Everyone loves a deal, but too often, seeking a cheaper carpet cleaning service will be the most expensive mistake you make.

Beware of low-priced carpet cleaning

If their price is truly low, you should be concerned about their quality. What are they leaving out? How can they pay their technicians a decent wage and have the best products and equipment at the lowest price?

They can’t.

Some companies advertise a low price then charge you more when they get there. Be clear about what is included and what is not.

These so-called “cleaning” companies also happen to be the ones that don’t educate themselves or their employees. The result is that carpets and fabrics are ruined every day by uneducated, uninformed, and downright unscrupulous carpet cleaners.

They are facing soiling conditions they have never seen or heard of due to a lack of education. Or worse, they create a problem on a carpet or fabric, and they have no idea how to fix it. One example is they leave sticky residues in the carpet that cause the carpet or fabric to re-soil rapidly or to discolor.

Top-notch education is readily available in our industry. There is no excuse for cleaners not to educate themselves (and provide useful education to their clients). Part of the problem is that they have fallen into the trap of viewing cleaning as a commodity, and they can’t afford to educate themselves. Education is expensive, but ignorance can result in disaster—on YOUR carpet!

Our company invests a great deal in education. Not only do we spend thousands of dollars per year on education, we are heavily involved in our industry, which makes us well-connected with our industry leaders.

This way, if a unique situation arises in the field, we have experts we can call on, thereby bringing the cutting edge of cleaning technology to you.

Our industry provides courses in carpet cleaning, repair, fabric cleaning, marble and tile cleaning, area rug cleaning, customer service, marketing, management, and other related courses.

Many of the organizations offer certification programs that involve testing, and ethics requirements. There are a variety of opportunities to stay plugged in: trade publications, websites, bulletin boards, and more.

We attend every course we can in order to bring you the very best. Many of these courses require travel across the U.S. and can therefore be quite costly. However, we believe, as fiber technology changes and as floor coverings become more complex, proper education becomes even more important.

The bottom line is that you have a tremendous investment in your textiles and flooring systems and it is our duty to know how to best care for them. Understanding cleaning technology at the highest level helps to reduce cleaning residues and creates a healthier indoor environment by eliminating invisible germs and bacteria. It also empowers the cleaner to remove more soil, thereby creating a longer-lasting fabric or floor.

Carpet Cleaning in Winter? Really?

This is the time of the year when you may wonder if it makes sense to get your carpets cleaned. Great question!  But first, let’s think about this logically… Does it make sense to clean your wood or tile floors in the winter? Does it make sense to clean your bed linens winter? Of course. But for some reason, many people treat their carpet differently.  It’s as if the carpet was somehow magically immune to soiling because the weather is cool. Of course, this is not true.

It’s what you can’t see that is the problem
It’s true that modern carpets do a great job of hiding soil. This may lead you to think you only need to clean your carpets once a year or when they “look” dirty. But according to the EPA,
most households should clean carpets at least twice a year, maybe more depending on lifestyle and other factors.This may surprise you until you think about all of the soils, allergens, oils,
pollutants and contaminants that carpet traps. In most homes, carpet is the largest filter, trapping soils, pollutants and pet and human dander (dead skin cells, which we shed by the millions every day and dust mites live for). So the fact is that, yes, winter is a great time of year to get your carpets cleaned for several reasons.

You’re worth it
One of the best reasons for cleaning in the winter is that you want your home to look great for visiting friends and relatives during the Holidays.  Nothing makes your home feel clean and inviting quite like freshly cleaned carpets. And even if you don’t expect guests, you will be  spending more time at home in the winter, so you want it to look nice for you, too.

Of course, there are far more important reasons to clean your carpet than appearance. In fact, if you wait until your carpets look dirty before you clean them, you have waited too long. Soil damages  carpet, dramatically reducing its usable life. Can you imagine waiting until your clothes look dirty before laundering them? Of course not. That would be unhealthy and they would probably begin to smell before they looked dirty. Carpet is no different.

During the summer, pollen and other pollutants enter your home and become trapped in the carpets. In the fall, mold spores are more prevalent, again, becoming trapped in your carpet  fibers. All of this just in time for you to close things up for the winter and spend more time  inside… Not a pretty picture is it?

With clean carpet now, you and your family can breathe cleaner, healthier air all winter long. It’s bad enough that winter is the time when people suffer from cold and flu without adding poor indoor air quality to aggravate conditions such as asthma and allergies. And some good news: Carpets tend to dry faster in the winter because the humidity is lower and most of us are using our furnaces. Warm, dry air is great for drying carpets!

Clean the winter blues away
Remember that in winter, days are shorter. Darkness comes earlier and lasts longer. A clean,  fresh, healthy carpet is a great way to help fight off the winter doldrums. A clean, neat home  just makes you feel better. Hansen Steam Way is usually busiest during the Holidays; everyone  wants a clean house for family and guests. Call now to book your cleaning before the big rush!

