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Article reprinted courtesy of http://www.cleaningpro.com
When many people
think of carpet cleaning, they think of steam cleaning, otherwise
know as water extraction. Though this is the most common type
of carpet cleaning, it is actually just one of five different
methods. Each will be discussed below:
FOAM CLEANING: Along
with steam cleaning, you can also foam clean carpets. Using
a machine similar to a buffer, the shampoo is released onto
a brush that works it's way into the fibers of the carpet.
After the application, you must wait an hour or two for it
to dry. Then vacuum the entire area to remove the dirt.
It is not a complicated procedure and can work
well for hallways and large traffic areas. It can be used
as part of an ongoing maintenance program to keep heavily
used areas cleaned. Since it is very difficult to remove all
the shampoo with vacuuming, some of it stays in the carpet.
Eventually this residue attracts dirt and must be removed
by water extraction, steam cleaning.
SHAMPOO METHOD: This
is the oldest way to "clean" carpets. I put "clean" in parenthesis
because that is debatable, as I will describe. Using a buffer,
the solution is poured on to the brush of the buffer, which
then is worked into the carpet. You must clean a small area
at a time, going over it two or three times, just like buffing
a floor. Edges and corners must be done by hand. This method
can damage carpet, especially if there is a tear, so be careful.
You finish the job, just as above, by vacuuming. The vacuuming
may be the only way the carpet is actually cleaned. With this
method, also known as the rotary method, you are actually
spreading the dirt around. The solution used to clean the
carpet has brighteners in it, which make the carpet look nice,
hopefully until your customer pays you! But eventually, the
dirt will reappear and, just as with the foam method, the
shampoo residue will attract dirt itself.
BONNET CLEANING:
Instead of using the shampoo method just discussed, using
a bonnet is actually a much better way to go. The bonnet is
placed at the base of your buffer. Dip it into a shampoo solution
first and then go over the carpet, just as if buffing a floor.
The bonnet starts to get soiled. This means it is actually
removing dirt from the carpet. Rinse it out, turn it over
and keep working with it until it is too soiled to continue.
Follow up by vacuuming the carpet once it is dry. Drying time
is usually 30 minutes.
DRY METHODS: Now
the big debate starts! I have met many people in our industry
who believe cleaning carpets using the dry method is the best
thing since mom and apple pie. The dry system is actually
a three- part procedure. First you sprinkle the solvent on
the carpet. It's a powder. The directions say you must allow
the powder to stay on the carpet for about 15 minutes. Then,
using a special buffer with two rotating heads, you go over
the carpet. This rotates the cleaning powder into the carpet.
Your final step is vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. As you vacuum,
the powder and the dirt it has accumulated is removed. The
great thing about the dry method is that there is no drying
time whatsoever. For schools, offices, 24-hour facilities,
it is best way to go... for a while. My own experience is
that eventually the carpet will need to be steam cleaned.
Just as in all the methods mentioned above, not all the powder
gets removed and it begins to attract dirt itself.
STEAM CLEANING: Finally,
we get to the most common carpet cleaning method. To really
clean a carpet, deep clean a carpet, it will need to be steam
cleaned at least once if not twice per year depending on the
use it receives. "Steam" cleaning is really a misnomer for
there really is no steam. Hot water with a cleaning solution
is extracted via a wand. You go over the carpet a section
at a time, overlapping your last pass. As the hot water is
extracted, the wand is also vacuuming up the water and the
dirt. Some wands have plastic hoses that are clear. When you
look at the water being extracted, it often looks brown and
dirty. You and your customer can see that the carpet is really
being deep cleaned. It is a very good idea to vacuum the carpet
first to pick up loose and surface level dirt. Since the carpet
takes up to 8 hours to really dry, you cannot vacuum it afterward.
However, as it dries, the carpet nap rises and the result
is a very clean, fresh and "new- appearing" carpet. The big
advances in the water extraction method the past few years
have made this one of the best ways to clean carpets. The
machines are now more powerful, and, one of the best improvements,
the water extraction power has been increased so that drying
time is shorter.
To determine which method is best for you depends
on how much carpet cleaning you plan to do and how much you
can invest. The shampoo and bonnet methods are good to help
maintain a customer's carpet. These are the easiest to learn
and the least expensive. The dry method does a better job
and definitely has it's place in certain situations but there
is an investment which must be made and the cleaning process
takes time. Steam cleaning is definitely an investment. Go
this route only if you plan to offer carpet cleaning as a
definite part of your service. If it is a service you plan
to offer on a regular basis, steam cleaning will probably
be the best way to go.
First Published: September, 2000
Updated: April 2007
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