A Summary of the Best Carpet Cleaning Methods

Carpet is one of the major investments a homeowner has in their home. As it is with any major investment, it is important to take care of your home’s carpet so it retains its value for as long as possible. Finding the best carpet cleaning method is a very important element of protecting and maintaining your home’s carpet in good condition.

Maintenance of your home’s carpet includes regular vacuuming and periodic cleaning with a cleaning method. The best carpet cleaning methods include shampooing, hot water extraction, foam cleaning, and bonnet cleaning, among others.

The regular vacuuming of carpets only removes the dust particulates from the fibers and maintains the appearance of the surface of the carpet. This gets up dirt that gets into the pile of the carpet. Vacuuming needs to be done at least once every two weeks for normal traffic areas and once a week for high traffic areas For areas where there is high dirt or pet dander, vacuuming should be done at least twice per week.

Before having a carpet cleaned, it is a good idea to understand the differences between the various methods of carpet cleaning. All the different methods of cleaning carpets offer different advantages, but each also has limitations. There is no method that is clearly superior to any other. Each method does a good job if done well under the right conditions. Many times, several methods are combined to achieve better results. Below is the most-used carpet cleaning methods:

Steam Cleaning or Hot Water Extraction Cleaning – This method uses a hot-water cleaning solution that is sprayed on the carpet and then is extracted by a wet vacuum. When the cleaning solution is pulled from the carpet, the soil is also pulled from the carpet as well. The hot water extraction equipment can be truck-mounted or portable. A truck-mounted system has much more powerful spray pressure, vacuum pumps, and hotter heating capabilities. Even though hot water extraction carpet cleaning is also referred to as steam cleaning, this is somewhat of a misnomer since the water temperature gets hot enough to produce steam.

Bonnet Cleaning – This method is very alike to the hot water extraction method but employs a floor machine with a rotary device on the bottom that turns an absorbent pad. Detergent is sprayed onto the carpet, and the machine rotates the pad on the carpet, scrubbing the carpet until the dirt is absorbed into the pad. Detergent may also be used to moisten the pad. The pad may be reversed when one side becomes soiled and when both sides are dirty, then the pad is replaced with a clean pad.

Foam Cleaning – This method uses foam detergent. This foam detergent is spread on the carpet by a machine which then agitates the foam into the carpet with brushes loosen the dirt and soil in the carpet fibers. Afterward, the foam and dirt is detached by an extraction-vacuum pick-up machine. 

Dry or Absorbent Compound Cleaning – This method uses a permeable material that is dry and contains solvents and detergents. After this material is sprinkled on the carpet, it is worked into the fibers and pile by machine and absorbs the dirt and soil that is trapped there. The material is left on the carpet for a half an hour then is vacuumed up taking with it all the dirt and particulates that are trapped in the absorbent compound.

Which is the best carpet cleaning method for your carpet depends on the type of carpet and what type of dirt and particulates are normally found in your carpet. As mentioned above, each method advised by company providing Cheap Carpet Cleaning Melbourne has advantages and disadvantages, but they all work well on the right carpet.