Is all a company needs to clean carpet is the right equipment “True” or “False”? This is the carpet cleaning myth we are going to discuss today. Unfortunately, there are myths in every industry and also the majority of them are not true! Here we are going to discuss a carpet cleaning myth that customers are curious about. So, is all a carpet cleaning company needs is the right equipment…the answer is NO! There are many variables that determine whether you received a good carpet cleaning and whether it was successful or not. All because a company has good equipment does not mean your going to get a carpet cleaned correctly.

 A carpet cleaning appointment kind of starts out like a doctors visit. Until the technician arrives on-site to inspect the carpet, he or she does not know the true condition of the carpet. Once viewed, the technician has to derive a solution and then implement it. There are several different variables that go into this process. In other words “The doctor needs to see his/her patient) to determine the problem and then prescribe a remedy.

 They are as follows:

  1. Overall condition of carpet (soiling, pet issues, drink spills, food contamination, rippling, rips, tears…etc…

  2. Color of carpet

  3. How much carpet that needs cleaning

  4. Type & Style of carpet (low cut twisted fiber, berber etc….)

  5. Synthetic or Natural fiber (carpet composition)

  6. Age of carpet

  7. Cleaning process needed

  8. Expected result

  9. Pre-Treatment process (if needed)

  10. Drying time involved (different processes and condition of carpet CAN determine drying time)

  11. Solution needed for cleaning (pet odor, pet staining, food dyes or synthetic dyes etc…)

  12. Temperature of solution needed to clean (synthetic & natural are different)

 As you can see, the “Right Equipment” has NOTHING to do with cleaning carpet correctly. Next, the technician must determine how to “Purge” the contamination correctly. The technique used in cleaning the carpet. Carpet manipulation also helps in removing soil contamination. Basically, how much effort your technician puts into the cleaning is a “BIG DEAL”…and will affect drying times…the machine cannot do everything! Described above are the basics in carpet cleaning. Once you get into heavy stain removal and remediation practices it’s a whole different world.

 Now, here is where the machine comes into play. Yes, a good quality carpet cleaning machine can make a difference, but don’t forget, the technician operating the machine and setting it up correctly is equally important. There are three basic functions that a carpet cleaning machine performs.

 They are as follows:

      1. Provide heated solution via Heat Exchanger or Diesel/Propane burner

      2. Produce vacuum via Rotary Blower Vacuum systems (water extraction)

      3. Carpet manipulation (Dual Rotary)

      4. THAT’S IT…THE REST IS ALL UP TO YOUR TECHNICIAN’S EXPERIENCE!!

 Yes, the machine assists the technician in the cleaning process. I’m not taking anything away from a good quality carpet cleaning machine. Every technician wants to use a high quality machine mainly because of heat, vacuum and reliability. Does more vacuum help in cleaning “YES”. Does more heat help in cleaning “YES” but again, needs a good operator to achieve a thorough carpet cleaning with good results.