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Keeping the carpeting in your home fresh, clean and in good repair is a very important undertaking. Not only should it be important to you for appearance sake, it’s also essential to protecting the quality of your indoor environment and a rather large investment in floor covering.
 What to look for
Because it is important and because there is such a tremendous amount of installed carpet out there, keeping it clean is a major industry.
It’s a good thing for you to keep in mind that any time there is a huge market and lots of profit to be made, some of the dry carpet cleaning products and services out there just might have come into existence as the result of profiteering rather than sound, scientific, chemical engineering.
And, what makes it different
Dry carpet cleaning isn’t exactly dry. All compounds require some measure of moisture in order to do their job. Some of these compounds are moist while with others, a pre-cleaning spray goes on before spreading on the dry chemical. What dry carpet cleaning is, is a way of cleaning carpet that is much dryer than steam cleaning. Some services and cleaning companies describe it as “controlled moisture”.
The first step in dry carpet cleaning is vacuuming. It’s said that 80 to 90 percent of all carpet contaminants can be removed with the vacuum. You should be sure to maintain your carpets on an ongoing basis with a complete and thorough vacuuming routine.
Vacuuming the carpet
Evidently it’s safe to use cleaning chemicals with confidence on all commonly used carpet fibers whether synthetic or natural, including wool and jute. The type of dye and dyeing process is not supposed to be a concern either. It is probably a good idea if you checked for the existence of a warranty or the stamp of approval from carpet manufacturers or an independent testing agency. Some of the products on the market do have these.
Can dry carpet cleaning really do what it is supposed to
Because you have spent a lifetime using lots of water to clean things like your clothes, your car, your body, your hair, it will take a shift of mind-set to understand how dry cleaning can be effective.
The way most of the available carpet cleaning compounds work is similar. Some are powders, some are granules, all are spread over your carpet. The chemical makes it’s way down to the base of the carpet fibers, dissolving soil and stains as it goes.
 The dissolved soil is held in suspension or absorbed by the cleaning agent until it can be sucked up by a vacuum. That sounds easy enough to do the work yourself and pocket the 400 or so dollars you won’t have to pay to a carpet cleaning service.
CarpetMate®
Dry Cleaning Compound
Why not all the systems in the market are created equal
Some of the dry method carpet cleaning options available to you are variations of the above procedure requiring specialized equipment, that puts the work beyond DIY. The variations offered do make sense so you should check with dry carpet cleaning contractors in your area before making a final decision on a course of action.
Some service providers use hot water extraction rather than a vacuum to recover the cleaning granules. They like to call it controlled moisture. Evidently only about one tenth of the water used in steam cleaning processes is needed, and the equipment they use will leave the carpeting dry in only 1 or 2 hours, so the service is classified as dry carpet cleaning.
Others make use of an electric brushing machine to work the chemical through the carpet and give the added bonus of correcting the appearance of matted down carpet in high traffic areas. The final clean-up is by vacuuming so water isn’t used.
Always look for and get as much advice as you can
With all the dry carpet cleaning products and systems, there is apart from the standard procedure, a wide array of :
- spot cleaners,
- emergency clean-up kits,
- difficult stain removers,
- high traffic concentrates,
- pet stain remover,
- odor eliminators,
- and etcetera for you to buy.
Why don’t you be the judge on whether they’re really needed. Evaluate each one on their merits.
If the basic system is intended to give you fresh, clean carpets, add-ons to your total bill probably aren’t all that necessary.
Should you have concerns or if this article or the complete series of articles on carpet cleaning has presented new questions for your consideration, the best advice is to go back to your carpet supplier or better yet, to the carpet manufacturer for a little input toward your decision.
After all, they are the people who should be most knowledgeable about the merits of the different dry carpet cleaning techniques and systems. They must have an opinion and you must insist they share it.
After looking at it all you probably agree the heart of any dry carpet cleaning process and carpet care in general would seem to hinge on the capability of your vacuum cleaner.
Perhaps the bulk of your carpet cleaning budget belongs there. Remember to keep your house and specially your carpets clean all the time, for the decorating as well as for the health of the whole family ;)
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