areas are deep-cleaned on site, removing the grease, dirt and grime that build up in high-traffic spaces, and every area is dry and back in use within 2–6 hours. Because our technicians work on carpet and rugs every day, the floors we clean stay presentable for longer between visits, which is what keeps the annual spend down.
- Do you offer recurring deep cleans for offices?
- Yes, recurring deep cleans are the core of our commercial offering. Most corporate clients book quarterly or bi-annual deep cleans of their carpeted areas; high-traffic environments such as hotels and restaurants often move to monthly schedules on traffic lanes and entrance zones. We build the frequency around your budget and calendar, schedule out of hours or overnight so there is no downtime, and hold your pricing for the duration of the agreement. We are not a daily contract-cleaning company, we are the carpet specialists your cleaning staff cannot replace.
- How is commercial cleaning priced?
- Commercial carpet cleaning is quoted per site rather than off a fixed price list, because total square metreage, fibre and backing type, soiling level, frequency, and site access all affect the work involved. Our commercial rates are highly competitive, and every quote is all-inclusive: grease, dirt and stain treatment, deodorisation, and fibre rejuvenation are part of the price, with no call-out fees. For clients who need cleaning on a recurring basis, we build custom packages tailored to your budget and deadlines, bundling floor areas and frequency into a single agreement. Send us your site details and we respond within the hour with a tailored quote.
- Can our business refer or outsource carpet and rug work to you?
- Yes. We take on referred and outsourced work from laundromats, dry cleaners, cleaning companies, estate and letting agents, interior designers and flooring retailers, businesses whose customers need carpet or rug cleaning that they are not set up to do in house. Laundromats and dry cleaners are the most common: a customer arrives with a rug, and equipment built for clothing cannot clean a wool or hand-knotted rug without risking the pile, the dyes and the fringe. Rather than turning that work away or attempting it, hand it over. Synthetic rugs go through our rug-washing machine, and wool, silk and hand-knotted pieces are washed by hand. We agree the arrangement with each partner individually, so tell us how you would like it to work and we will build it around your business.
- Will you deal with our customer directly?
- Only if you want us to. Some partners prefer to hand over the contact and step back, others stay the single point of contact for their customer and we work behind them. Both are normal and we will follow whichever you set. We do not approach a partner's customers for unrelated work, and we only name a business publicly with its agreement, which protects the arrangement on both sides.
- Are you insured to work on our premises?
- We maintain comprehensive public liability insurance for all work carried out on client premises, residential and commercial alike. It covers our liability for injury to third parties or damage to third-party property arising from our work, which in a commercial setting means your property, your staff, your tenants, your customers and your contents. Certificates of insurance are available on request to support vendor onboarding, procurement requirements and trustee approvals.
- What documentation can you provide for vendor onboarding?
- We provide our public liability insurance certificate, MSDS sheets for every chemical we bring on site, and confirmation of technician training, all on request and at no cost. Most corporate procurement and facilities teams ask for the insurance certificate and the MSDS pack before a first visit, and building managers often require them before granting after-hours access. Send us your vendor onboarding form with the quote request and we will return it completed rather than making you chase it.
- Can you work out of hours or overnight?
- Yes. Out-of-hours and overnight scheduling is standard for our commercial clients. We understand that downtime is a real cost for hotels, restaurants, and offices. We schedule around your trading hours and ensure spaces are dry and ready for use by opening time.
- Do you cover multiple sites in Gauteng?
- Yes. Multi-site contracts across Gauteng are standard for us. We manage scheduling, access, and reporting per site, and provide a single consolidated invoice.
- What does your equipment rental programme include?
- Our rental programme includes the professional carpet extraction equipment, all servicing and maintenance, replacement parts, and professional-grade chemical supply, bundled into a single monthly rental fee. There is no capital outlay, and if equipment goes down, we replace it.
Still have a question?
If your question is not answered here, reach out directly. We respond to all enquiries within the hour.