There is more than one way to Clean a Carpet
If you think about it, every time we enter our homes from the outdoors and walk across the carpeting we are actually cleaning the soles of our shoes on our carpets. When the grime has accumulated to the point where cleaning becomes necessary, we can have our carpeting professionally cleaned or we can clean them ourselves.
While the do-it-yourself route may not be for everyone it can be utilized with an excellent outcome, but only if approached with a workman’s posture and a basic understanding of the general processes and equipment used to complete the job.
The first step to clean a carpet is to acquire the necessary carpet cleaning chemicals and equipment, which are best obtained at a local janitorial supply company. The reason why finding a good janitorial supplier is critical to success is that they carry a much better variety of carpet cleaning machines and cleaning products than your local rental center or supermarket carpet cleaning display. These vendors can also teach you the proper carpet cleaning method.
After obtaining the equipment and carpet cleaning chemicals, an area the size of an average room should be cleared of all furniture and then vacuumed thoroughly. Next, the area to be cleaned should be lightly sprayed with a pre-spray carpet cleaner, with a heavier application put onto stained areas or areas of heavy foot traffic. While the pre-spray is working it’s magic, the carpet cleaning/extracting machine should be filled with the carpet cleaning solution and set up for use.
In general terms many carpet cleaning machines are extractors — machines that infuse the carpet cleaning solution into the carpet and then through the use of a strong vacuum extract the liquid from the carpet via a cleaning wand that is pressed against the carpeting. This is best accomplished by covering the entire area of the carpet in a back-and-forth motion, being especially careful not to inject an excessive amount of moisture into the carpeting. Using too much cleaning solution results in pushing the dirt through the carpet into the padding below where it can not only be trapped but can damage wood flooring and cause mold to grow. For this reason, it is always a good idea to go back over the carpet when the job is thought to be done and extract the carpet one more time without injecting any cleaning solution to recapture every last bit of moisture.
After the carpet is cleaned, a homeowner can either wait until the carpet is completely dry to the touch before repositioning furniture or place the furniture onto small Styrofoam blocks that can be purchased along with the carpet cleaning equipment and chemicals. This is an important step in cleaning carpets, as stain on wood furniture can bleed onto carpets when wet and even metal furniture can rust onto wet carpets.
