Carpets have always had their limits when it came to cleaning them. Even today, spot cleaners and shampoos leave a lot to be desired and used incorrectly can even cause damage. Not long ago people still took rugs outside to beat them because it got rid of the dirt better than any kind of carpet cleaning around.
Once carpet cleaning machines, or rug shampooers, came on the market, carpet cleaning was easier but still left spots behind. The first machines were almost commercial grade. Some were too big to even get into your car after renting it at the corner grocery store.
However, although their weight caused a problem, their basic operation was simple. Put soap and water in the right place, make sure the brushes were attached the right way, and push the ON button. Now, just move the machine over your rugs and ‘ hopefully ‘ this thick soapy mixture would be evenly distributed over the carpets. Later on, if you were lucky, the soap suds would have dried into a substance that held the dirt that you could now vacuum up.
However, after using one of these a few times, your rugs tended to just accumulate all the soap that was never appropriately put down or vacuumed up. The soap buildup would deteriorate the fibers in the rug causing lots of damage and even holes. And even with all this soap and scrubbing, the spots were barely affected.
Professional carpet cleaners could also come to your home. Even with the newest equipment and life time guarantees, stains wouldn’t completely come off. This difficulty in keeping carpets clean was instrumental in the resurgence of the hardwood floor.
Once we found out that steam was the answer to all cleaning problems, the carpet industry responded with commercial grade and residential quality steam carpet cleaners. You still need to use a shampoo, but it’s milder because most of the cleaning is done by the steam, not the soap. And once the steam and soapy mixture hits the carpeting, a reverse swipe of the machine sucks up the residue and dries the area.
Home models start at $199 and do an excellent job. They can be used even without shampoo for freshening up worn areas and picking up pile of trampled down rugs. There is nothing to vacuum up after.
Want to find out more about Carpet Cleaning, then visit Walter Wilhelm’s site on how to choose the best cleaning solution for your needs.
Tags: air duct, Carpet, carpet cleaning, clean, Colorado, damage, duct cleaning, rug, steam