The Myths and Misconceptions of Carpet Cleaning

There are five main types of carpet cleaning:

  1. Dry powder cleaning
  2. Encapsulation cleaning
  3. Bonnet cleaning (dry cleaning)
  4. Warm water / Hot water extraction
  5. Professional steam cleaning

Dry Powder Cleaning

Dry powder cleaning is usually performed by the host system. It is a soft natural product moistened with water, detergent and a small amount of safe to use solvent. By scattering this product onto the carpet, looking a bit like sawdust, it works like little sponges that dissolve and absorb soiling and is then removed by vacuuming. This is not a deep cleaning method. It is only a maintenance cleaning system. It is designed for commercial use only.

Encapsulation cleaning process

This is a chemical cleaning process where the carpet is:

  • Pre-Vacuumed
  • the encapsulation chemical is applied
  • a rotary agitation machine is used
  • the chemical encapsulates the soil while drying
  • the soil and chemical are vacuumed away when dried
  • The carpet becomes cleaner each day the carpet is vacuumed up to a week.

This is a commercial maintenance process only click here for a video

Bonnet Cleaning (dry cleaning)

Bonnet cleaning (dry cleaning) works along the lines of:

  1. Pre vacuuming
  2. Pre conditioning with a self neutralising detergent
  3. Rotary addition to loosen soiling
  4. Pad dry to absorb soiling

It is only a maintenance cleaning system. It is not a deep cleaning method.

Warm Water / Hot Water Extraction / Steam Cleaning

These systems have to do with the temperature of the water. For every 10 degrees Celsius over 60 degrees, you get 100% more cleaning power. There are a lot of companies that do warm water extraction cleaning saying that they do steam cleaning. Warm water extraction cleaning is only up to 70 degrees Celsius, hot water extraction is between 70-100 degrees Celsius and steam cleaning (the best method) is above boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius. Some machines can go up to 150 degrees Celsius. Its all to do with the equipment that your carpet cleaner uses. They can buy an extraction machine for $1000, or like our equipment, we spend between $35,000 - $50,000 on each machine for optimum cleaning results.