Become A Certified Firm
Earn the A+ IHWEA Badge by submitting a video that demonstrates your hot water extraction process.
How It Works
Submit Your Skills Demonstration Video
You don’t need to take any courses with the IHWEA, we are a skills based rating firm that judges you according to your process, not how many courses you’ve taken.
Submit a video between 1-10 minutes showcasing your equipment, products and process.
Upload your video to Google Drive or iCloud and then share the download link to: Certification@IHWEA.org
Receive Feedback
We will review your submission and send you a response within 3 business days. This response will include feedback for how you can improve your service in order to receive an A+ rating.
Become IHWEA Certified
Pay the $50USD annual fee and display our badge. Certification gives customers peace of mind that they are hiring a company that they can trust.
Raising Standards In An Unregulated Industry
The carpet and upholstery cleaning industry is unique because it requires specialized technical knowledge, yet there are no licensing requirements (like for carpenters or plumbers).
The result? Customers don’t know who to trust.
That’s why they look for the IHWEA Badge.
The Rating Scale
Each video submission is judged according according to this rubric.
A
The company uses the following:
- Hot Water Extraction equipment that exceeds 200PSI, 90CFM and 130″ of water lift
- A rotary brush to agitate the pre-spray into the carpet (Oreck Orbiter or similar)
- A full spectrum of pre-spray products are readily available (enzyme, degreasing, low pH, high pH, eco friendly, deodorizing)
- Suitable professional grade stain protection products are readily available
- Documentation is on hand to communicate a variety of carpet conditions to the customer
B
The company uses the following:
- Hot Water Extraction equipment that exceeds 150PSI, 80CFM and 120″ of water lift
- A brush to agitate the pre-spray into the carpet
- Enzyme and degreasing pre-spray products are readily available
- Suitable professional grade stain protection products are readily available
- Documentation is on hand to communicate a variety of carpet conditions to the customer
C
The company uses the following:
- Hot Water Extraction equipment that exceeds 120PSI, 70CFM and 100″ of water lift
- A pre-spray product is available
D
The company uses the following:
- Hot Water Extraction equipment that exceeds 100PSI, 60CFM and 90″ of water lift
Submit Your Video
The video must be no more than 10 minutes long and clearly demonstrate the rubric criteria mentioned above.
Provide the video to: Certification@IHWEA.org