Carpet Cleaning Methods

What are Some Popular Carpet Cleaning Methods?

One of the most important decisions to make when having your carpets cleaned is which method will be used. An experienced carpet cleaning technician can help you make a better decision about the method with which to clean your carpet. You might have spent a small fortune on your carpet, laid out with elaborate design to enhance the beauty of your home. There are many good reasons for you to call a professional steam cleaning company such as Tralala to clean your carpets. You definitely want your carpet to remain in its pristine condition forever. But is this possible? Not unless you never live there. With the increase of pollutants, it is almost impossible to keep the carpet clean, except one opts for an alternative floor covering. It is most likely that dust and dirt will accumulate on your carpet over time.

Small microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria get into the carpet and result in unhygienic carpets which start to give off bad odors. To determine the appropriate cleaning method for your carpet, a chemical or fiber test is an absolute must. There are a wide range of cleaning methods used to remove dust, germs and microorganisms from your carpet, but you only need to choose the right and appropriate one for you. So frequent and proper cleaning is required to save the carpet from further damage. Now cleaning the carpet might not be the easiest of tasks as you must ensure you choose the right and accurate way to clean it to preserve the carpet’s fibers and longevity.

Every carpet cleaning method is different and each has its own advantages. Getting the best carpet cleaning results largely depends on the experience of the cleaning technicians. When you hire a carpet cleaning company you have to make sure their technicians are professional and experienced. It is the knowledge and experience of the carpet cleaning technician that help to get your carpets cleaned and stain-free. The carpet cleaning technician will assist you in determining whether your carpets are compatible with some cleaning methods and if stains will require deep stain removal methods. The most popular carpet cleaning methods used to clean carpets are steam cleaning, dry cleaning and deep shampoo. We will briefly explain the three most common carpet cleaning methods used today.

Dry Cleaning

Tralala Cleaning professionals consider dry cleaning a safe carpet cleaning solution since it has no risk for soap residue. The carpet cleaning technician applies dry powder over the area of the carpet to be cleaned and vacuumed. More carpet cleaning companies are currently focused on using organic powders only. This cleaning method is not good for homes with pets as it will not get rid of germs and insects in your carpet. The highlight is the application of cleaning compound or powder into the bottom part of carpet using a motorized counter rotating brush machine to open up the carpet fiber and allow the compound to settle inside, resulting in thorough deep carpet cleaning result.

Dry Cleaning is the cleaning method which dries your carpet very fast. The process is very simple and involves a dry powder with affinity for dust spread all over the carpet and left for a short duration. The carpet is then vacuumed to remove the powder and dust. This method is good if you only have dust and no other toxic or harmful organisms on your carpet. Cleaning compound is typically made of biodegradable material that works like micro-sponges, which can effectively absorb dissolved dirt in the carpet and can be removed thoroughly at the end of the process.

Since it was invented in 1980s, there are many types of cleaning compound or powders that have been developed in the market. As this technology is considered relatively new compared to other conventional wet carpet cleaning methods that have been trusted and used for decades, many still doubt the effectiveness of this cleaning technology.

Steam Cleaning

Another option is steam cleaning which is cheap, appropriate and very popular with residential use. In this process, steam cleaning machines are used. Also known as hot water extraction method is the most common carpet cleaning method used by professional carpet cleaning technicians. Steam carpet cleaning combines hot water cleaning solution with a wet vacuum. The process involves mixing hot water with detergents and worked over the carpet; the same machine is used to extract the water and dirt afterward. This process clears the carpet but does not make it dust free. Sometimes due to improper wash, dust still remains in the fiber of the carpet and starts to give off an unpleasant odor.

Hot water extraction cleaning typically involves application of cleaning agent on soiled surface, agitation of carpet with brush and followed by rinsing. The technicians use either a portable heavy powered steam cleaning machine or a truck mount. After cleaning agent settle in the carpet for a short duration, the carpet will be “washed” by a carpet cleaning equipment to rinse the cleaning agent thoroughly and finally left to dry in room or air conditioned temperature.

An average sized carpeted office of 3000 sq ft would normally take about 2 hours to clean and will take at least 4 hours to dry. Most companies would advise carpet to be cleaned in the late afternoon so that after it is done, the carpet can be left to dry overnight and office operation can resume back to normal the next morning. These options are very effective to suck up dirt from underneath the carpet and remove minor stains. Some carpet cleaning technicians prefer the truck-mount machine for the simple reason that it’s easier to heat and vacuum.

Shampooing

This method requires carpet cleaning professionals to use shampoo solutions. The cleaning solution soaks up the dirt separates it from the carpet. The Tralala cleaning technician will then complete dirt removal with a heavy powered machine. Shampooing involves the application of a special detergent on the carpet. The carpet cleaning machine is then used to agitate the dust and other debris from the carpet. Afterward the detergent is removed by vacuuming, deodorizers and brighteners are also applied to the carpet to make the carpet smell fresh and look brighter. Drying time tends to be faster with this system than others.

Shampoo carpet cleaning was popular till encapsulation technology was introduced in 1970s. While shampooing it may seem to clean heavily soiled carpet, the technology’s disadvantage – leaving behind high amount of wet foam residues in the carpet that takes a long time to dry, becomes sticky when it dries because no rinsing is done after shampooing and rapid re-soiling of carpet – makes this method less popular than others. Even though it is simple process, it is not an effective method of cleaning your carpet.

Encapsulation

Foam encapsulation use synthetic detergents as a base that will crystallize into powder form when dries. Loosened dirt particles in carpet fiber will be encapsulated into powder when the applied cleaning foam dries and, finally, vacuumed or brushed when the foam dries after cleaning. Encapsulation chemicals have detergency just like the typical chemicals that you use right now. After the detergents have done their work (attacking, separating soils from fibers, etc.) the crystallizing polymers surround or encapsulate the detergent in solution and the soils that are now suspended or emulsified.

The foam encapsulation cleaning technique has overtaken carpet shampooing technology as the former uses less water during cleaning which result in shorter drying time compared to the carpet shampooing. The foam encapsulation cleaning has received thumbs up by those who advocate using of environmental friendly products because there is less chemical residue left behind after cleaning compared to carpet shampooing.

Bonnet Cleaning

This carpet cleaning produce good surface cleaning result as the process mainly involve cleaning the top part of the carpet fiber using a heavy duty motorized machine with a spinning pad that has been immersed with cleaning solution to absorb dirt from the carpet surface. Bonneting is popular in hotels because it can give a quick fix solution to clean carpet in heavy traffic public area that require carpet to be cleaned without much moisture and can dry quickly to prevent causing inconvenience to hotel guests.

Bonnet cleaning is a minimum moisture carpet cleaning method. Bonnet cleaning essentially consists of a cotton, rayon and/or polypropylene pad and a rotary shampoo machine. It is among the easiest carpet cleaning methods to learn. Primarily there are three procedures for using the bonnet method. Bonneting also tends to cause accumulation of chemical residue in the carpet as pressure from the heavy machine on the spinning pad push the applied chemical and remaining dirt into the carpet.

Each method of carpet cleaning whether dry or wet has advantages and disadvantages. Each system can provide good results on its own if operated as designed. Some methods may be combined for increased cleaning efficiency. Rather than go through all the trouble of trying to clean your carpet yourself, why don’t you opt for Tralala cleaning services to totally revamp your old carpets into a new one with pleasant fragrance and a brighter look.