Carpets have covered our homes with elegance and luxurious style. It has been part of almost any home decoration and complements well with interior design. But no matter how much care you put with carpets, it will always accumulate dirt and stains, and cleaning becomes inevitable. It’s this cleaning chore that gives us headaches and so many problems. Most carpet cleaner experts will advice you in having your carpet professionally cleaned to get the best cleaning quality. Carpet cleaning equipment employs different methods in restoring the beauty of your carpet, and it is only proper that you have some idea on what these cleaning methods are.

Carpet cleaning methods are basically categorized into five. These include shampooing, dry foam, bonnet, dry powder and hot water extraction. Shampooing is the oldest carpet cleaning method. It is a process that employs some cleaning solution that turns to foam while it is being scrubbed by a rotary brush. This foam attracts dirt and soil, which will dry in a few hours into a manageable residue, then will be vacuumed until clean.

Dry foam method is almost the same as shampooing, except the foam is dry, much like a whipping cream. It functions the same dirt collecting action, but dries much faster, and the foam residue can be vacuumed quicker too. Both the dry foam and shampoo methods are considered inferior cleaning methods as they do not deeply clean the carpet and attract more dirt because of the foam. They also risk damaging the carpet because of the hard brushing involved.

The bonnet method is a better way of cleaning carpets rather than shampoo and dry foam. It is better in the sense that it uses little or no moisture which allows for quicker drying times. The cleaning solution is sprayed into mist form over the carpet, after which an absorbent pad attached to a rotary brush is driven onto it for cleaning. Once the absorbent pad is dirty, it just gets rinsed or changed, and then the cleaning process is done over and over until the carpet is clean.

Next is the dry powder method. As the name implies, it uses dry powder that contains the cleaning agents, which is also distributed all over the carpet. A rotary brush then goes over the carpet, which forces the dirt and soil to get collected by the cleaning powder. This method dries the fastest, at an astounding rate, after which the residue is also vacuumed until the carpet is fully cleaned.

The only catch with this cleaning method is that the carpet needs to be vacuumed really well, using a high-quality vacuum cleaner, to ensure that the cleaning powder is fully removed. This can cause some problems over time when some are left in the carpet, and also affects the quality of the air in your home.

The hot water extraction method is by far the best method of cleaning as compared to the previous four. It also known as steam cleaning although there is really no steam involved, but instead uses fine sprays of water. This is usually what carpet cleaner experts recommend because of its deep cleaning capabilities, cleaning the carpet thoroughly.

This is the most recommended method of carpet cleaning as it enables your carpet to be deeply cleaned, unlike the other methods which only clean the surface. You’ll find almost every carpet cleaner establishments are urging their customers to use this method.

Having a good overview on carpet cleaning equipment and the cleaning methods is very important in making a decision which method is right for you. This will all depend on your carpet type, budget, and the time and effort you are willing to spend in cleaning. But when all else fails, you can always get a professional carpet cleaner to do the job for you so that you are sure to get professional results, especially when you have a very expensive carpet.