Natural And Commercial Carpet Cleaning Solutions
by Eileen
There are various carpet cleaning solutions in the market today, but some of the most effective are found right inside of your home. These solutions consist of regular household products including vinegar, baking soda and ammonia. Other carpet cleaning solutions are sold as commercial products in the household improvement market. Here are some of the most common examples.
Vinegar Solution
Vinegar is a very potent cleaning compound, but since it is acidic, it has to be mixed with water. The ideal solution can be made out of one part vinegar and ten parts water. This carpet cleaning solution has to be applied using a steam cleaner. A steam cleaner can be bought at a home improvement store or rented from a carpet cleaning shop. The vinegar will not only clean the carpet thoroughly, it will also get rid of any bad odor. After using the solution, allow the carpet to dry completely before using it again.
Carpet Cleaning Solutions
Baking Soda Solution
Baking soda is a popular cleaner, not only for pots, pipes, and drainage areas, but for carpets as well. To use the compound to clean stains and get rid of nasty odor, sprinkle it onto every surface area of the carpet. Sprinkle it afterwards with warm water to dissolve the powder. Use a carpet brush to scrub tough stains. Let the solution sit for about 20 minutes before using a wet vacuum to suck out the moisture and residue.
Ammonia Solution
Using a steam cleaner may cost extra dollars, but using ammonia solution allows you to save money. To use the solution, read the instructions on the bottle to determine the right proportion of water and ammonia fit to be used as cleaner. Mix the two components in their respective amounts and spray it on the surface of the carpet sparingly. Scrub the surface and let the solution do its work. After using the solution, wipe the surface off with vinegar solution. When using this type of carpet cleaning solution, do not forget to open the windows to provide sufficient ventilation in the room.
Commercial Carpet Cleaning Solutions
Carpet shampoo and other commercial carpet cleaners are commonly found in the local stores that sell cleaning products. These carpet cleaning solutions are commonly used along with a carpet shampooer, steam cleaner or carpet cleaner unit. When deciding to for these types of products, do not forget to read the product description carefully and determine if they are safe to use.
Leave a Comment | Filed Under Comparison
The Best Carpet Cleaning Machines
by Eileen
Carpets get dirty and rotten. Wear and tear carves them up, dirt soils them, and severe disuse can lead to unsanitary situations. Carpet cleaning machines can solve that problem, and professional services employ them to deliver dry or wet cleaning techniques. Cleaning methodologies can be broken into five main types, as per the IICRC, or the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification.
The first type, a kind of dry cleaning, is dry compound cleaning. By this method, a dry, biodegradable compound is scrubbed into the carpet. This compound attracts dirt and grime. After a short wait, usually less than 15 minutes, the compound and the attached dirt is vacuumed up. Normally, the scrubbing is done with a machine, as a hand scrub will only get the compound about a third of the way into the carpet. Home models run $500 to $1000 dollars, with larger industrial models going into the thousands of dollars.
Carpet Cleaning Machine
Encapsulation is a newer and more green technique in which state of the art polymers are brushed or compression sprayed into the carpet. These polymers crystallize dirt, literally encasing the dirt. They are then able to be vacuumed immediately. This technique represents a significant time saving from other methods, and it is said to improve the appearance of carpeting and affect high traffic areas more than other techniques. Encapsulation specific machines can cost into the thousands, but many modern machines are capable of several methods of cleaning, of which encapsulation is one.
Bonneting, a dry technique which is almost a wet technique, involves spraying soil absorption chemicals mixed in club soda onto the carpet. The wet carpet is then brushed with a “bonnet,” an absorbent spin pad which pulls up the chemicals and the dirt. Although it is not a deep clean and it only affects the top third of the carpet, the bonnet method is quick, cheap, and is very useful when water conditions are too limiting for a true wet process. Bonnet machines are generally cheaper than other setups, ranging from several hundred dollars to over $1000.
Wet cleaning consists of two major techniques, the first of which is steam cleaning. Steam cleaning requires several steps. First, the carpet is treated with an alkaline agent. Then the carpet is agitated and allowed to set for a particular dwell time, which can run from three to four hours. After that, the carpet is subjected to a mild acidic high pressure hot water extraction, or steam cleaning. This removes the agent, along with the dirt particles that the agent has broken down. Afterward, a neutralizing agent can be applied to soften the fabric and keep the carpet clean longer. This process is longer and more water intensive than the other techniques, and the extraction part of the process must be handled carefully. This is generally only done by professionals. Bissel sells a selection of home steam cleaning devices which retail for around $250 and perform a simplified version of the steam cleaning process, but commercial steam cleaners are on the order of one to several thousand apiece.
The last kind of cleaning technique is shampoo. An older technique, mostly displaced by encapsulation and steam cleaning, shampoo cleaning uses a machine shampoo followed by wet vacuuming. Unfortunately, these shampoos can leave behind dirt that can be picked up by other techniques. After the advent of steam cleaning, shampoo cleaners switched from coconut oil based shampoos to synthetic detergents, requiring a dry vacuum the day after cleaning but improving the cleaning offered by the technique. A carpet shampooer is the least expensive carpet cleaning equipment to purchase, on the order of a few hundred dollars.
Regardless of the type of cleaning required, there is sure to be a method to get any carpet clean. Between dry, encapsulation, bonnet, steam, and shampoo, there is something in every price range for every need. Whether you buy, rent, or hire a professional service, there is a carpet cleaning machine for you.
Leave a Comment | Filed Under Comparison
« go back