5 Standard Carpet Cleaning Practises You May Not Know

So what’s the best way to clean your living room area rug?

Carpets can represent a significant investment in your home or business. Besides visually enhancing an interior, they can add comfort and warmth, while preserving the integrity of quality flooring. A clean carpet reflects an image of professionalism and attention to detail that invites visitors to trust in your expertise.

Whether you’re in a cozy, rustic cottage or a posh downtown condominium, carpets can retain strong odours and attract unseemly stains that ruin the aesthetic effect of your space. What happens to your beloved, expensive carpet once it’s transferred into the capable hands of an experienced cleaning service?

If you’re trying to find the best carpet cleaning service, it helps to understand the cleaning methods used by commercial providers.

There are five standard practices for carpet cleaning:

1. Hot Water Extraction

Only the most experienced professional carpet cleaning services specialize in hot water extraction. High pressured hot water and a cleaning agent are used to loosen the dirt. Gentle brushing is applied to further loosen the dirt and remove any stains. Finally, another cleaning agent is applied, allowed to settle, and then removed with cleaning machinery. The wet carpet is left to dry at either room temperature or air conditioned, which facilitates in the removal of undesirable odors. Hot water extraction is the most comprehensive cleaning method and is the most effective at removing odors as well as stains.

2. Carpet Shampooing

Less common today, carpet shampooing is also the most direct and the oldest method of commercial carpet cleaning. Industrial shampoos in diluted form are applied directly to stains. Simple water is used to remove soapy residue but repeated washes can wear away the integrity of the fabric, altering the elasticity of individual fibres. Widely used before the 1970’s, it can still be effective when applied sparingly to specific spots, preferably while the stain is fresh.

3. Encapsulation

Foam encapsulation replaced carpet shampooing and remains a very effective way of cleaning carpets stained by regular use from indoor-outdoor traffic. A synthetic detergent is applied to the surface. As the detergent crystallizes, dirt particles are encapsulated once the foam dries. Encapsulation is environmentally friendly and best used on carpets with short-haired, brush-cut fibres that trap dirt from shoes and boots. Soils and stains caused by coffee or wine, however, require a more comprehensive method.

4. Dry Carpet Cleaning

If you have a large area carpet or rug for your restaurant, hotel lobby or other commercial space, dry cleaning is not only economical but the most effective. Using a counter-rotating brush machine, the individual carpet fibres are separated to expose the dirt thoroughly and allow the cleaning agent to settle deeper into the fabric. A biodegradable cleaning compound is applied that loosens and absorbs the dissolved dirt, which can then be easily drained and removed from the carpet. Cleaning services can be dispatched to your location, and can be scheduled without interruption to your daily operations. A typical 3000 square foot office space would take approximately two hours to complete.

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5. Bonnet Cleaning

Commonly used for large commercial spaces such as hotel lobbies, ‘bonneting’ offers a quick way to clean carpet surfaces in high traffic areas. A motorized machine with a rotating brush applies a cleaning solution to loosen dirt, while the brush gently scours the dirt from the surface. This is not the ideal solution for cleaning your expensive living room carpet, but is very economical and offers businesses with high traffic a practical, affordable alternative to replacing carpets.

 

Visit Royal Carpet and Tile Cleaning and give your carpets the royal treatment. Serving Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, contact us online or by telephone at 505-280-5216 today for a free quote. Ask about our hot water extraction services for your commercial, residential, or real estate property!