Carpet Ghosting

Hello everyone

I am not a professional carpet cleaner..just a frustrated homeowner..lol. I had white carpet installed last March. In some areas...around the baseboards, my carpet is a little bit "dirty". I searched the net and they're saying this is carpet ghosting?...Will a professional carpet cleaner be able to clean this?...BTW...I have not had the carpets shampooed yet...and am wondering if this is a site where I can get recommendations of a reputable company/person?...Iam in the Queens, NYC area.

Thank you
Melissa

P.S.....and yeah...no more white carpets again!!

new york lol goomer

Are you talking about those dark soot lines around the edges? You're screwed. Unless you're willing to pay a lot of money to have it fixed. It's time to get your air ducts cleaned, stop smoking in the house or stop burning a bunch of candles. There are products which will remove these lines but in my experience, you have to hand scrub them out and most people aren't willing to pay for the cost of the chemical or the labor involved.

My recommendation is

A> Get someone with a truck mount
B> Be willing to pay a little extra
C> Never have your carpets "shampooed". You're just begging for more of the same if you do (lots of residue in your carpets). The manufacturers recommend hot water extraction.. aka steam cleaning with a truck mount unit.

Nope, not me, wrong again silly.

Thanks guys....the "soot" lines aren't too severe. I don't smoke...don't burn candles...(or cook for that matter..lol)....and have one radiator in the apartment....studio

The truck mount cleaners....just curious...I am in an apartment building...3rd floor out of six....would I still be able to use a professional cleaner who uses the truck mounted equipment?

I have no problems with third story apartments. I have 300 ft. of hose on the truck and a fresh water tank. It's a pain but it can be done. As long as it's not like a hotel style apartment where you walk into a lobby or through a long hallway to get to the unit. As long as there is access relatively close to the stairs (I'd say 150 ft. max), it shouldn't be a problem with 300 ft. hose. I usually run the hoses straight up instead of winding with the stairs. Gives me a good 50 ft. extra to work with.

Just make sure to explain the access point to the company and they should be able to accommodate you if it's possible. I've run hoses off of fifth floor balconies before and straight into the street. Wouldn't hurt to give the tech a twenty though because you have to get 50 ft. of hose, walk it up stairs then hang it, walk back down stairs, get another 50 ft. and connect it and so on and so forth. And you have to do everything TWICE, once with your vacuum hose and once with your solution hose. BIG pain in the ass. But it can be done. My consolation is typically when I go to these kind of jobs it takes me 10 to 20 minutes to clean. The rest of the hour is spent setting up and breaking down (because the rooms are so small). So it's six one way, half a dozen another.
 

  If you want to save a ton of money do it yourself..


Edited by John L - 20/March/2009 at 1:14am