Get Your Carpets Clean: When And How

We all love our carpets and we know they tend to get dirty with time. Whether it's a sudden change in the weather or just the usual build up of dust and grime, the best way to fight this is to hire regular carpet cleaning services. Most major carpet manufacturers recommend that you deep clean your carpets at least once every 6 to 12 months to get the most out of them, keep their look and maximize their lifespan.

DIY Carpet Cleaning: Is It Worth It

The truth is that any clean is better than no clean. If you want to DIY, you can simply rent a steam cleaning machine from the local hardware store and try your best. However, there is a reason why most carpet manufacturers recommend professional hot water extraction cleaning. Especially if it can be performed with a truck mounted unit. Using such cleaning machines mean more power, which leads to less oil, dirt, residue, and water left in your carpet textile when the cleaning is finished. Of course, removing more dirt is better, but over-wetting a carpet can also lead to some serious issues. If the material is not able to dry out quickly enough, this can lead to mildew, mold, fungus, and nasty odors.

Hot Water Extraction a.k.a. Steam Carpet Cleaning

This is the most appropriate method for deep carpet cleaning. Find a company that utilizes steam cleaning as their method of choice. Make sure they use truck mounted units and be prepared to stay away from your carpets for about six hours after the cleaning is over. Hot water extraction cleans all the way down to the underlayment, meaning there's a lot more carpet that needs to dry out.

Bonnet Carpet Cleaning Services

The process uses a rotary machine much like a floor buffer to work a detergent and water solution into the carpet pile. Bonnet carpet cleaning does a good job of cleaning carpets, but not as deep as the hot water extraction. Since it uses much less water, dry times are reduced to a couple of hours. On a side note, as carbonated water is sometimes used by bonnet carpet cleaners, some companies refer to the process as "carbonated" carpet cleaning.

Dry Carpet Cleaning Methods

Certainly there are times when you aren't able to wait six or more hours for your carpet to dry. The solution comes in the form of a dry carpet cleaning method. A powder that bonds to dirt is applied to the carpet, worked into the pile and left to sit there for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then the powder and the dirt is vacuumed with a powerful vacuum unit. Many carpet cleaners claim that the method provides just as thorough cleaning as the hot water extraction, but it's not always the case. It does make for an excellent maintenance cleaning and since there's no dry time at all, it'll cause you the least amount of inconvenience.

Carpet Cleaning Costs

Whichever method you choose, the prices will be nearly the same. They are going to be determined by the square footage of your house, the number of rooms you have and the current state of the carpets. The more carpet there is to clean and the dirtier it is, the more expensive it's going to be. To get the most for your money, ask about which carpet cleaning methods they use, whether they use truck mounted or portable units, and get quotes from at least three different contractors before you hire anyone.