Using Home Carpet Cleaners Effectively

Using Home Carpet Cleaners Effectively

As a professional carpet cleaner you would probably expect me to despise the use of home carpet cleaners. After all they take away from my business right? Well not exactly. Home carpet cleaners do a good job but they do not replace the need for professional cleaning. They are excellent at maintenance however when they are used properly. This carpet cleaning article is brought to you by your Dallas carpet cleaning company.

Preparation

The first thing you need to do is prepare the area to be cleaned. Do this by thoroughly vacuuming your homes carpet. This is a critical step because soil is much easier to remove in its dry state. When you get it wet it becomes a sticky and hard to remove mud. Take time and properly vacuum. Do not rush through it. Also make sure that your vacuum is clean and in good working order. This means that the bag is no more than half full, the belts are tight and that their are no clogs in the hoses.

Pre Spray

The problem with most home carpet cleaners is that they tell you to put a shampoo mix in the machine and rinse with it. This does two negative things. First it leaves a stick residue on the carpet that attracts soil making the carpet get dirty quicker. Second it does not give the shampoo solution enough dwell time. Dwell time is crucial because you need to give the cleaner time to break down and absorb soil. To solve this problem you should fill a small pump up sprayer (available at most home improvement stores) with the shampoo solution and spray it on the carpet separately. Spray it on the carpet and allow it to dwell 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing. Don't spray too heavily spray or too far ahead of yourself. You do not want it it dry before you can extract it.

Rinsing

Now that you have the area pre sprayed you can rinse. Fill your machine with plain warm water and extract the area you just sprayed. Be sure to overlap a few inches so that you do not miss any spots. Take your time and work slowly. After you have rinsed the entire area, rinse it again. You want to remove as much shampoo as possible to prevent leaving a residue. After you finish your second rinse pass do an extra pass using the vacuum only to remove more moisture.

Drying

The last step is drying the carpet. You want to make sure it dries as quick as possible to minimize the chances of browning or of soil wicking back up to the surface. If it is a nice day open the windows. Turn on your ceiling fan and place any portable fans that you might have on the carpeting. The more ventilation the better here. Ideally you want the carpet dry within 4-6 hours.

You are now done. As you can see, to do it properly you have a number of steps that you need to follow. you can expect the average room to take you about an hour to clean if you do it properly. Done properly you can greatly extend the interval between professional cleanings. You can not however replace the need for those professional cleanings. Be sure to have the carpet thoroughly cleaned from time to time.