Half the people who book us for the first time admit they put it off for months because they did not know what to expect — strangers, machines, furniture, wet things. Here is the whole visit, minute by minute, so there are no unknowns left.
Before the visit
You text photos, get an exact quote, pick a window. If your building has vendor rules we handle the COI in advance (how that works). Your prep is ten minutes: clear throws and objects off the furniture, make a path to it, secure pets in another room. That is all — no moving furniture, no pre-vacuuming.
Minute by minute
- 0:00 — arrival and walk-through. The technician looks at each piece with you: fabric check (the care tag), a hidden-spot test, and the honest conversation about what will and will not come out. This is where you point out every stain and its history — “red wine, last month” changes the pre-treatment.
- 0:10 — setup. Portable extraction machine (size of a large suitcase), a power outlet, floor protection under the equipment. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner.
- 0:15 — dry vacuuming. Every seam, under cushions, both cushion sides.
- 0:25 — pre-treatment. Stain-specific solutions go on first and get their dwell time: enzymes on pet spots, degreaser on armrests, tannin treatment on coffee (what treats what).
- 0:40 — extraction. The main event: hot solution injected and immediately vacuumed back with the dissolved dirt, panel by panel. You will see the recovery water — brown is normal and oddly satisfying.
- 1:15 — detail pass. Piping, seams, skirt; pile brushed in one direction on velvet and microfiber (why grooming matters).
- 1:25 — walk-through with you. You see every piece while we are still there; anything that needs a second pass gets it now.
- 1:30 — done. Payment (card, invoice for businesses), drying instructions, gone.
What you do during all this
Anything — work from the next room, walk the dog. The machine is loud but the visit does not need supervision after the walkthrough. A sofa takes 45–90 minutes; sofa + mattress about two hours (times and prices).
After we leave
Fabric is damp, not wet: 2–6 hours to dry with a window cracked or a fan (normal vs abnormal smells while drying). Sit on it when it is dry to the touch. That evening the couch is just… yours again.
First-timer FAQ
Do I need to be home the whole time?
Be there for the start (walkthrough) and the end (review). The middle is yours.
Is anything I should hide or protect?
Electronics off the sofa arms, fragile items off side tables near the work zone. We handle the rest, including floors.
What if a stain does not come out?
You knew the odds before we started — that is the point of the honest inspection. If something we said would come out did not, the re-clean is on us.
