There’s a certain mystique to carpet cleaning that keeps many cleaning professionals at bay. Horror stories of browning and stains that “magically” reappear have been circulating for years, deterring would-be carpet cleaners from taking the plunge in the “soft floor” business. There are certainly things that can go wrong when cleaning carpets, however if you adhere to a few basic principles you can get great results with a minimal investment in equipment. Let’s take a quick look at the key components of achieving clean carpets and avoiding the many pitfalls.

Know What You’re Working With

The first step is to identify the fibers of the carpet in question. Just like clothes, carpets are made from a wide variety of fabrics that require differing approaches. If possible, obtain the carpet specifics from the owner before moving forward. Most commercial carpets are made from synthetic fibers such as nylon, olefin, polyester or acrylic. These carpets are fairly straight forward and can be cleaned with conventional water extraction methods. Higher end offices and homes could have natural fiber carpets, which require more caution. These fibers include wool, silk and cotton. These carpets can be damaged by high pH chemicals, which are commonly used in traditional carpet cleaning methods, as well as aggressive agitation. You also run the risk of color loss and excessive browning. Owners will usually know if they have invested in these carpets and can identify exactly what fabric you are dealing with. If no one knows the nature of the fibers, there are ways to identify them including burning a sample and observing the flame. This is an involved method that we won’t get into in this piece however.

Prepare the Space

After identifying the fibers, it’s time to prepare the carpet to be cleaned. After clearing all objects and small furniture out of the room, place foam blocks or plastic sheets under the legs of any furniture that is too large to move to prevent water damage to the furniture, and to avoid any color bleed from the legs to the carpet. What comes next is the most commonly skipped step that can save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Thoroughly vacuum the carpet with a minimum of 5 passes. You’re probably wondering, why bother vacuuming if you are going to clean it anyway? Dry soil is much easier to remove from carpet than wet soil. Anything you can remove from the fibers before introducing water makes it easier to remove what’s left. At this time you should also be identifying any trouble spots or stains and pre-treating them with the appropriate spotting chemical. This is also when I set up my fans or air movers to begin circulating the air. The longer the carpet remains damp after cleaning, the larger the risk of complications such as alkaline browning. If possible, open windows and angle the air movers toward the ceiling to achieve cross-ventilation. This is also the time when you want to create an “oasis”, or a safe area to store equipment after cleaning to avoid soiling areas that have just been cleaned. This is usually a small tarp or a few large towels at the edge of the carpet.

Apply the Chemical

For best results, we recommend a pre-spray method of applying the appropriate carpet extraction chemical directly to the carpet with a pump-up sprayer or trigger sprayer. This allows the chemical to work as intended. Most cleaning chemicals (hard surface or carpet) require a minimum of eight to ten minutes of dwell time in order to break down any sticky soils in the carpet. Many of the big carpet cleaning franchises will apply the chemicals through their cleaning equipment in one pass. Not only does this method not provide the chemical enough time to break down soils, it also leaves a large amount of chemical in the carpet. When dry, your carpet is transformed into the world’s largest cleaning sponge, removing the dirt from every foot or shoe that comes into contact with it. Obviously, the carpet re-soils very quickly this way, requiring more frequent deep cleaning. This also leaves the carpet fibers stiff, which can shorten the life of the carpet.

Scrub and Rinse

In this method, we are only using our equipment to rinse the carpet, removing the soils and chemicals alike, leaving a truly clean carpet at the end of the process. For the sake of this conversation we’re assuming that you are not using truck mounted equipment, which leaves you with two basic styles of carpet extractors. For smaller areas, many people prefer a self-contained extractor for its’ simplicity and compact nature. These are one-piece units that have a built in brush that applies the water, scrubs and vacuums up the water in one pass. These extractors can be a little bulkier and more difficult to maneuver and work best in more wide-open areas. The other style is referred to as a box extractor that uses an external wand connected to the machine by a solution hose and a vacuum hose, similar to the aforementioned truck mounted equipment. These units often heat the water, making them more effective at breaking down ground-in soils. Using just a wand grants the user more control and allows cleaning in tighter spots. Since the wand does not have a brush, it is up to the carpet cleaner to scrub highly soiled areas with the wand and the pressure of the jets for agitation.

For both types of equipment, the soil level of the carpet will dictate how many passes will be required to extract the majority of the soil from the floor. Both machines are typically used by slowly pulling them backward, overlapping passes by three or four inches. Again, this step is all about rinsing the soil and chemical out of the fiber. More dirt usually means more chemical, which usually means more passes to rinse thoroughly. Hot water is usually used in this process, however for carpets that require more detergent to clean, we can use a neutralizer or rinse such as DSC’s Remove to counteract the alkalinity of the extraction chemical. This reduces the chance of browning of the carpet due to the high pH nature of the product. It is also a good idea to use a quality defoamer in the recovery tank of the machine to prevent excessive foam from chemicals from going into the vacuum motor and causing significant damage.

You’ve Made It!

After thoroughly rinsing the carpet, the only thing left is to wait for the carpet to dry. The airflow from the fans will help to speed this process along. It is advised to prevent excessive foot traffic on wet carpet to avoid re-soiling. You should also wait until the carpet is completely dry before removing foam blocks or plastic sheets from under the furniture. By following these steps and concepts you are giving yourself the best chance at clean, fresh carpets without complications. Most issues will arise between six and twenty-four hours after cleaning. After that you are most likely in the clear and have joined the ranks of effective carpet cleaning professionals.