Best 5 Types of Carpet Cleaning Methods Used by Companies

 While you are spoilt for choices when selecting a carpet cleaning company for your home or business, it is important to understand the different types of carpet cleaning methods used by different companies as not all methods work for your carpet.

Here are the types of carpet cleaning in the market:

Hot Water Extraction Cleaning

Commonly known as steam carpet cleaning, hot water extraction cleaning use 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 a soiled surface, agitation of carpet with a brush, and followed by rinsing. After the cleaning agent is settled 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 a 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 the 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.

Carpet Shampooing

Shampoo carpet cleaning was popular till encapsulation technology was introduced in the 1970s. While shampooing may seem to clean heavily soiled carpet, the technology's disadvantage - leaving behind a 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.

Encapsulation

Foam encapsulation uses 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.

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

Although this technique has shown good cleaning results, this cleaning method has not been able to thoroughly clean heavy soiling carpets because of the technology's limitations.

Bonnet Cleaning

This carpet cleaning produces 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 a cleaning solution to absorb dirt from the carpet surface.

Bonneting is popular in hotels because it can give a quick fix solution to clean carpets in heavy traffic public areas that require carpet to be cleaned without much moisture and can dry quickly to prevent causing inconvenience to hotel guests.

Because bonneting does not clean the carpet deeply, dirt beneath the carpet would emerge back to the surface within a short period, causing the carpet to get soiled again quickly. Bonneting also tends to cause an 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.

Dry Carpet Cleaning

Dry carpet cleaning or compound cleaning is one of the latest cleaning technology found in the market and has gained increasing popularity and approvals by leading carpet manufacturers because of its effective cleaning performance and convenience as it does not require drying time.

Since it was invented in the 1980s, there are many types of cleaning compounds 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.

The highlight is the application of cleaning compound or powder into the bottom part of the carpet using a motorized counter rotating brush machine to open up the carpet fiber and allow the compound to settle inside, resulting in a thorough deep carpet cleaning result.

A 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.

Different equipment manufacturers differentiate themselves by developing their cleaning compound or powder formula and customizing their equipment design and function.

Dry carpet cleaning is safe for all types of carpet and recommended for commercial offices that need to operate 24 hours, 7 days a week, as operation in the office need not be disrupted during the carpet cleaning process.