Steam Or Dry Carpet Cleaning
If you have just begun your search for a carpet cleaner, you have likely come across two terms, steam cleaning and dry carpet cleaning. For someone with little experience in carpet cleaning, it might be confusing determining which method is better. After all, every carpet cleaner says that they are the best and that their method is the only one that can get things clean.So, which one is better? Let’s take a look.
What Is Steam Cleaning?
First, what exactly is steam cleaning. Well, it is the method that we use in our Rowlett carpet cleaning business and a more appropriate term for it would be Hot Water Extraction.
With this method, a pre-treatment is applied to the carpet and allowed to dwell so it can break down and absorb soil. It is then rinsed from the carpet using hot water and suction.
The method can be used with portable equipment or truck mounted machinery. Truck mounted machines are preferred because they provide more heat, higher water volume and more powerful suction. We use truck mounted machines for all of our residential carpet cleaning. With truck mounted machines, most carpets are dry in 4 to 6 hours.
What Is Dry Cleaning?
Dry cleaning is a method that became popular for commercial cleaning. It still uses water however and here, the more appropriate term would be Low Moisture Carpet Cleaning.
There are a lot of different ways to dry clean a carpet but the most popular is bonnet cleaning. With this method, a solution is applied to the carpet and then absorbed with cotton or synthetic machines located on a floor machine. Because little water is used, most carpets will be dry in under an hour.
Which Method Is Best?
Dry Carpet Cleaning is a great method, for commercial use. It is well suited for carpets that get cleaned weekly and need to be put back into service fast. Unfortunately, it is not a good choice for residential carpet cleaning.
There are two reasons for this. First, it has limited soil removal ability. This is not a problem for a carpet that is cleaned often but it is a problem for a residential carpet that is only cleaned once or twice a year. Second is that fact that dry cleaning depends too much on agitation to get a carpet clean. this is okay on a commercial glue down carpet, but it can do damage to a residential tufted carpet.
No, the best form of carpet cleaning for residential carpet is Steam Cleaning. This is why nearly every mill recommends it and why many will even void your warranty if you have your carpet dry cleaned. Steam cleaning is gentle on your carpet and removes more soil. Yes, it takes longer to dry, but 4 to 6 hours of drying is a minor inconvenience.
If you need carpet cleaning in Royse City TX, Rowlett or one of the surrounding areas, give us a call to discuss your carpet cleaning needs.
