Read this first if you are moving out: dirty carpets are one of the most common deposit deductions in the UK, and the deciding evidence is almost always a dated professional invoice compared against the check in inventory photos. Not how clean it looks to you.
Clerks look in specific places, in a specific order: doorway entry points, traffic lanes between doors, under where furniture stood, stair nosings, and the edges next to skirting. Clean those and you have dealt with most of the risk.
Where the deductions come from
Fair wear and tear is not chargeable. Soiling, staining and damage are. The line between them is where disputes happen.
- Traffic lane greying, which reads as soiling rather than wear.
- Visible stains, especially those not recorded on the check in inventory.
- Pet odour, which clerks note even when nothing is visible.
- Burn or bleach marks, which are damage and not recoverable by cleaning.
- Indentations from furniture, which are usually fair wear and should not be charged.
- No professional cleaning receipt where the tenancy agreement required one.
The evidence that wins
Deposit schemes decide on documents. Build the file before you hand back the keys.
- A dated, itemised professional cleaning receipt naming the property and rooms.
- The method used stated on the receipt, and the company's insurance reference.
- Your own dated photos of every room after the clean, with the property empty.
- The original check in inventory, so you can show pre existing marks.
- Written confirmation from the cleaner if a carpet was already beyond restoring.
Practical timing
The clean has to happen after the furniture is out and before the keys go back, which is usually one day. Book the slot the moment your move out date is confirmed.
Honest note: if the carpet is genuinely damaged rather than dirty, cleaning will not save you and we will say so. A written note that a carpet was unsalvageable is often worth more in a negotiation than an optimistic clean, because it moves the argument from full replacement to a fair apportioned deduction.