How to choose a carpet cleaning company in Pennsylvania

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

What matters most when choosing a carpet cleaner?

Five things: a price built on the area to be cleaned, a certification you can check yourself, a method that suits your carpet and the job, terms that respect your carpet's warranty, and everything agreed in writing before anyone starts. No Pennsylvania license exists for this trade, so these checks are yours to make. For water damage, mold or sewage the bar is higher, and the last section covers it.

Does a certification mean anything?

It can, if you check it. Two names come up most often in this trade, and they mean different things.

• IICRC. The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification describes itself as a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. It certifies individual technicians and, separately, whole firms, and says it has more than 49,000 active certified technicians and more than 6,500 certified firms worldwide.
• CRI Seal of Approval. The Carpet and Rug Institute is the trade association of carpet manufacturers, and its mission includes advocating on behalf of the carpet manufacturing industry. Its Seal of Approval tests cleaning products and machines in a laboratory. The institute says cleaning professionals gain Seal of Approval certification when they use approved products, so the label tells you about the products a company uses.

Do not take a logo on a van or website as proof. The IICRC runs a locator for finding certified firms and technicians, and publishes a list of companies that used its logo without being certified firms, with a way to report others. Pennsylvania's consumer protection law counts misrepresenting a certification or affiliation as an unfair or deceptive practice.

How should a company price the job?

By the area cleaned. The Carpet and Rug Institute advises measuring your rooms before you call and being careful of any company that quotes by the room, because rooms vary in size. It also suggests getting an estimate you are comfortable with on the phone, before the cleaner comes, and asking whether moving furniture costs extra.

Its residential standard adds that some cleaners will want to look at the carpet before giving a figure, and that price can depend on how the carpet has been kept up. Either way, settle the figure before work begins. Published price ranges, and the extras that push a bill up, are set out in the cost guide.

Does the company's method suit your carpet?

Ask which method it will use and why. The institute's standard says hot water extraction is the most common professional method for homes, done from a truck-mounted unit, a portable machine with hose and wand, or a walk-behind machine.

Some jobs narrow the choice:

• Pet urine. The institute says not to use a steam cleaner on urine spots, because heat sets the stain and the smell.
• Wool. It recommends a suction-only vacuum for wool carpet, so ask how a company handles wool before booking.
• Carpet wet with dirty water. NC State Extension says carpet soaked with "gray" water, such as washing machine discharge, may be cleaned by a professional using a biocide and hot water extraction, and that bonnet, dry foam, shampoo and absorbent-compound methods are not adequate and can spread the contamination.

A good company will also ask you questions. The standard lists what to expect to be asked: who made your carpet and what type it is, when it was last cleaned, whether there are odors, pets or stains, what you have already put on a stain, and the size of the house.

What does your carpet's warranty say?

Read it before you book. The institute says every carpet manufacturer requires proper maintenance and that failing to follow the maker's guidelines may void your warranty. Its standard goes further and says using products not certified by the institute could void it.

Set that beside the federal rule. The Federal Trade Commission says federal law does not let a manufacturer require you to use specific parts or services to keep warranty coverage unless it supplies them free or has an FTC waiver. What your own warranty asks for is written in it, so take the maintenance section with you when you compare companies.

How do you check a company's record?

• References and bids. Pennsylvania's Attorney General advises checking references, getting more than one bid and looking for complaints with the Better Business Bureau. The Carpet and Rug Institute suggests asking how long the company has been in business.
• Registration. Ask whether the company is registered as a home improvement contractor. Whether the law requires it of a business that only cleans is not settled in the state's guidance. What Pennsylvania requires explains what the law does name, which matters if a job grows into replacing carpet or repairing a floor.
• Promises. The FTC says to get any spoken promise in writing, because a business may later refuse a service it promised only out loud.

What if the job is water damage, mold or sewage?

Then you are hiring for restoration, not routine cleaning, and the official advice is more demanding.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says to ask about qualifications, training and experience and to check references. It says a qualified professional may have certification, training or experience in water damage restoration, mold removal or drying buildings, and names the IICRC among the bodies that may certify them. It also says the EPA itself keeps no list of approved contractors.

For mold, the EPA says to make sure a contractor has experience cleaning up mold, to check references, and to ask the contractor to follow the EPA's own mold remediation guidance or other professional or government guidelines. Where the water was sewage or otherwise contaminated, it says to call in a professional experienced with buildings damaged by contaminated water.

When you have a shortlist, the carpet cleaning directory page lists businesses that serve your area.

Sources

1. About the IICRC, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification
2. IICRC Global Locator, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification
3. Invalid Firms, Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification
4. Who We Are, The Carpet and Rug Institute
5. Hire a Carpet Cleaning Professional, The Carpet and Rug Institute
6. Seal of Approval Program, The Carpet and Rug Institute
7. CRI 205 Residential Carpet Standard: Professional Cleaning Services, The Carpet and Rug Institute
8. CRI 205 Residential Carpet Standard: Residential Warranties, The Carpet and Rug Institute
9. Cleaning and Maintenance, The Carpet and Rug Institute
10. Warranties, Federal Trade Commission
11. Home Improvement Contractor Verification, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
12. Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (Act of Dec. 17, 1968, P.L. 1224, No. 387), Pennsylvania General Assembly
13. Flood Cleanup to Protect Indoor Air and Your Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
14. A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
15. Water-Damaged Carpets and Rugs, NC State Extension