5 Types of Carpet Cleaning

Whether you hire a professional carpet cleaning company or do it yourself, knowing how to choose the best cleaning method for your carpet is essential.

It would certainly be easier if the carpets were not nests of dust, dirt and debris, but unfortunately they are. This is the reason why you have two choices, either you clean your carpet yourself or you call in the professionals, the latter option being the best.

In any case, you should know that carpet fibers are made in different ways, and therefore require different types of cleaning. Therefore, you should research and study the different methods, their pros, cons, equipment needed, and solutions offered to get your carpets cleaned effectively.

In this article, we are going to answer your questions about 5 carpet cleaning methods.

Carpet Cleaning With Hot Water Extraction

Also known as carpet steam cleaning or hot water extraction is ideal for cleaning commercial or residential carpets (a hotel or residence).

Hot Water Extraction Carpet Cleaning uses a premium deep cleaning technique to extract dust particles that have penetrated deeper into the carpet. This is one of the best known and most commonly used methods by professionals who use advanced equipment to steam clean.

However, steam cleaning requires a lot of water, so your carpet will take longer to dry than you would like. And of course, your carpet can be damaged by excessive use of water, sometimes it will even be irreparable when it is soaked with water.

With this process, it takes 2-3 hours to clean an average sized desk mat. However, it takes about 4-5 hours for the drying time. When it is said that this method is time consuming, it is true, it will always take 8 hours in total, which is normal for a carpet.

advice: It is best to wash carpets in the afternoon, they will have plenty of time to dry overnight and it will not disturb work in the office.

However, steam cleaning is beneficial as long as you do it correctly and don’t overdo it. The trick to having a very good result is to use a steamer with high temperatures and powerful suction.

For this steam cleaning method, a mixture of very hot water (about 250 degrees celsius) with natural cleaning agents, is used and pumped through your carpet under high pressure. High pressure is essential because it breaks down and extracts embedded debris, dirt and stains from the carpet fibers.

This process involves spraying the soap solution onto the carpet surface and the brushes begin to spin. Then the hot water or steam extraction machine operates its two tanks, a solution tank and a recovery tank. The solution tank holds the clean water, while the recovery tank holds the dirty water that has been pumped out.

Jets of high-pressure hot water are injected directly into the fibers of the carpet, followed by high-speed spinning brushing actions that loosen deep-seated dirt particles, then the built-in high-powered vacuum system sucks up the dirt. dirty water and dirt from your carpet and removes bacteria, odors and dust mites.

These steam cleaning machines rinse the carpets, so they will have to be left to dry at room temperature or with the air conditioning for a period of time that we have already detailed for you previously.

Carpet Cleaning With Dry Powder

Cleaning with dry powder or cleaning compound is by far the fastest, most modern and most popular method of cleaning a carpet.

Not only is it more and more popular, but it is increasingly popular with carpet manufacturers.

Since this method of dry cleaning with powder does not require any drying time, it is perfect for everyday cleaning. It is also suitable for commercial carpets (eg in hotels) which do not need to be deep cleaned.

For this method, a hot system is used. First of all, you will need to prepare a mixture consisting of a soft and natural cleaning product, detergent, a little water with a non-harmful solvent, or you can simply get a special powder for cleaning. For a dirty carpet, opt for a dry powder, protect the laminate of your carpet with a spray.

To clean thoroughly, some professionals use synthetic powders or a natural compound made from dried, ground corn cobs. They can add various cleaners (such as oxygenator cleaner). Your carpet will be damp for a little longer, but the oxygenated bubbles attract embedded dirt deep in the carpet.

Then you can sprinkle the mixture on the underside of your carpet using a counter-rotating motorized brush attached to the machine. These brushes are cylindrical with clusters of nylon bristles, and their hardness varies depending on your carpet type.

To agitate the powder, the brush will make rotating movements, and thanks to these movements the fibers of the carpet will be clean on all sides. This process should facilitate the formation of balls, which look like sawdust and act like micro sponges, automatically dissolving and attracting dust.

After letting it rest for a good amount of time (about 15 minutes except in humid places), you can vacuum these divots, your carpet will be clean and beautiful.

advice: Try to maintain good ventilation to keep the air dry in your home or office by using a ceiling fan or an HAVC.

