Chelsea is across the river from us, over Battersea Bridge or Albert Bridge, and SW3 is a short drive north. Albert Bridge has a three-tonne limit for goods vehicles, enforced by camera, so we plan the crossing before we set off.
Wool needs more care
Pale wool carpets and hand-knotted rugs need the most care of anything we clean. Wool holds more water than synthetics and takes longer to dry, and natural dyes can move if they are over-wetted. Every piece gets a dye test on a hidden corner first. On wool we use a wool-safe detergent at a lower temperature and take more passes with less water, which is slower and kinder to the fibre. On a pale wool carpet in a busy room, Scotchgard afterwards is worth thinking about at £33 a room.
The Embankment side
Houses and flats facing Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk look onto a busy main road along the river, and traffic dust builds up on the window side. The curtains show it first, then the carpet in front of the window. Long curtains in tall rooms can be cleaned hanging on the same visit (see curtain cleaning).
Drying tall rooms
Period rooms with high ceilings and sash windows dry well if the sashes are opened a few inches top and bottom: warm, damp air leaves at the top and drier air comes in at the bottom. A wool living room carpet is usually dry by the evening this way. Rugs stay flat until they are dry right through, which for a thick hand-knotted piece means the next morning. There is more on that under rug cleaning.
Getting in
Parking north of the river is run by a different council from Wandsworth, and if the van needs a paid bay it goes on the bill at cost. Mansion flats with small lifts or porters’ hours work the same way as ours on the Battersea side: tell us the rules and we fit around them.
An example
A wool living room carpet, a rug over 3 square metres and Scotchgard on the living room come to £127. Add a long pair of curtains and the visit comes to £169.
| Clean | Price |
|---|---|
| Bedroom | £36 |
| Lounge | £43 |
| Through lounge | £61 |
| Stairs, per flight | £41 |
| Small rug (to 3m²) | £35 |
| Rug, over 3m² | £51 |
| Carpet per bedroom, alongside an end of tenancy | £29 |
| Living room carpet, alongside an end of tenancy | £36 |
| Stairs, with a move-out clean | £35 |
The full method is under carpet cleaning, and to check a date, use the contact page or ring.