Winter Killing Your Carpet? How To Select A Cleaner.

You know the drill. The snow starts to pile up and it cakes to your shoes and boots and no matter how hard you try, it ends up tracking water, dirt and mud into your house at some point. It doesn't matter if you lay a hundred rugs out or set every rule in the books for your family not to walk through the house, it's going to happen. You'll need to run in the house and grab your keys when you're late for work and it's all for naught. Eventually, many of us just throw in the towel and let the carpet and the flooring take a beating and decide to deal with it once the weather finally breaks in the spring.

No need to overdo it

If you have your own carpet cleaning device, you can keep your carpet in pretty good shape by yourself, but most professionals still recommend a cleaning once every 12 to 18 months. If your winters are like ours, I'd make it an annual event in the spring. I found out the hard way that you can not only harm your rugs with too many cleanings, it really can take its toll on your pocket book over the course of time. So again, don't overdo it!

Do some simple research

In this day and age there's no excuse for not doing a bit of homework on anyone you hire out, let alone are willing to let into your home. Do a quick search on Google Maps or Yelp to check out reviews on carpet cleaning services in your area. Like most services, the pickiest will yell the loudest, so don't let a couple of angry reviews turn you off to a company - make sure the general trends in feedback are positive before you pick up the phone.

Talk to your carpet cleaning prospects

If you think of this as an interview, you'll likely find yourself a provider that you can use over and over again. A short list of simple questions and a couple of phone calls will help you separate the wheat from the chaff. If there's swift, smart responses to these questions, you've got yourself a good candidate. If not, keep calling...

• Does your company have any professional certifications?
• Do you vacuum before cleaning the carpet?
• Do you have a formal training program?
• How long has your business (or branch if it's a franchise like ServiceMaster) been in business?

Rather than blindly selecting a cleaner to fix up your muddied, beaten carpet, a little bit of process can go a long way in finding the right fit for you.