 

Encapsulation Carpet Cleaning

And yet another method of dry cleaning has surpassed the method with shampoo, it is the method by encapsulation. It is the one preferred by professionals. Like the dry method, it is suitable for commercial carpets and saves you time.

In addition, encapsulation with foam is an excellent choice for those who wish to use environmentally friendly products. Indeed, this cleaning process causes fewer chemical residues than the technique with shampoo (we will come back to this later).

The carpet can be used soon after cleaning thanks to the use of a low water content system, and the floor will then be free of chemical residues. The drying time is certainly shorter than for a carpet cleaned with shampoo and this technique uses much less water.

Before going to wash your carpet, the professionals must first vacuum it. Then they install a specialized applicator, a cylindrical device, a compression sprayer, a spinning machine on your carpet with a synthetic detergent used as a base.

This tool releases that detergent, and it creates suds. When the foam dries, the dust released is encapsulated in a powder. Therefore, the dust accumulated in your carpet is absorbed and isolated. And the vacuum can absorb polymer crystals and dust for deeper cleaning

In the past, this method of encapsulation was seriously flawed, the residues in the carpet attracted dust and consequently the carpets got dirty soon after being cleaned. Fortunately, the carpets no longer get dirty because the bond formed between the polymer crystals and the dust is so weak that they break easily.

This method cleans your carpet thoroughly, extracting the embedded dirt. The carpets are therefore very clean and hygienic. However, this method is not equipped to clean heavily soiled carpets. For this, we suggest you take a closer look at the method with shampoo.

Bonnet cleaning or Dry Cleaning Carpet

Despite its name, dry carpet cleaning is not a process that cleans dry. It is a low moisture process that treats the carpet surface. (about 1/8 of the carpet fiber depth), which has the following consequences:

For one, the carpet dries in 30 minutes, and this drying speed is ideal for hotels.

On the other hand, the pressure exerted by the rotating belt of the machine will not be able to dislodge the residues accumulated under the surface of the belt. The residue will resurface and the carpet will be dirty again,

Therefore, dry cleaning is highly recommended for relatively thin rugs. And be careful, it may not work on other types of rugs, it may damage the pile of the rug and push the dust deeper into the rug instead of removing it.

Therefore, you understand why this cleaning method is not at the top of our list and it is also not the most effective but still there is a good reason to use it. Indeed, it’s another excellent choice for office cleaning, since it’s a quick cleaning method that restores carpets to a new shine.

This process uses two cleaning methods. First, an absorbent pad (a dry cotton cap) is soaked in a cleaning solution or agent, whose role is to absorb dust and clean stains.

Professionals use heavy-duty machines with high humidity. They mix cleaning products with carbonated water and spray this self-neutralizing detergent on the carpet. They use a spinning carpet with absorbent pads that rotate at full speed to ruffle the fibers of the carpet so that the pads absorb dirt from the surface of the carpet.

A word of advice: If you decide to use the bonnet cleaning method, we suggest that you apply an anti-microbial agent to your carpet at the end of the process and this will guarantee complete disinfection.

Dry Carpet Cleaning With Foam

Dry cleaning with foam combines the dry cleaning method and the shampoo method (we’ll talk about that very soon). It is a very effective method and highly recommended for hard carpets thanks to the foam and the type of suction used.

As with dry cleaning, a professional will apply cleaning foam and a little water to the carpet. This foam will attach itself to the harmful fibers.

As with the method with shampoo, this technique relies on a very vigorous brush movement, typically counter-rotating cylindrical brushing. However, it is different because the solution that is whipped to create foam is applied to the carpet as is and not in a liquid state.

DIY or Professional Carpet Cleaner

In short, Professional carpet cleaning is an experience that can be worthwhile. There are several cleaning methods, and all aim to be effective, but the trick is to choose the right one.

Take a close look at the thickness and material of the carpet, whether it has big stains or not, whether it is very dirty, whether you want to deep clean it or dry clean it, whether it is in a residence or an office, the time you have to have it cleaned, how your environment is.

These factors will help you choose the right cleaning method for your carpet, as well as the machines, products and steps. Professionals for your cleaning services undoubtedly have the skills and they can do the job for you.

If you are doing it yourself, calculate all the costs and see if it pays off in time and effort. Let’s go!