The Hot Water Extraction Carpet Cleaning Processes

Posted on September 19, 2018 in Cleaning

Your carpet makes a major difference in your property. Even if you clean the entire property, it will not look clean if the carpet is dirty. However, if your carpets look and smell good, then the rest of your property will look and smell good. Regular cleaning is one of the keys to maintaining your carpet. Here we discuss the hot water extraction carpet cleaning process in some detail:

Pre-Clean Inspection

A carpet cleaning company should never start spraying chemicals over your carpets without first testing to identify the type of carpet fibres and identifying any pre-existing stains.

The incorrect application of an unsuitable chemical may cause irreparable damage or make it more difficult to remove particular stains.

Vacuuming

A thorough vacuum is necessary to remove loose soiling, hair and debris and it helps ensure a more consistent result.

While there are many good domestic vacuums available in high street stores, most professional carpet cleaners will be using a more robust vacuum such as a powerful Sebo.

Special attention should be paid to corners and skirting boards.

Pre-Spraying Of Chemicals

After vacuuming, a high quality, soil loosening pre-spray is applied to the carpet in order to break down general traffic soiling and stained areas.

Any conspicuous individual stains may need to be treated with specialist stain removal products. Examples of such stains would be oil, make-up, tar or red wine.

There are many brands available to carpet cleaning companies. The choice often comes down to personal preference and the technician’s knowledge of the various products (that little bit more experience in the field often proves the difference between removing and not removing a stubborn stain.)

Agitation (Or Massaging The Cleaning Solution Into The Carpet Fibres)

Once the carpet has been pre-sprayed, the chemicals often need to dwell for several minutes be agitated and worked into the fibres to facilitate the breaking down of the ingrained soils and stains.

There are many pieces of equipment that can be used for carrying out the agitation process. A basic but effective (and safe) tool, is a simple carpet agitation brush that is run back and forth through the fibres.

Another machine that carpet cleaning companies may use is an electric agitation machine such as a Sebo Duo, or for larger expanses of carpet, a rotary machine with attached pads or brushes (particularly helpful for large commercial jobs or heavily soiled carpets when there is sufficient space to manoeuvre.

Hot Water Extraction

To thoroughly clean a heavily soiled carpet, it’s hard to beat hot water extraction.

Hot water extraction carpet cleaning can be carried out using electric portable type machines or more powerful petrol powered truckmount engines that provide more consistent heat and suction.

The key point is that the machine must be capable of generating sufficient heat, water pressure and suction to remove the maximum amount of moisture and all loosened soil particles.

To ensure your local carpet cleaner is operating machinery of the required standard, check that they’re fully approved members of The Approved Carpet Cleaners Alliance (TACCA).

Post-Cleaning Processes

Once the carpets have been fully extracted, there should be a final inspection to check all stains have been treated to best practice.

Maybe there’s a stubborn stain or two that would benefit from additional treatment with a different chemical and another extraction?

Once the carpet cleaning technician is sure that all stains have been treated correctly it is important that the drying process is helped along by combing the carpet fibres with a grooming brush and in some cases the use of turbo dryers.

What You Should Be Doing Between Your Scheduled Professional Cleaning Appointments

While the above process will make a huge difference to the appearance and health of your carpets there are some steps you should (and shouldn’t) take in-between your regular carpet cleaning appointments.

1. Vacuum regularly.

Yes, I know it’s incredibly predictable and boring, but regularly vacuuming your carpets prevents loose soil and dirt morphing into unsightly greying / brown areas that spoil the appearance of light coloured carpets. It also prevents the premature wear of carpet fibres caused by abrasive soil and grit.

2. Never, ever, ever apply shop bought “specialist” stain removal products.

They rarely work. And they often ruin carpets.

Enough said. You’ve been warned.

3. Blot stains with clean water and towels.

You may have heard it before: Blot, don’t scrub.
You should never “scrub” in case you merely spread the stain to a wider area of carpet and, in addition to making the stain appear visually worse, you’ll potentially damage the fibres.

Patience is key.

4. Deal with spillages immediately.

Yes, I know you probably mop up any spills as soon as they occur (in my experience, very few people are happy to pass their evening watching a red wine stain sink deeper and deeper into their carpet, adding a menacing purple hue to freshly fitted beige wool!)

But if a stain remains after blotting it with a towel, it is far cheaper to call your local professional carpet cleaner and ask them to remove the stain than it is to ruin your carpet by attempting to treat it with a cocktail of harsh chemicals.

5. Consider applying a high quality stain protector.

Stain protectors can provide a barrier against spillages that may otherwise become permanent stains.

The relatively small cost of such a product can be the difference between simply blotting up a spillage and replacing an expensive carpet.

These products can also help prevent soils becoming embedded and make vacuuming a much easier task.

For more information on carpet cleaning services and our hot water extraction carpet cleaning please visit Protech Cleaning Solutions or call one of our friendly team on 0845 604 1288.