Healthy Holidays for Your Pet

It is easy for everyone to overindulge during the holiday season, so it shouldn’t be surprising to find that pets can be vulnerable to holiday binging as well.

It may take a little effort on your part to ensure your pet does not put on any extra weight this year. Make sure any treats you give your pet are just that—pet treats, not human treats. Chocolate can make pets sick and sugar is not a good supplement to a pet’s diet. If you decide to put together a gift box or stocking filled with goodies for your animal, be sure to dole out the treats slowly over time. Take these extras into account at meal times and reduce meal  quantities accordingly. Exercise is good for you and your pet at this time of year, so make time for a daily walk, too.

Festivities and decorations can also pose a health threat to your dog or cat. All cords should be well shielded and your tree should be anchored to prevent it from tipping over. All edible decorations should be placed out of reach. If you will be having many guests over, take into consideration your pet’s tolerance for crowds and noise. It may be best to have your pet wait out any parties in the safety of a bedroom or basement.

By taking these simple precautions, you can ensure that both you and your furry friend will enjoy this holiday season.

When you start your search for a high quality carpet cleaning service, the first question you’ll want to ask your potential hire is this: “What Kind of Reputation Do You Have?”

When selecting a professional carpet cleaning company you have three choices:

1. Choose a carpet cleaner that has a low, too-good-to-be-true price.
You’ll likely get the worst experience you ever imagined.

2. Choose a “commodity” carpet cleaning company.
This is typically a high-volume company that does a lot of mass media advertising. They may not be the lowest, but their prices are “competitive.” The problem is they don’t train their staff very well and they skip vital steps in the cleaning process; that ends up costing YOU in the long run.

3. Choose a reputable, experienced, certified carpet cleaning firm.
Choose a cleaning firm that measures up to the seven questions in this book. You will end up with a phenomenal cleaning job AND a pleasant service experience.

The typical scenario with the first two types is to “bait” you with a low price, then “switch” you to their “dual scrub” or “deep clean” system. They proceed to soak your carpet and leave a soapy residue behind. Good luck getting them back again!

Choosing the Right Pet

Getting a pet can be a big decision. Knowing which type or breed to get is important for the  long term happiness of you, your family, and your pet. Before you decide on a pet, take time to research the type of animal that will best fit in to your home environment. If you decide on a puppy, be sure to understand how large your dog will be when fully grown. Research the  animal’s temperament and proclivities to ensure a good fit with your home situation.

Also take into account your budget. Larger animals tend to cost more in food and care. They  may also require more of your time.  Consider time needed for exercise, grooming, and other care. By taking a little time before you invest yourself in a new pet, you will be sure of making the proper choice for you and your animal.

Hansen Steam Way wants your business. We value and reward our customers. So here’s the deal….

• – – — – – – – – — – – – — — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –  — – – – – – –

FREE CARPET CLEANING OFFER!

If you have never used our service, we want you to try us out at absolutely NO CHARGE and NO OBLIGATION. We will do 100 square feet of cleaning for you in the area of your choice. This will cover a major traffic area, or perhaps you would like us to remove a few spots for you. However you would like to use this offer is up to you.

Why would we want to do this?

Because we know that when you experience the most outstanding service experience ever™, you will want to use us again. We want to earn your business. Don’t worry; there is no sales pitch—just clean carpet. The only thing we ask is that you are present when we do the free trial so we can share with you why and what we are doing is different than what anyone else does.

• – – – — – – – – – –  – —  – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
  Get FREE CASH or FREE CLEANING through our REFERRAL REWARD Program!
  Every time you refer a new client to us, we automatically reward you with a referral certificate valued at 10% of their cleaning job. For example, if the new client you refer spends $500.00, you get a $50.00 Reward Certificate that you can use for CASH or CLEANING. It’s that simple!

There is NO LIMIT to the amount of CASH or CLEANING you can get!
For each new client you send us, we will reward you with a 10% referral fee that can be used toward FREE CASH or FREE CLEANING. Your choice, simply refer your friends, neighbors, or co-workers, and we will reward you automatically. Remember that we offer a 100% money back guarantee, so you can be sure we will take the absolute best care of your referrals!

HOW TO GET MORE REFERRAL REWARDS

You can receive Free Trial Offer Cards in the mail in just a few days. Simply give those to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. These cards entitle a new client to an opportunity to try us for free on your behalf! They must be a new client, or a decision- maker if the referral is commercial.

Help Your Friends, Neighbors, and Clients Avoid Nightmare Carpet Cleaners!

Call 865-453-5624 Right Now!
www.HansenSteamWay .com

Food Donation Basics

This is the time of year that many people donate food to food drives. To ensure that your donation can be used, remember these donation tips.

