Different Methods for Cleaning Your Carpet

Did you know there are multiple ways to clean your carpet? There are, and they are pretty sweet. Of course, there is the old standby: being lazy and not doing anything. It’s a tried-and-true method with guaranteed results. Your carpets will be filthy, look terrible, and smell even worse. This is the preferred method of bachelors and college students the world over. One step up from doing nothing is using the vacuum cleaner. An effective way to get rid of hairballs, dust bunnies, and various clumps of dirt and debris, this method is employed weekly by responsible homeowners. The vacuum cleaner is the workhorse of the bunch and always waiting in the closet, ready to go. Beyond this are the big guns for cleaning your carpet when you have a wicked nasty stain or are doing an annual cleaning. These are the heavy artillery that will clean all the way down to the fibers and kill anything creeping around your house. Employing the following methods results in super clean, pleasant-smelling carpets that will dazzle the most nitpicky of visitors. Read through the list and decide which different method of carpet cleaning will satisfy you.

Carpet Shampooing

Shampooing your carpet is a very effective way to clean them, and you can do it yourself. Shampooers are available to rent if you don’t want to hire professionals to do the job for you. Shampoo carpet cleaning was the only show in town until encapsulation technology was introduced in the 1970s. While shampooing the carpet is effective for cleaning heavily soiled fibers, the disadvantage is the high amount of wet foam residues left behind in the carpet. It takes a long time to dry and becomes sticky when it does because no rinsing is done after shampooing. That residual, sticky soap leads to rapid resoiling of carpet.

Foam Encapsulation Cleaning

Foam encapsulation uses synthetic detergent as a base that will crystallize into powder form after it dries. Loose dirt particles in the carpet fiber will be encapsulated into powder when the cleaning foam dries. After the dirt has been reduced to powder, it can be vacuumed or brushed when the foam dries. The foam encapsulation cleaning technique has overtaken carpet shampooing, as it uses less water during the cleaning process. This results in shorter drying time compared to carpet shampooing. It also means less water consumption and waste. Foam encapsulation cleaning is a very green process in the carpet-cleaning world. It has received a thumbs-up by advocates of environmentally friendly products and practices because there is less chemical residue left behind after cleaning compared to carpet shampooing. This process, while eco-friendly, is not as effective at getting out deep stains and soiling as other processes.

Hot Water Extraction Cleaning

Commonly known as steam carpet cleaning, hot water extraction cleaning uses high-pressured hot water to agitate the carpet fiber and dissolve dirt in the carpet. Hot water extraction cleaning typically involves the application of a cleaning agent on the soiled surface, agitation of the carpet with a brush, followed by rinsing. After the cleaning agent settles in the carpet for a short duration, the carpet will be “washed” by carpet-cleaning equipment to rinse the cleaning agent thoroughly and finally left to dry in room temperature or air-conditioned temperature. An average-size carpeted office of 3,000 square feet will normally take about two hours to clean and at least four hours to dry. Most cleaning companies would advise the carpet to be cleaned in the late afternoon so that after cleaning is done, the carpet can be left to dry overnight, and normal office operations can resume the next morning.

Bonnet Carpet Cleaning

This carpet cleaning produces good surface-cleaning results. The process involves cleaning the top part of the carpet fiber (the bonnet) using a heavy-duty motorized machine with a spinning pad, which has been immersed in a cleaning solution to absorb dirt from the carpet surface.

The combination of the spinning pad and the cleaning solution skim the surface of the carpet but never get down deep. Bonneting is popular in hotels because it can give a quick-fix solution in heavy-traffic public areas. These are areas that require the carpet to be cleaned without much moisture and can dry quickly to prevent inconveniencing the hotel guests. Bonneting doesn’t clean carpet deeply, and dirt beneath the carpet will rise to the surface in a short period of time, causing the carpet to get soiled again quickly. Bonneting also tends to cause accumulation of chemical residue in the carpet as pressure from the heavy machine on the spinning pad pushes the applied chemical and remaining dirt into the carpet. It’s a quick way to make the carpet look and smell clean, but it doesn’t address any deep-cleaning needs.

Dry Carpet Cleaning

Dress shirts and finely knit sweaters aren’t the only things that you can dry clean. Welcome to dry cleaning carpets. Dry carpet cleaning or compound cleaning is the latest cleaning technology. It has gained increasing popularity among consumers and approval by leading carpet manufacturers. It’s an effective, convenient cleaning modality because it does not require drying time. Since dry carpet cleaning technology was invented in the 1980s, the technology is considered relatively new compared to more conventional wet carpet methods. The focus of dry carpet cleaning is the application of a cleaning compound or powder into the base of the carpet using a motorized counter-rotating brush machine to open the fibers and allow the compound to settle inside. This results in thorough, deep carpet cleaning. The cleaning compound is typically made of biodegradable elements that work like micro-sponges, effectively absorbing dissolved dirt in the carpet that can be removed thoroughly at the end of the cleaning process. Different dry carpet cleaning equipment manufacturers differentiate themselves by developing their own cleaning compounds or powdered formula and customizing their equipment design and function.

Contact Aloha Restoration today. We are carpet cleaners, professional remodeling contractors, and mold-removal experts. We are available and ready to help you!

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