Last Updated on March 3, 2022 by Kravelv
For centuries carpets have been a comfortable and versatile flooring option, along with being a symbol of luxury and prestige. Many authors have gathered that carpets have been around for almost five thousand years, and by the looks of it, they will remain in use for a long time to come.
Like carpets, the methods for cleaning them have also evolved and the carpet cleaning industry is generating more revenue than ever in both the US and the UK resulting from an ever increasing client base.
Let’s look at some of the current carpet cleaning methods used for residential and industrial purposes.
Steam Cleaning
In this method, very hot water – temperature ranging from 250 to 350 degree Celsius – is used to clean the carpet along with a detergent, both of which are sprayed by a machine. It is also called “Hot Water Extraction” since hot water and detergent are used for cleaning which is later extracted with the help of a specialized vacuum; however, because of the steam that is produced during the process, the method is more commonly known as steam cleaning.
According to many experts, this is the best method for comprehensive carpet cleaning because it can remove soil from deep into the carpet. The only caveat is that carpets require almost a whole day to dry after they are cleaned using hot water extraction process.
Dry Cleaning
Dry carpet cleaning isn’t exactly dry, but it uses less water than methods like steam cleaning or wet shampoo cleaning. Dry cleaning uses chemical solvents to break down any dirt or soil particles which are then cleaned using a minimal amount of moisture that compliments the cleaning detergents. This method is frequently used in households and retail industry and requires very little drying time.
However, you should know two important things; first, this method is not completely ‘dry’ as it uses small amount of moisture, and second, the powerful detergents used can harm the carpets so discuss with the professional carpet cleaning crew or do some research yourself to decide if dry cleaning would be the best method to clean your carpet.
Wet Shampoo Cleaning
This method constitutes of generating a lot of foam on the carpet which later sets into it while simultaneously breaking down the dirt and soil particles. Unlike how would wash your hair with a shampoo, the foam on the carpet is allowed to dry. It then attracts the soil particles which get attached to the dried residue, the next day this residue full of dirt is easily vacuumed.
It was a pretty popular way of cleaning carpets a few decades ago but now people prefer to steam or dry clean if chemicals have to be used. Still, this is an effective method which doesn’t harm the carpet if the right detergent is used.
Vacuum Washing
No chemicals are used in any way in this carpet cleaning technique. The water is applied to the carpet with a spray connected to a suction pump i.e. vacuum cleaner. The water is sprayed and then sucked back instantly creating an intense and swirling cleaning effect. You cannot clean the carpet comprehensively using this method but it does remove a sizeable amount of dirt. Also, the drying period is quite short compared to other methods that use water.
This method doesn’t use chemicals just like normal vacuuming or sweeping but is able to effectively remove much of the dirt. For people looking for cleaning methods, vacuum wash is a cheap and easy option.
