How to Clean a Carpet

Yet more of my fabulous follies as an apartment manger. This job tempts me to hate mankind.

We have a family who moved in three years ago. They seemed nice, normal and promised to provide little or no hassle to me. But last year the wife knocked on my door.

"Hollywood, is there anything you could do for us? Our carpet is so dirty. Could we have a new one?"

I went down to their apartment and saw that the beige carpet we had installed only two years before was literally black throughout the entire apartment. I made a phone call. My management company was feeling generous so they put in a new carpet at no cost to the tenant. Yeah, they're just nice like that sometimes.

Last month there was another knock on my door. It was the wife.

"Do you think you could put a new carpet down in our apartment? It's black again. I was thinking you guys could put in a really dark carpet so you couldn't see the dirt."

"I don't think we are going to be able to do that. Have you tried cleaning it?"

"Yes. I clean it, but it always gets dirty again. Your carpet is so nice and clean..."

"I vacuum almost every day and shampoo it every few months."

"..."

"Would you like the phone number of a carpet cleaner?" I offered.

"I guess. Would the apartment company pay for cleaning?"

"No."

One week later she gave notice that they were moving out. On to newer, whiter carpet I suppose. I'm not the cleanest gal on the block, but I don't think these people even owned a vacuum. Even pigs don't live in their own filth. I wonder if she really weighed the options and decided that packing up and moving was more palatable than actually keeping her carpet clean. Gross. Really gross.

Rant over. For now.

Comments

Colleen said…
Yuck! I could never do that job. I'm waaaay too obvious with my facial expressions. And I don't think my "you are a revolting human being" face would go over very well with tenants.
Anonymous said…
I am SO relieved that there are housewives out there that make me look clean and tidy. The grass, er, carpet is always dirtier in other apartment...
Anonymous said…
P.S. good to have you back
Anonymous said…
Great to have you back!!
Nancy Sabina said…
Ewwwww. I guess maybe that's why some people rent?

I lived in an apartment as a missionary where missionaries had been living for something like 7 years. The carpet was SO nasty (from bikes being worked on in the family room) but the apartment wouldn't change it or clean it because they said they only did that when people moved in or out. So we lived in filth.
Unknown said…
Eew!

Glad you're back.
Erin said…
Wow. Your company is way nice to replace carpet. It must not be a rent control building.
Crystal said…
Eewie eewie gross. My quality of life has improved so much since we bought our own carpet cleaner. Ahhhh.
Heather said…
sounds like something an old friend (and i mean old as i am no longer friends with her) would do. nasty nasty nasty.
Amber said…
I'm glad you're back too. I've missed you and your sense of humor. I'm also happy I"m not the filthiest person on the planet (just on my street- but they're all ocd).
Okay, that is DISGUSTING. We lived in an apartment for four years after college and I admit to not vaccuming too terribly often. And yet our carpet was the same color when we left as it was when we moved in. Those tenants?? SUPER GRODY.
holly said…
Oh, how I can relate to that one. I had a tenant who wanted her bathroom repainted, so we went in, and the walls were covered with mold. Gross.
We didn't paint.
Neurotic Mom said…
i rent the rug doctor but hopefully in the new year i can buy a steam cleaner, i can't stand dirty carpets
Rachel said…
oh yeah, I need to vacuum. Thanks for the reminder.
Lindsay said…
Good grief. Carpet isn't THAT hard to keep clean.
Anonymous said…
I like your blog
Anonymous said…
I think I need to think in order to fully understand the contents of your description!
Personalized signatures:我爱棋牌

Popular Posts