As every homeowner knows, accidents happen. Things get dropped, broken, cracked, smashed, tracked in, ground in, spilled on & generally messed up. Today, we’re going to answer your questions about what to do when your rugs & carpets need to be professionally cleaned.

• Who should you call?

• Who can you trust?

• What should it cost?

• What should you expect?

To answer these questions, I contacted Tony Kantzavelos, CEO of Love Your Rug, and grilled him about professional rug and carpet cleaning.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: Say I’m a typical homeowner whose rugs are in need of a good cleaning, but I don't know where to begin. I want to find a company that I can trust to do good work at a good price. Where should I begin my search for a great professional rug cleaning company...Google search, review websites, referrals from friends?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug: Word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising. Alternatively, customers can check out local companies in their areas and read their reviews.

When calling the companies, ask if you could visit the facility where they wash rugs. That’s how a customer can find out if they’re actually cleaning their carpets themselves, or sending them out to a third party. Avoiding the middleman gives you the best price. Deal directly with companies that do the work in-house, and it will give you peace of mind that it’ll be done right.

Always remember - there is no warranty associated with wholesale work, and there is a potential for a customer to get burned, if projects go sideways.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: I assume that like in any industry, there are reasons why the best companies in the rug cleaning biz are better than their competition...experienced employees, technology, outsourcing, effective business management & infrastructure, etc

I would like to get your opinion on what makes a great rug cleaning company?

Let’s start with the human side of the business.

1. How important are experienced employees to your business?

2. How long does it take a new employee to be good at their job?

3. Are there tricks of the trade that separate a great rug cleaner from an average or poor rug cleaner?

4. Do all companies invest in employee training through education or having a new hire apprentice with an experienced pro?

5. How important are skilled employees in separating great rug companies from the not-so-great?

6. Can a skilled employee tell me if a stain on my rug is cleanable prior to removing it and sending it for cleaning?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. Experience and leadership go hand in hand, and it’s that leadership that guides the team throughout the production process. It’s important for the wash team to be able to get in and out of difficult situations very quickly. It’s one of our strengths as a company.

2. Typically, it takes three months to become good enough at a basic task. Once the employee becomes accustomed to the pace of the facility, and earns the trust of their manager, they are given the opportunity to work with the main wash team. From there, it takes approximately two years to become a real pro at the job.

3. We clean 7 to 8 million ft.² of carpeting every year, and we handle every project with extreme care. Ultimately, our QC department decides whether a job gets a pass or a fail. We rely on this heavily, and consider this to be our secret weapon.

4. A certain amount will be invested to enhance an employee’s skills. Health and safety training is a primary concern, especially in facilities that have a degree of automation as we do. A company should do everything in its power to help its employees succeed on the job.

5. The most important thing is for every employee to develop and become masterful, having a complete understanding of one specific area of the business. That way, it becomes easier to train new people.

6. Not always. In most cases, the rug needs to be fully cleaned. Water-soluble and traffic stains will generally come out in the normal wash process. However, much of the stain removal work happens after the initial cleaning. The rugs that do not pass our first inspection are transferred to the stain removal department. About 10% of all rugs end up there for further assessment and work.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about technology?

1. If I wanted to start Toronto’s best rug cleaning company tomorrow, what kind of investment in technology & machinery would be required?

2. Do many companies make that kind of investment?

3. How important is technology & machinery in separating great rug companies from the not-so-great?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. A true rug washing facility - such as ours - will cost approximately millions of dollars to establish, which is a significant investment for anyone. Just one of our rug cleaning machines is $200,000! You need a dusting machine, a washing machine, a centrifuge, and a drying system.

2. Not really, because a company will have to go through the hardship of building a business portfolio, and that takes a lot of time to establish. Without significant revenue coming in, an investment like this one is simply not justified.

3. Sturdy machinery, which can withstand the stress of heavy-duty work volume, is vital. Otherwise, we will face constant disruptions and stoppages on the production line. In our company, we invest heavily in technology, thus creating a positive customer experience. It is a critical part of the business: automatically accepting payments, as well as auto-scheduling the deliveries, keeps our company from manually doing the work. Manual work is slow and mistakes can happen. This also reduces cost, and we can then pass on these savings to our customers.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about outsourcing?

I know that some home-cleaning businesses in Toronto don’t actually employ any home cleaners. They exist as a middle-man style marketplace connecting independent cleaners with homeowners, taking a commission for the introduction.

1. Does this marketplace model exist in the rug cleaning business?

2. Do all rug cleaning companies hire their own employees?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. In our business, we do all of our own in-home cleaning services. This way we can maintain the high quality and develop a strong bond with our customers - giving us the opportunity to communicate with them about the other services that we offer, and scheduling the service for the following year in advance.

