Carpet cleaning - what is the best method for badly soiled carpet?

I have found steam cleaning to be a waste of time in such circumstances. I think steam cleaning basically sanitises it, but does not clean it.

I'd be looking at a carpet shampoo-er if I were you. We have one primarily to clean up pooch messes, but it's also been used at a student apartment I own with good effect.

I have no experience with jim1964's option.
 
Depends upon the types of muck you are trying to get out - decomposed bodies/blood stains or dirt/mud/doggy do or ink, red wine, tomato sauce/food etc?

A quick call to carpet court usually sorts it out.
 
Need to be careful with steam cleaning , cheaper carpets can shrink after
being steamed, I warn my tenants to use dry cleaning only like electrodry.
 
I have done carpet cleaning for work when younger and have used industrial truck/van mounted steam cleaners, portable good quality steam cleaners and the smaller cheaper stuff also

We also had the "dry clean", floor polisher style that used pre sprays and carpet discs


I would get someone in to quote the job using a truck mount system as this type has high powered vacuum motors that are capable of removing a much higher percentage of the water used in the process

the cheaper models cannot remove the majority of the water and this is what causes the majority of problems such as discolouring and shrinkage etc

If they are any good they will have one or two industrial blow heaters to leave in each room to speed up the process and remove even more of the residual moisture

the dry clean /pad method IN MY OPINION is near on useless for anything but the surface of the carpet. and pushes most of the chemicals used into the carpet along with the dirt that was on top.


opinion only !


cheers Eden
 
footnote

"very little waste is created with the dry pad style cleaning"


but



I have cleaned rentals (2 br units type size) when I have used the 50 litre tank of water with the carpet detergent added

"and then removed upto 55 litres in the waste tank"

as when this liquid was left to settle in buckets I poured the water out and was left with a total of 8.5 kg of,

sand, dirt, animal/human solids and liquids, bizarre non identifiable stains and a lot of the stench associated with stuff that was dry and in the carpet (milk and dead pet/vermin stains being a little wiffy when reconstituted).

so in theory I left about 2.5-3.5 litres of water in the carpet and picked up say 8.5kg (say 7.5kg when dried out) of nasty looking dirt and powdered evil


Cheers Eden
 
There are a few methods, but a combination multi step system is best. Call an owner operated carpet cleaner with a good reputation and a big truckmount steam cleaner.

FYI

DRY CLEANING is a misnomer as it is not dry, it simply does not use steam. Once upon a time solvents were used but now dry cleaning simply refers to basically spray and wipe system. This will not flush out dirt.

STEAM CLEANING is a misnomer as it is actually Hot Water, rather than pure steam (steam vapour is emitted as a result). When a powerful truckmount system is used, the dirt is flushed out from deep in the carpet with pressurised very hot water and vacuumed back out with strong vacuum. This is best for nearly all situations that are heavily soiled. Only woven wool carpet may shrink with HWE, but these are rare as hens teeth and shrinking therefore is not even a consideration any longer with modern (20years) carpets.

ENCAPSULATION is a method where encapsulating detergents are scrubbed into the carpet to release the dirt, allowed to dry and crystalise around the dirt particles, then subsequently vacuumed out once dry (Although the carpet appears clean instantly). This is often used before steam cleaning as a chemical of choice due to it's remoavle residue qualities, or after steam cleaning to provide a more thorough clean.

For very badly soiled carpets, the following gives a good system to restore it.

1. The carpet should be inspected to determine fibre type and construction to determine appropriate chemical and method.

2. Thorough Vacuumed to remove dry soil.

3. Presprayed with a detergent to suit the carpet fibre and allowed dwell time. (wool is sensitive to highly alkaline detergents and it's pH level should be restored after cleaning, nylon, polypropylene, etc are more durable...)

4. The carpet is then Pre scrubbed with a rotary or orbital (buffing type) machine with a suitable pad to physically agitate the dirt from the fibres.

5. Then the carpet is rinsed/cleaned using steam Hot Water Extraction from a powerful petrol powered truck mounted (not portable) machine. Truck mount machines often have 10x the power that can be obtained from an electrical powerpoint which a portable relies on.

6. Sometimes a cotton pad on the rotary or orbital machine is used to wipe remaing dirt and dry carpet.

6. Acid rinse for wool carpets or where there is a possibility of 'browning' (lignin from the carpet backing rising to the surface).

7. The carpet is often groomed using a rake, and air mover fans are employed.
 
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