There are a few cleaning methods available in the Middle Tennessee area. Knowing how each cleaning works helps you achieve a cleaner, healthier home. Regardless of which method you prefer, carpet manufacturers recommend having your carpet cleaned for your health first and appearance second.
Your carpet is a catch-all for many soils including airborne cooking oils, dirt, dust and allergens to name a few. Unfortunately, vacuum cleaners cannot always remove these deeply embedded soils. Because carpet is the largest filter in your home, choosing the right method is important.
Common Methods
There are two main goals when choosing a method: Soil extraction and dry time. Removing the maximum amount of soils will require more water, which extends the dry time. However, if a fast dry time is the goal, depending on the density of the carpet fiber, more soils will likely remain due to minimal water use.
Think about it in terms of washing your hands. Using a lot of soap and rinse water will achieve the cleanest hands. This is because “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Using a minimal amount of water will result in less soil removal, but your hands will dry much faster. If your carpet has a low pile, or low density, dry cleaning is a great option. We see this often in commercial carpet. However, if you have thicker carpet, more water is required for sufficient cleaning.
Steam Method
Hot Water Extraction, commonly and incorrectly known as Steam Cleaning: This method essentially flash-floods your carpet with extremely hot water while simultaneously extracting the water and soils with vacuum. Most carpet manufacturers recommend a professional steam cleaning every 18 months to maintain factory warranty.
A common problem with steam cleaning includes over-wetting carpet fibers. Carpet is mesh fabric that allows excessive water to pass right through it into the carpet pad below. If the sponge-like pad gets wet, it can take weeks or months to dry out. This unfortunately can lead to mold growth below the carpet.
Choosing a reputable service provider is crucial. More times than not, overzealous steam cleaners can cause irreversible damage and health hazard simply by not realizing they’re applying too much water. Note: steam is not actually used during the steam cleaning process. Hot mist water appears as steam as it’s forced through the tiny jets to rinse the carpet.
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Dry Method – Very Low Moisture
Also known as bonnet cleaning, low moisture, or VLM, very low moisture, and finally dry carpet cleaning is widely used method that offers a fast dry time. This method involves pre-spraying carpet fibers with an encapsulating cleaning solution. A floor machine then spins an absorbent pad on the carpet to transfer the soils from the carpet pile into the pad. The remaining detergent encapsulates the soils and dries to a crystal structure. Once dry, the carpet is vacuumed to extract the crystalized soils away from the carpet.
Dry clean method is a popular choice for thin commercial carpet. In residential settings, carpet pile is typically thicker, so a method with more water will achieve cleaner results. There also exists a solvent-based dry cleaning method. Instead of relying on encapsulated soils, the solvent releases the soils much faster than water-based solutions. The solvent is then vacuum out of the fiber with the loosened soils.
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Sanivive Carpet Clean Method
Sanivive is our exclusive method that combines steam cleaning with dry cleaning to eliminate both of their drawbacks. With Sanivive, your carpet is cleaned twice, both wet and dry with up to 70% less water than traditional steam cleaning. We also offer deeper rinse options, but principal stays the same – we remove more moisture for faster drying carpet.
The Sanivive method delivers on the two key benefits: significant soil removal and fast dry time. Our Sanivive method adds a third key benefit: Maintaining a healthy home environment. By ensuring the fibers are thoroughly clean and that the pad below stays dry, Sanivive eliminates the possibility of carpet mold.
During the Sanivive method, we steam clean the carpet first with the amount of water that matches the carpet density. Afterwards, while the carpet is still moist, we scrub the fibers using dry absorbent pads to further remove additional moisture and soils. Sanivive is the best carpet cleaning method available in Nashville because it leaves your carpet ultra clean and sanitized and dry in four hours!
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Dry Compound Method
Dry Compound Method involves pre-misting the carpet fibers before brushing in an absorbent cellulose powder. The cellulose powder is more absorbing than the soiled carpet fibers so soils stick to it as opposed to the fibers. Once the carpet is completely dry, the cellulose powder is dry vacuumed out of the carpet along with the soils sticking to it.
This method is very effective; however, some of the dry compounds can contain harsh solvents. If you’re considering using dry compound cleaning, we recommend reviewing the dry compound’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS) prior. Dry Compound is also commonly used upholstery and rug cleaning as well.
Shampoo Method
Shampoo cleaning method is another dry cleaning option that uses the suds from a lathered shampoo to moisten the soiled carpet. Once completely dry, the remaining soils and detergent residue is then dry vacuumed out of the carpet through the encapsulating process described earlier.
Shampooing carpet is not as widely used as it was in the past. However, this method is still used for shampooing cotton upholstery. Because cotton is a cellulose fiber, it can turn yellow as it dries. This is known as cellulose browning. Shampooing cotton fibers can reduce or eliminate cellulose browning.
As you can see there are several cleaning methods to choose from. The most widely used method industry-wide is steam cleaning, followed by Very Low Mosture with Dry Compound and Shampoo being the least used carpet care methods.
