Hosting the holidays in Baldwin: when to book the carpet cleaning

Get the date on the calendar early

November gets crowded for everyone: the people hosting, the people traveling and the plumber or painter who's fixing the guest bath before family arrives. Booking the carpet cleaning in September or early October puts it on your calendar before the rest of the month fills in, and it lets you pick the window you actually want.

If you host in December rather than November, you have a bit more room, but the same thinking applies. The weeks before a holiday are never as empty as they look from October.

Pick a date with some slack

Aim for one to two weeks before you host. That's close enough that the carpet still looks fresh when guests walk in, and far enough out that a rescheduled appointment or a slow-drying day won't wreck your plans.

Avoid the day before. Everything else is happening that day, and damp carpet is one more thing to manage. If you're hosting both holidays, one cleaning before Thanksgiving plus some spot care in between usually carries the house through. A follow-up after New Year's can handle whatever December left behind.

A countdown that works

When	What to do
Early fall	Book the visit and list the rooms and furniture
Two weeks out	Finish painting, furniture deliveries and big decluttering
Day before the visit	Pick up toys and small items, and move breakables off low tables
Cleaning day	Keep kids and pets off the damp carpet and keep air moving
After it's dry	Put rugs, furniture pads and decorations back
Party week	Set out the spill kit

The order is the point. Anything dusty or heavy happens before the cleaning, and anything decorative happens after.

Don't forget the sofa and dining chairs

Guests sit where you sit, and the dining room gets more use in one evening than in a normal month. Upholstery can be cleaned on the same visit: a sofa is $150, a sectional $275, an armchair $65, an ottoman $50 and a fabric dining chair $25. A set of six dining chairs comes to $150.

Cleaning the chairs before a big meal also means the gravy lands on clean fabric, which gives you a better shot at getting it out.

Leave time for drying

Carpet is usually walkable within a few hours, depending on humidity and airflow, but wait a full day before heavy furniture goes back or the tree goes up. Wet carpet under a furniture leg can pick up rust or wood stain. Run the heat or a few fans, and crack a window if the air outside is dry. If the sofa was cleaned too, leave the cushions the way they were set up to dry, and keep throws and pillows off until the fabric feels dry to the touch.

Once the carpet is dry, set the tree stand on a tray. A stand that tips or overflows is one of the easier ways to soak a patch of carpet in December.

A spill kit for party night

Keep it in a basket where you can grab it without leaving the room:

• A stack of white towels or paper towels
• A spray bottle of cool water
• A spoon for scooping cranberry sauce, gravy or dip
• A roll of painter's tape to mark anything you'll want looked at later

When something spills, scoop first, then blot from the outside in with cool water. Don't rub, and don't grab the first product under the sink. Candle wax can wait until it hardens; after that, leave whatever is stuck in the pile for us.

Guests who stay the night

Overnight company adds a guest room and more trips up and down the stairs. If the guest room has carpet, include it in the same cleaning rather than a separate trip, and give it the full drying time before the bed is made up and suitcases land on the floor.

Stairs and hallways take the most traffic when the house is full. Stairs run $65 for a flight of up to 15 steps, a hallway adds $35, and both are worth including if they look tired now.

After the last guest leaves

Deal with spots within a day or two rather than a month. Most spills come out more easily before they've dried and been walked on. If guests came in from a walk along the Little Gunpowder Falls or across a wet yard, a boot tray and a mat at the door will spare the carpet next time.

Visits in Baldwin have a $175 minimum, and the drive from Forest Hill is about 29 minutes. See carpet cleaning in Baldwin and upholstery cleaning in Baldwin for the details.