Carpet Cleaning
There’s nothing quite like the feel of a soft, plushy carpet on bare feet. The carpeted rooms in any home are the rooms that are specifically designed for comfort. Carpeted rooms are the ones in which you can kick off your shoes and go barefoot, where you can sit, sprawl, relax and let your children play. Because everyone enjoys the comfort of a carpeted floor and because carpeted floors always attract a wide range of activities in a household, it is important that the carpet in your house always remain clean and healthy. A clean carpet not only looks better in your home, but it also promotes the health of those living in it. If you are searching for a carpet cleaning service in San Diego, it might be helpful to first know a little bit about the process of the job itself and what it entails. Understanding the carpet in your home, how it collects dirt, and how it must be taken care of is the first step to take when looking to clean your carpets and maintain them throughout the life of your home.
The danger about carpeted floors is that they can typically carry up to eight times their own weight in toxin filled dirt, and what’s worse is that most of the dirt your carpet is hiding is not even visible to the naked eye! Over time your carpet can become home to dust mites, dirt, pesticides and other such toxins that are brought in and on to your carpet by shoes, dirty feet, and the paws of your pets. Because household dust is known to contain lead and other heavy metal materials, it can prove to be a dangerous thing to be inhaling day in and day out. Furthermore, carpeted flooring has a tendency to absorb and store any of the fumes and chemicals that are used around it. Think of all of the times you’ve sprayed a room for bugs, or repainted the walls in a carpeted room, and then think about the chemicals used and how they can be potentially thriving in your carpet long after they were originally used. It has even been claimed that a person’s chance of being exposed to hazardous chemicals are higher when standing in a carpeted room than they are outdoors. And what many people don’t know about the carpets in their homes is that the longer, softer, comfier and plusher the carpets are, the dirtier.
Household Carpet Cleaning Methods
Due to the threat that dirty carpets pose on the health and safety of your home, it is imperative that your carpets are cared for and cleaned on a regular basis. First, there are many household methods for the basic care and cleaning of any carpet that can be used in between a routine professional carpet cleaning.
Using a vacuum cleaner can be a very easy and efficient way to clean your carpet on a regular basis. These machines use air pumps that suck up the dirt and dust, which then gets stored in the vacuum’s filtering system or cyclone to be disposed at a later date. There are a variety of different models of vacuums to choose from today when shopping for a vacuum cleaner for your home. These include upright models, canister and backpack models, and wet-dry and pneumatic models among other types. There are countless different vacuum manufacturing companies to purchase from, depending on what you are looking for in the vacuum cleaner for your home. The best types of vacuums are those that use a HEPA (high efficiency particulate) filter, and it is recommended that your carpets be vacuum-cleaned at least three times a week to keep them from collecting too much dirt.
Likewise, there are many household methods that can be used on your carpets for stain removal. While these methods may not be as effective as professional ones, they can work well for minor drips and spills that need to be taken care of while in-between professional carpet cleaning. Things you can use on stains around the house include rubbing alcohol, ammonia, baking soda, vinegar, shampoo, and dish detergent.
Professional Carpet Cleaning Methods
Many carpet manufacturers in San Diego often recommend steam cleaning, also known as the hot water extraction cleaning method, as the most powerful carpet cleaning method available and many different carpet cleaning services can provide professional steam cleaning. This method of cleaning your carpet utilizes equipment that can simultaneously spray your carpets with heated water while it vacuums. It works well because the water is able to dislodge any dirt or particles deep within the carpet and is then vacuumed back up again. Cleaning chemicals may or may not be used in this professional carpet cleaning method depending on the service and the carpets being cleaned. One of the positives of the hot water extraction method is that it either uses only hot water, or hot water with very minimal and diluted cleaning solutions, so it rarely leaves behind detergent residues. Many people are hesitant to use wet-cleaning systems, because they require time to dry and can even promote the growth of mold or mildew, if not dried properly or in appropriate climates. However, if your professional carpet-cleaning technician employs a proper balance between flow rates of the cleaning jets of their system, there should be nothing to worry about.
As opposed to wet-cleaning methods, there are also dry carpet cleaning systems, or very low moisture (VLM ) systems that can be used. Some of the well-known companies that manufacture machines used in dry carpet cleaning include Brush and Clean, Host Dry, and Whittaker System. Dry carpet cleaning systems are often preferred because they tend to be quicker and less strenuous than wet carpet cleaning systems.
Dry compound cleaning is a dry carpet cleaning method that is often used. It uses an absorbent cleaning compound that can be distributed throughout and scrubbed into the carpet so that it can attract dirt and grime, and eventually be vacuumed up. It is used professionally in conjunction with a counter-rotating brushing system that is helpful in removing even the dirt in your carpet that is deeply packed in.
A newer technology in carpet cleaning involves encapsulation or crystallizing, in which deep-cleaning compound crystals are used to break down and soak up dirt before it is even removed from the carpet. After the cleaning solution is applied, it leaves a dry residue that can be immediately vacuumed. This is a favorable professional carpet cleaning method today, because of its lack of wet residue and its ability to enhance the appearance of any carpet.
A fairly straightforward process, bonnet cleaning is also another professional carpet cleaning method. It uses a mixture of club soda and cleaning product that is misted onto the carpet. Once this is done, a round “bonnet”, or buffer scrubs the carpet in a circular motion. The bonnet machine contains a spin pad that is able to collect soil in the carpet, because it is highly absorbent. The bonnet method of cleaning requires extra time for drying, as it is not stringently dry-cleaning. However, spin-bonnet carpet cleaning only calls for small amounts of water and can therefore be considered preferable for water conservation over steam cleaning.
There are countless different ways to have your carpet cleaned, including many more ways than that were mentioned above. All ranging in efficiency, cost and time required. Given all of the right resources, you should have no problem keeping your carpet clean and healthy. A clean carpet helps make for a happy home!