​What Method Is Best For Cleaning Your Carpet?

Portable HWE would be the next best choice if you are going to use a hot water extraction method. Do not let anyone tell you that portable machines cannot do a GREAT job of carpet cleaning because they can.

With the typical portable hot water extraction machine you are not going to get anywhere near the heat of a truck mounted carpet cleaning machine (although high heat can be really overrated when it comes to carpet cleaning) and you are not going to get the overall extraction that many high end truck mounted carpet cleaning machines offer. But you can still get very very good recovering from a portable hot water extraction system​.

There are many different versions of portable hot water extraction systems. In the end run the quality of the carpet cleaning job you are going to get depends MOSTLY on the skill of the cleaning technician.

Non Hot Water Portable Extraction Systems​

​Not all portable extraction systems offer hot water and this would be the third choice when it comes to extraction systems. We cannot call these hot water extraction systems because most of them barely use luke warm water. But these systems, in the hands of a good cleaner, can do a great job.

So as far as hot water extraction systems the above three systems pretty much cover it all.

Hot Water Extraction is the MOST Recommended Method For Deep Thorough Cleaning

​​Do not let anyone tell you any differently, hot water extraction is the most recommended system for deep thorough cleaning and for good reasons, of which we will tell you lower down in this article. But for now let's get into the other two MAIN carpet cleaning methods.​​​

​​Chemical Dry Cleaning

​This is where things get a bit confusing. There are many companies that advertise they clean with no water or very little water, and in most cases this is simply NOT true.

​The chemical dry cleaning companies, you have all heard of them, spent years and years trying to convince customers that their method of cleaning used very little water. Well, again, that is not true.

​The Most Popular Method Of "Dry Cleaning" is Pad Cleaning

​What is pad cleaning? Pad cleaning is when the carpet is sprayed with a cleaning solution and the the cleaner uses a pad cleaning machine with cotton and/or synthetic pads that scrub the carpet. The pads absorb the soil.

​Pad cleaning done with an oscillating machine is the best form of pad cleaning but most carpet cleaners do NOT use oscillating machine for pad cleaning, they use floor machines. Floor machines spin in a circular motion and can provide a LOT of agitation but not as much as an oscillating pad cleaning machine. 

​Pad cleaning can offer excellent visual results and get out a lot of soil but overall the pad cleaning method does NOT clean as deep down as hot water extraction and test results over the years has proven this. This does NOT mean that pad cleaning is not a good choice. It can be a GREAT choice if you are just looking for an appearance cleaning method and want fast dry times.

​What is really interesting about the low moisture cleaning group is that many of the actually do use a version of hot water extraction when they run into heavily soiled carpets. So their assertion that HWE ruins carpets seems a bit odd since they also use HWE when they see fit. So are they also ruining their clients carpets. Probably not because hot water extraction when used properly gets carpets cleaner...period.

​Encapsulation Cleaning

​​Encapsulation cleaning should not really be considered cleaning. It should be considered an appearance enhancer method. Why should encapsulation cleaning NOT be considered cleaning?

​Because NO soil is actually removed during the cleaning process except for pre-vacuuming.  

How does encapsulation "cleaning" work?​​​

​The method is pretty simple. An encapsulation chemical is either sprayed onto your carpet or scrubbed into your carpet. There is a lot of agitation with encapsulation "cleaning" and the cleaning agent surrounds the soil and encapsulates it into a plastic type  of polymer. 

​The actual soil removal process is accomplished after the carpet is dry and the cleaning company comes back to vacuum the encapsulated soil out or YOU vacuum the encapsulated soil out.

​Encapsulation carpet "cleaning" can be used on any type of carpet but is mostly used on commercial grade carpet as it offers very good appearance enhancement and it can dry really fast. But there is NO actual soil removal during true encapsulation "cleaning".

​There are some cleaners that use encapsulation cleaning agents with pad machines and this does offer decent soil removal and the benefits of encapsulation cleaning and pad cleaning.

​In our opinion the combination of encapsulation cleaning agents and pad cleaning is the best "lower moisture" cleaning that a carpet cleaning company can offer a client.

​So What Method Should You Use?

​If you are wanting your carpets cleaned, and we are talking about wall-to-wall residential carpet, then the best overall method for getting out soil and improving the appearance of your carpet would be hot water extraction. This is not just our opinion, this is the opinion of most of the leading carpet cleaning experts in the world.

​Shaw Industries is the largest carpet manufacturer in the world and their recommendation is hot water extraction because it offers the best overall capability for soil removal, which is the number one reason (or should be) to have your carpets cleaned.

​You can see more about what Shaw says by going to the link below:

​Shaw Industries Carpet Cleaning Recommendation

Final Thoughts On Carpet Cleaning Methods​

​Any method can give you good appearance results...any method. Do not let any carpet cleaner tell you that hot water extraction is the only way to clean carpets. Because if they do they are either not trained properly or do not know how to use the other methods.

​The biggest thing you have to think about when having your carpets cleaned is usually maximum soil removal and then the appearance. We do understand that most people clean for appearance. So if you are cleaning for appearance any of the above methods can do a really good job.

​But you should also have your carpets cleaned for health as carpets act as a giant filter and actually contribute to good indoor air quality if you keep your carpets reasonably clean. So do not just clean for appearance. Clean for the health AND appearance of your carpet.