“HOT WATER EXTRACTION”

Hot water extraction is commonly referred to as “steam cleaning”, even though steam is not used. Pressurized, hot water combined with a detergent breaks up the soil which is then drawn out by suction. Hot water extraction may be of 2 types: truck mounted or portable.

Truck mounts have stronger suction and pressure than portable units. This suction helps your carpet to dry more quickly.  All Pro’s truck mount carries pretreated and heated softened water to your residence. We do not use your water. This allows us to accurately regulate the temperature so that is it hot enough for  cleaning, but not too hot that it would damage the stainblocking properties of your carpet. The dirty water is vacuumed from your carpet and carried by our truck away from your home—never emptying in your home or on your property. Some companies using portable equipment may empty dirty water into your sinks or commodes, causing damage to your septic system or pipes.

Major mills such as Shaw Industries recommend truck mounted hot water extraction.

“DRY CLEANING METHODS”

Here are the 4 methods of “dry cleaning” carpet.

1. When a carpet cleaner uses dry foam, he applies shampoo to your carpet, allows it to dry, and then sucks the dried shampoo into a vacuum. This method can leave a residue in your carpet, which is one reason dry foam is not very effective.
2. The dry-chem method is similar to dry foam. The major difference is that when dry-chem is used, the company sets a large bonnet pad on your carpet. Using a machine, the bonnet spins from side to side as a floor scrubber does, absorbing the dirt in the carpet. After the bonnet is saturated with dirt, another bonnet is applied. Bonnet cleaning may leave swirl marks on some carpet and is not as effective as hot water extraction in removing deep down soil and pollutants.
3. The dry-compound method spreads an absorbent mixture that looks like wet sawdust all over your carpeting. Then the machine brushes the mixture into the carpet, which in theory causes dirt to absorb into the mixture. When the mixture has dried, a vacuum cleaner sucks the material out of the carpeting. Because the carpet is not rinsed in any way, this method is not as effective as hot water extraction.
4. The oscillating pad system uses a balanced ph pre-spray that when misted on the carpet reacts with the dirt and pollen, allowing it to be loosened and removed by means of a cotton pad. This method differs from the bonnet method in that the pad is cotton rather than nylon, which may be abrasive and the pad is not rotated on the carpet as in the bonnet method, but is “jiggled” about, absorbing excess moisture and soil. The carpet will dry in approximately one hour, leaving no dirt-attracting residue.
5.   Encapsulation is a process used on commercial carpets for maintenance cleaning.  The cleaning agent bonds to the soils which are then vacuumed away.  This interim cleaning produces excellent results.