Myth #1: It doesn’t matter which method of cleaning is being used.
Wrong. The method of cleaning used on your carpet has a great deal to do with how clean your carpet gets (how much dirt and residue is pulled out), how healthy your family & your carpet is and how long your carpet ultimately lasts. There are basically two methods used to clean carpet. One is the dry cleaning method, which consists of dry foam, dry chemicals, and dry compound; which do not rinse your carpet in any way. Instead they leave a residue behind for you and your family to breathe. This method’s biggest benefits (your carpet never gets wet so it never needs time to dry) is also it’s biggest draw back. This method tends to leave a lot of dirt and other pollutants behind because your carpet is not rinsed in any way. It would be a lot like washing your dishes with a dry chemical powder and then “rinsing” them by vacuuming them. The best, most effective way of cleaning carpets is method number 2: hot water extraction.
Hot water extraction can be performed by a company using either a truck mounted extraction unit or a portable unit. A truck mounted unit is operated from a truck parked in your driveway with hoses running into your home. A portable unit is a small, self-contained unit that is brought into your home. Shaw Industries recommends the truck mounted method because of the ability of the unit to reach higher water temperatures and its greater suction power for removing dirt and pollutants. The portable unit should only be used in situations where a truck mounted unit can not be used.
The world’s largest manufacturer of carpeting, Shaw Industries, recommends the hot water extraction by a truck mounted machine as the preferred method of carpet cleaning. In this method high pressure is used to force a hot water cleaning solution into your carpet. Then this solution is sucked back out effectively pulling dirt and pollutants from your carpet. The main reason that this method works better is that the water is heated to a high temperature that easily breaks up the dirt and pollutants in your carpet. The next step involves using high-powered suction to draw or extract this grime from every part of your carpet.
Here’s why a truck nounted init cleans much better than anything else:
1) It heats water to a higher temperature. For every 18 degree increase in temperature above 118 degrees F, you double the water’s cleaning ability. So if the water temperature is 154 degrees F, it will clean twice as well as water that is 136 degrees F. 190 degree water will clean 4 times as well as 136 degree water and so on, until you reach a water temperature of 250 degrees F. Water temperature over 200 degrees F, also helps sanitize your carpet and remove bacteria and dust mites.
2) The cleaning solution is forced into your carpet at high pressure, which breaks up the dirt, bacteria, chemicals and pollens. 300 to 350 pounds per square inch is the optimum pressure for truck mounted hot water extraction. THe machine uses stronger suction to draw the dirt, chemicals, bacteria, pollens, and other residues out of your carpet.
At Mr. Steam’s Valley Steam, we use truck mounted extraction, except in the rare instances when only a portable unit can be used.