Rugs are a versatile addition to your home interior. From large area rugs to small ones, they can brighten up spaces by giving them a rich and airy feel. Having a rug in your room can enhance the space, protect wooden flooring and compose the entire look of a room all together. At the same time, having a rug requires maintenance and upkeep to ensure that it is free from dust, stains, spills, and grime. It is very easy for your carpet to get dirty, especially if used frequently, which makes cleaning it all the more challenging. There are a ton of solutions available for people seeking to clean their rugs at home. While diy-ing it is the most recommended course of action, getting your rugs professionally cleaned at least twice a year is necessary to ensure that it maintains its appearance and durability.

Cost-saving concerns 

The first concern that comes to your mind when getting your rug professionally cleaned is the dent it will cost in your wallet. Professional cleaning does indeed require spending a pretty penny, but it is completely worth it in the long run. After all, who wants a carpet which is stained and smells bad? Professional cleaners are incredibly well-versed in their domain, and they possess the kind of skill and cleaning techniques that you cannot mimic at home.

What do professionals use to clean rugs?

There is no one set method to getting your rugs cleaned but rather a slew of techniques that professionals will use when they show up at your home, clad in their professional cleaning attire, ready to sweep away all the dirt and grime!

Steam Cleaning

This method entails having hot water and detergents injected into your rug. Once this is done, the water, dirt, and detergents are vacuumed out using a powerful suction equipment. Steam cleaning penetrates carpet fibers with hot water under high pressure, breaking out dirt that has accumulated over time. Cleaning an ordinary home with steam cleaning can take up to an hour, and if you include the time it takes a carpet to dry, then it is a day-long process. However, it takes significantly longer for business buildings, such as offices and other commercial areas. You may have noticed that commercial cleaning operations are mostly inaugurated in the day, allowing the carpet to dry overnight.

Two types of options are available when it comes to steam cleaning: using portable devices or truck-mounted ones. Truck-mounted devices are deemed far superior than portable ones due to their sheer vacuum strength as truck mounted systems can assist in recovering about 95% of the water used during cleaning. Professionals are strongly advised to go for this technique because steaming thoroughly deep cleans your rugs by getting rid of all the bacteria.

Absorbent Compound

Dry carpet cleaning or absorbent compound cleaning is a method that makes use of an absorbent chemical to bond to dirt and other particles in your carpet. To spread absorbent chemicals, a mechanical brush is typically used. Absorbent carrier, water, detergent, solvent, and perfume aroma are common ingredients in this compound to ensure that the carpet is clean and odorless.

The liquids dissolve the dirt, and the resulting soil, detergent, and solvent combination are absorbed into the powdery absorbent carrier and vacuumed away. In severely dirty regions, they tend to be used with a detergent pre-spray. Firstly, it is given time for the compound to remove dirt from carpet fibers, and then a professional-grade dry vacuum is used to suck it up. This method is ideal for people who want a thorough cleaning but do not wish to deal with damp carpets.

Bonnet Carpet Cleaning

A rotary floor machine with a cleaning pad saturated in solution is used for bonnet or spin cleaning. The agitation allows dirt to be absorbed into the cleaning pad as it travels over the carpet. Optical brighteners, such as bleach, are used in the cleaning solution for bonnet machines, which polish the cut fibers of the carpet, delivering a brighter and cleaner appearance of the carpet. However, while bonnet cleaners remove surface debris, they are also prone to driving a lot of dirt and cleaning solution further deeper into the carpet pile, which might be an invitation for more dirt.

Liquid encapsulation is the most effective kind of bonnet cleaning for the dirt removal. Pre-spraying the carpet, bonneting it, and then vacuuming up the dirt-encapsulated foam that rises to the top is how this approach works. This approach is excellent for spot cleaning, but it is not typically suggested for long-term carpet maintenance since it is ineffective at eliminating dirt. A great advantage of using this type of method is that it is inexpensive and does not require highly skilled professionals.

What is the best method?

The best rug cleaning method is steam cleaning. It is rigorous and thorough and makes sure that your rug is deeply cleansed until all the dirt and bacteria have been entirely eliminated. While steam cleaning is the most expensive method, it delivers the best results. Instead of spending your money on bonnet carpet cleaning where there’s a likelihood of residual dirt that won’t be cleansed entirely, it is advised to invest in a professional cleaning method that will be beneficial for your rug’s maintenance in the long run.

Hiring a professional: what you need to know

Your rug maintains its durability after being professionally cleaned. However, before contacting a professional to clean your rug expertly, there are few points to note. You should make sure that they have thorough experience and are incredibly specialized in this field. In addition to this, you should ensure that every member of the carpet cleaning team is individually certified. It would be best to ask what method professionals recommend to clean your rug to know that you will be getting most of what you were paid for. Lastly, take the expert on a tour of the carpeting to be cleaned, pointing out any places that require extra attention, as they may impact the stated price.