Non-perishable items are always needed. Donate items that are factory sealed and try to avoid dented or rusted cans. Most agencies will not accept home-canned or home-packaged foods,but be sure to ask – you may be surprised.  Open or partially used items can usually not be
accepted.

If you are planning on shopping for items to donate, call the agency first to see what they are low on. Try to contribute basic foodstuffs, including rice, pasta, canned tuna, canned soups and stews, peanut butter, canned milk, canned beans and vegetables, and hot or cold cereals.Extras like coffee, tea, spices, and condiments are nice to include as well.

If you have non-food items to donate, ask if the agency will accept those as well. Many people are in need of tooth care products, personal hygiene items, diapers, pet food, and basics such as cleaning supplies, trash bags, toilet paper, and laundry products.

As a budding entrepreneur, I went on a quest to learn as much as I could about the technical aspects of carpet cleaning, to discover what the best methods were, and to set my business apart by providing what we call “the most outstanding service experience ever”™.

Over time Hansen Steam Way began to be referred by the most seasoned flooring experts and realtors. We began to be referred by some of Sevier County’s most prominent citizens and celebrities. We gained a reputation that is second to none, now being exclusively referred by top industry experts. At the time of this writing, we are in our 19th year of service.

We have been featured in the Sevier County Business Journal.

We have committed ourselves to world-class customer service, and we offer a 100% money back guarantee. We don’t want to have anyone in our community who isn’t completely thrilled with the service experience we provide. If that happens to you, we will rush back to your location to remedy the situation. If you are still unimpressed, you owe us nothing and we give you a complete refund.

In 1986 I began training in our industry and have become a Master Cleaner in the carpet cleaning industry, Hansen Steam Way is an IICRC Certified Firm with certified techs. And the best part is that I have an outstanding staff ready to serve you. We have the most experienced, well-trained, and caring staff in the industry.

And by the way, we don’t only clean carpet. You can also trust Hansen Steam Way for the care of your fine upholstery, Oriental rugs, stone and tile as well as emergency water extraction services. We offer residential and commercial services.

Bubbly, Blonde and Born to Clean! How I got into this business in the first place:

As I grew up, I learned a lot of valuable information, as well as skills in the world of cleaning. It became a part of me I would never permanently move away from. At the age of age 8, I knew the proper way to clean up spills on carpet and remove chewing gum from my hair and clothes. I got in trouble only once for an ignored spill and gum in my
hair—I was a quick study on spot removal just to stay out of trouble. Spills and gum were child’s play wherever I was after that. In 1996, Hansen Steam Way opened for business with a portable machine, top-of-the-line cleaning agents, experience, and great customer service.

Soon after entering the business, I became aware of the bait-and-switch tactics unscrupulous carpet cleaners were using. In fact, when I first got my equipment, a fellow waiter asked me to clean his carpet. When I told him how much it would be, he responded, “I see ads in the newspaper all the time for $5.95 per room!”

No one can make money and run a professional business at those prices. That low price is just to get the cleaners in the door. Once inside, they recommend their “deep scrub” method, which costs much more. After all, you have spots on your carpet! The cleaners then proceed to load your carpet with soap that leaves a sticky residue behind. Now your carpet attracts dirt like a magnet and your spots return. But this time they’re bigger and uglier. You call the company back, and they figure out how to blame it on you.

This has to STOP! My book How To Avoid… Carpet Cleaning Nightmares! will empower you with knowledge about the carpet cleaning industry and how to employ a high quality professional carpet cleaning service. Keep reading!

Holiday Eating Survival Tips

Turkey, desserts, candy, gravy, eggnog!  Holiday foods can wreak havoc on your diet. But with a little preplanning and thought, you can weather the
holiday eating frenzy without putting on all those extra pounds. Consider these survival tips to get you through the end of the year.

Take time for exercise
Even with a busy holiday schedule, you should still try to find time to fit in some physical activity. It is also a great way to relieve stress and feel more energetic.
Eat a snack first
Before heading off to a holiday gathering, eat a light snack such as fruit or crackers.  Never go to an event on an empty stomach – you’ll be tempted to eat everything in sight.
Offer to bring something
Bring something that you like to eat – and make it low-fat and healthy. You will then know that you have at least one safe food to eat. Many holiday recipes have low-fat versions, so you won’t feel like you are missing out.
Choose wisely
When browsing a buffet or holiday spread, think twice before choosing a bit of everything. Instead of chips and dips, dressings, cakes and candies, load up on healthy alternatives like fresh fruits and vegetables, pretzels, leaner meats, and lighter desserts.  Also skip the extras, such as cream sauces, gravy, butter, and whipped cream.

Drink responsibly
Alcoholic drinks have loads of calories. Choose something you can sip slowly, and enjoy the time you have with friends and family instead of focusing on the tastes of holiday beverages. Eggnog is especially high in fat, so offer to bring some low-fat eggnog. Cranberry juice and teas are better alternatives for holiday drinking.