My dear mother decided to have my carpeting professionally cleaned as a gift. A kind and generous woman she is, probably influenced by guilt on the part of her beloved pet who leaves his own gifts here when she visits.
So I’m scheduling the cleaning, and they suggest I pay extra for “something like Scotchgard” to be applied to the newly clean carpet. Is this just a useless service to pad the price? Various family and friends recommend this company, but even honest companies have ways of increasing profits that aren’t necessary.
The quote for the stain preventer stuff was $100 for the five rooms being cleaned, but it just happened to be on special for $75 when I called. :dubious:
Worth the money or scam?
I’ve tried it before, and it didn’t make any noticeable difference. The carpet I had cleaned, though, gets a lot of abuse and horrific stains (it’s in my 3 little boys’ room, so blood, vomit, poo, urine, finger paint, ink, grape juice, etc. are pretty common). The stain protector didn’t make any of the stains or spills easier to remove, at all. IMHO, it was a waste of money.
I don’t have a cite, but I’ve definitely heard that it’s not worth it. This is only a way to increase profits. When I bought my house 13 years ago we had the carpets professionally cleaned. The guy almost went ballistic on us because we refused any of the other add ons. Seriously. He actually swore at us!
I would like to know the answer to this also. What I have found is when I say yes to the extra treatment, the guys doing the work are very happy, and will spend extra time on stains, or move funiture without complaint. They seem to try harder.
When I have said no, they aren’t happy, and then just rush through the job.
So I assumed the actual workers get the bulk of the extra money, sort of a bonus.
What I do now is buy the extra protection for the stairs and one room that gets lots of traffic. I don’t get it for the rooms like bedrooms, that usually don’t have stains anyway. That seems to be enough to make the workers happy, and I don’t feel bad feeling like I got scammed.
And then if the same crew comes back, they go out of their way to show how easy stains come up from the areas treated the last time, to insure I get it again.
So to me it is worth it for a couple of rooms, because I get a better job done. I have no idea if the actual product makes a difference.
Could you ask them to do half of each room, so you could compare? I have never had the nerve to do that, but if the product does what they claim, you should be able to tell a difference.
Before spending extra, I’d ask them if the stain protection comes with a guarantee. If it doesn’t work, can you get your money back, or will they clean the stained area for free?
I’m sorta digging the idea of a half-protected room, it’d be like walking thru the front door to my very own before/after picture every day. 
Good question, AuntiePam. I called and they replied that they couldn’t offer a guarantee on stain protection because all it does is make spills easier to clean. If the customer doesn’t deal with the spill correctly and quickly, then the protection is essentially meaningless. Should I decide to bleach the red wine out and it eats a hole in my carpet, they’d hardly be responsible, was the example they quoted me. Since they’d only have the customers word that correct methods were used, they don’t offer any guarantee.
I think I’ll risk it and go without. Since I generally spot clean messes as they occur, it’s the first time I’ve had professional cleaners since the carpet was new. Installed it 8 years ago, figure in another 5 or 8 year, I may not even be in the same house.
I just had mine done and we got the stain protector. It did seem to make the stains let go a bit easier last time. This is Cat Puke Central over here (we nicknamed one of them “The Pump.”). Maybe it’s just a psychological advantage, but there ya have it.