What method of carpet cleaning is best?
Common Carpet Cleaning Misconception #3
One method of carpet cleaning is as good as another
No, nein, nada. You can choose from two primary methods: Dry Cleaning or Hot Water Extraction.
First, I’ll explain dry cleaning. Many people believe that dry cleaning your carpets is like dry cleaning your clothing. This is not true. All carpet cleaning methods use water. Here are the three methods of dry cleaning carpet:
- The first dry cleaning method uses a water-based dry foam, which is applied to the carpet, allowed to dry, and then simply vacuumed. Can you imagine applying shampoo to your hair, allowing it to dry and then removing the shampoo from your head with a vacuum? This method can leave a tremendous amount of residue in your carpet, which is one reason dry foam is not very effective.
- The second dry cleaning method is absorbent spin-bonnet. A water-based solvent is sprayed on the carpet, then a bonnet is placed under a rotary floor machine and is spun over the carpet surface to absorb the soil. Once the bonnet is saturated with soil, another cotton bonnet is applied. Bonnet cleaning is like trying to use a large towel to rub the dirt out of your carpet. This method not only leaves a residue behind but it can only remove soil from the top 25% of the carpet so it resoils much faster – obviously not desirable.
- The third dry-compound method spreads an absorbent mixture that looks like wet sawdust all over your carpeting. Then a machine brushes the mixture into the carpet, which in theory causes dirt to absorb into the mixture. When the mixture has dried, a vacuum cleaner sucks the material out of the carpeting. In a cut pile carpet, it is impossible to vacuum it all out. In summary, the reason why none of these dry-cleaning methods are effective, is because they are lacking 2 important elements of physics: (1) no rinsing, and (2) no powerful extraction.
- The fourth carpet cleaning method is called hot water extraction. This is a fancy way of saying that a hot water cleaning solution under high pressure is forced into the carpet and then extracted out of the carpet. This method is also referred to as steam cleaning, even though steam is not used.
Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, recommends hot water extraction, and you can choose from two different types: (1) portable or (2) truckmount.
Not surprisingly, the truck mount extraction cleans much better because it heats the water to a higher temperature – shoots the cleaning solution into the carpet at higher pressures – which breaks up the dirt, bacteria and pollens. Then the machine uses high-powered extraction to physically remove the soil out of the carpet. This is the method Artistic Associates uses.
No question, the most effective way to clean carpeting is with a hot-water extraction unit, mounted in a truck or van. It’s the most powerful cleaning machine on the market and the only machine that thoroughly removes dirt, harmful bacteria, fungus, chemicals, pollens and other residues.
Methods that use cold and even warm water, remove some soil, but are not as effective as the hot-water truck mount method.
Some people believe that hot water damages your carpet, but this isn’t true. By washing and then rinsing your carpet with hot water, we clean your carpet completely – in the same way that the person who showers and then rinses off the dirt and soap will be much cleaner than the person who takes only a sponge bath. In fact, not only does hot water clean better, faster, and with less cleaning agents, it also dries quicker and even SANITIZES your carpet. This makes your home or office free of DUST MITES, and other harmful microorganisms for a safer healthier environment. (Wool carpet must always be cleaned with lower temperature and milder cleaning solutions.)
Misconception #4: Having the right equipment is all a company needs to clean your carpets properly
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