2. I’m not sure how to answer this, except to say that if they don’t - they should.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about infrastructure?

In addition to machinery/technology, what kind of infrastructure investment is required to operate a great rug cleaning business?

1. I’m wondering how big an industrial space do you need to operate a great rug cleaning business? I’m picturing large cleaning machines in a big industrial space.

2. Do you need to be located close to your clients or can you operate outside of the city where operating costs may be lower?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. We prefer a large facility since we clean huge quantities of rugs. One of our facilities is 10,000 ft².

2. We have a large fleet of pickup and delivery trucks, and are able to service all of Southern Ontario with our two large locations, one in Etobicoke and one in North York. Our footprint is 25,000 ft², and sometimes we find it hard to navigate during the busy season. Small facilities do not work in the long run.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about business management? Operating a great rug cleaning business in 2021 is probably a lot different than it was 20 or 50 years ago.

1. How does experience count on the management side of the business?

2. How do modern business practices impact the quality of service provided to customers?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. The biggest change over the years are the types of rugs we process now. 20 to 50 years ago we were busy cleaning only exotic, handmade rugs. These days, carpets are manufactured in big overseas factories, which poses challenges when you wash them. Most of the carpeting is machine-made, and laminated with glues and other materials. The lifespan of a carpet like this is approximately 5 to 10 years. As a cleaning company, we’ve had to adapt in order to improve the lifespan of a rug. That’s why it’s important to clean the rugs properly, so they can beautify the home and stay out of landfills. That is bad for the environment.

2. Companies need to change with the times. Customers expect easy booking systems so that they don’t spend a lot of time organizing the cleaning service. With us, we promote contactless curbside and porch pick-ups. This way, customers can move on with their busy schedules and leave the cleaning to the pros.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about the legal stuff?

1. What kind of guarantee/warranty on the quality of the work would a great company offer?

2. What about insurance? What happens if a rug is damaged during the cleaning and/or transportation process?

3. Are the employees who enter the homeowner’s house bonded & insured (WSIB?)

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. We always deliver on what we promise. We will have a full conversation with a customer. Email communication is monitored regularly by our team, and phone conversations are recorded on our VoIP phone system. We keep things organized, and everyone understands the expectations prior to commencing the work. We also offer a full money-back guarantee.

2. From the moment we pick up the rug, we are fully responsible for it. Once it is returned to the facility by our drivers, it is tagged, photographed front and back, and videotaped throughout the wash process.

3. All of our in-home staff are WSIB insured.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: What about money?

1. Do I pay in advance, once the rug has been returned or put down a deposit & pay the balance once the job is done?

2. How does the size of rug impact the cost of cleaning?

3. How does the rug’s material impact the cost of cleaning?

4. Should there be a discount if I do all the rugs in my house vs just one or two?

5. Do we sign a contract?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug:

1. Payment happens automatically, prior to the delivery, through our point-of-sale portal that is shared with every customer.

2. All rugs are measured and priced per square foot.

3. We try to keep the cost down. However, when rugs are handmade or are made of silk, the price will increase slightly to reflect a hand-cleaning method. This ensures high-quality on our exotic rug cleaning portion of the business.

4. We offer bulk discounts, and they depend on the quality of the rugs cleaned. The website has an online price form that provides prices for the specific sizes and quantities. Also, we occasionally offer custom discounts - for example to first-time customers, etc.

5. No, there are no contracts.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: Any other aspects of the rug cleaning business that sets the great companies apart from the not-so-great companies?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug: Customer service is key. We are thorough with our work and our team encourages customers to write a proper review. This gives us an opportunity to gain more business for the community.

Douglas Robb - Interior Design Toronto: Putting yourself in the shoes of a GTA homeowner, what kind of questions would you ask a rug cleaning company before hiring them?

Tony Kantzavelos - Love Your Rug: As I mentioned above, check with the service whether you can visit the facility where the rugs are washed. Ask for the price, and ask about the cleaning methods they use. Make sure to check what will happen to your carpet if it gets damaged during the cleaning process. Don’t hesitate to ask about anything else you’re interested in.

About Tony Kantzavelos & Love Your Rug

Tony is the CEO of Canada's largest rug cleaning & restoration facility - Love Your Rug. Apart from successfully leading his team, Tony loves to share professional advice on how to give a fresh look to carpets, rugs and peoples homes. He is an industry leader and authority in area rug restoration.

Website: www.loveyourrug.ca/

Photo Gallery: www.loveyourrug.ca/gallery

Facebook: @loveyourrugtoronto

Instagram: @loveyourrug.ca