Carpet acts as a sponge. It absorbs moisture from spills and pet accidents, and it takes in the dirt that comes off shoes and clothing from outside. That soil works its way down into the fiber where it is very difficult to remove, and as moisture and dirt accumulate together the carpet can become a breeding ground for mold and mildew.
In Butte County there is a second source, and it is the one people underestimate: fine dust and wildfire ash. Harvest dust from the orchards and rice ground carries for miles, and every fire season puts ash into the air that settles into carpet pile through open windows and the HVAC return. Both are abrasive. Left in the pile they grind the fiber a little more every time somebody walks across the room, and that wear does not come out later.
Our commercial-grade equipment and cleaning agents penetrate, break down and extract the contaminants and soil that a household vacuum cannot lift. When we are done you will notice the difference in how the carpet looks, how it smells, and how it feels underfoot.
Our twelve-step carpet cleaning process
1. Pre-inspection. Our technician walks the job with you to identify soiling conditions, the carpet fiber type, and any spots that may turn out to be permanent. You know before we start what is likely to come out and what is not.
2. Pre-vacuum. The carpet is dry-vacuumed with a commercial vacuum to lift dry soil. Skipping this step turns dry soil into mud the moment water touches it, which is why we never skip it.
3. Furniture moving. Sofas, chairs and tables are carefully moved. Larger pieces such as beds and dressers are left in place under our regular pricing. Furniture is protected with disposable blocks and tabs so nothing stains as it dries.
4. Pre-spot. Individual spots are pre-treated with specialty spotters chosen for what caused them.
5. Pre-spray. Traffic lanes are pre-sprayed with a traffic lane cleaner and given time to work.
6. Brush or scrub. The carpet is pre-scrubbed with a groomer or a rotary machine, depending on the soil level and the type of carpet, to loosen soil in the fiber.
7. Extract and rinse. Our truck-mounted hot water extraction flushes the carpet pile. Pressure and heat are regulated so the carpet is not over-wet — the most common damage an inexperienced cleaner does is leaving a carpet too wet for too long.
8. Neutralize. The pH is balanced on every carpet and fabric we clean. Carpet manufacturers consider this one of the most important steps, and it is either accomplished during the rinse or applied afterwards as a post-spray.
9. Stain treatment. Anything still showing is worked again with specialty treatments.
10. Groom. The pile is groomed and set in one direction, which helps it dry evenly and lie correctly.
11. Speed dry. High-velocity air movers are placed on the carpet to shorten the drying time.
12. Post-cleaning inspection. We walk the job with you again, point out the results, and make sure you are happy before we leave.
Pet urine and odor removal
Pet urine is not a surface problem. It passes through the carpet into the backing, the pad and sometimes the subfloor, and it keeps producing odor long after the visible mark has gone — particularly in a hot Oroville summer, when heat and humidity bring it back.
We treat it as a three-layer problem, because that is what it is. Surface cleaning alone gets you a few weeks. Finding the extent of the contamination, treating the backing and pad, and then deodorizing at the source is what actually resolves it.
Commercial and residential
We clean carpet in homes and in working buildings — offices, medical facilities, apartment complexes, hotels, retail spaces and restaurants — and the two are genuinely different jobs. A commercial floor is scheduled around the business rather than the other way round, and we run maintenance programs for property managers where the same crew comes back on a known cycle.
Whichever you are, the guarantee is the same. We are so confident your floors will get the most thorough cleaning they have had that if we fail to deliver the results we discussed, you get a 100% cash refund. No questions asked.
Where we work
High Tech provides carpet cleaning services across Butte County, California — Oroville, Chico, Paradise, Palermo, Durham, Gridley, and Biggs — and just over the county line in Marysville. See every area we serve.