3 Reasons why steam cleaning is best for your carpet

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between steam cleaning and dry cleaning your carpet? Is one method better than the other when it comes to your home and health? We think so! Although, we offer both methods of carpet cleaning, we believe that carpet steam cleaning gives the best results. These are the top 3 reasons why we recommend you use a professional steam cleaning service.

1. Steam cleaning gives superior results

Your carpet is like a giant filter. It traps dirt, dust, allergens and bacteria and improves indoor air quality by stopping these particles from becoming airborne. Vacuum cleaning removes the surface dirt, as does dry cleaning. However to remove the bacteria and soil trapped deep within the pile, you need professional carpet steam cleaning.

Hot water extraction (steam cleaning) injects a blast of hot water deep into the carpet pile and then extracts it along with all the dirt and debris. This method of cleaning uses both heat and suction to wash and remove dirt. It is much like washing your clothes or your hair and gives a much better result than just wiping over the surface. Most carpet manufacturers recommend hot water extraction over dry cleaning and in fact some warranties insist upon it.

Dry cleaning methods vary but most concentrate on the surface soil and do not penetrate deep into the pile to remove trapped particles of dirt or dust. Dry cleaning is also a cold cleaning method, and it relies on agitation rather then heat to break the bond between soil and carpet fibre. Heat is a great sanitiser and this is why steam cleaning gives a better and healthier result. This is great news for your babies, small children and pets who spend a lot of their time on the carpet.

2. Dries quickly

A professional carpet steam cleaner will use the best equipment to ensure your carpet is not only thoroughly cleaned and sanitised, but also quick drying. Non professional steam cleaners often cut corners by using inferior carpet cleaning machines and techniques. Without the proper tools for the job and the right training and experience, carpet can be left soggy and take days to dry.

We start our cleaning process off by using a high pressure water delivery system, which means we use less water to begin with. Our carpet cleaning machines have extremely strong suction to remove the maximum amount of moisture possible and by using very hot water we speed up evapouration and drying times.

This is extremely important as carpets which are left over wet, can become breeding grounds for mould and bacteria which in turn will have serious health implications. Mould is an allergen which affects the respiratory system and not something you want in your home. Over wet carpets can also discolour and smell very bad! The smaller carpet cleaning machines machines you can hire from the supermarket do not have strong suction and can lead to some of these issues.

Dry cleaning is a low moisture method of cleaning, however usually there is still some moisture left behind. While drying times are shorter for dry cleaned carpets, there is no longer a huge difference between the drying times for the two methods, if they are performed by professional carpet steam cleaners.

3. No chemical residue

We always aim to use environmentally friendly, low tox cleaning chemicals. When we do our final rinse after steam cleaning, we add an acid similar to vinegar to the rinse water. This acid rinse removes all traces of chemical residue. It is important to do this to stop rapid re soiling, but also to remove the cleaning detergent from the carpet to ensure nothing is left behind.

For more information on our carpet cleaning chemicals and how they work, please read my article on Chemical Free Carpet Cleaning.

Dry cleaning methods such as bonnet cleaning, uses absorbent pads to wipe the carpet and remove moisture and detergent. As there is no extraction or rinsing, some residue remains in the carpet.

We recommend dry cleaning only be used as a maintenance measure in between carpet steam cleans and never as a complete replacement for steam cleaning carpet.

For professional carpet steam cleaning service in Melbourne please contact Black Gold Carpet Cleaning