Professional Carpet Cleaning vs. DIY

Like any other furnishing in your home, your carpets need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Regular professional carpet cleaning will help increase their longevity and improve their appearance. It will also make your home healthier and give you confidence about allowing your children and pets to play on your carpets. 

However, many homeowners are unsure about how to properly clean their carpets. If you’ve attempted DIY carpet cleaning, you know that you’re often met with mediocre results. Sadly, DIY carpet cleaning simply won’t get your carpet as clean as you’d like.

In fact, taking this approach can even harm your carpet. That’s why it’s so important to consider professional carpet cleaning the next time your carpet is due for a refresh.

Understanding the Harms of DIY Carpet Cleaning

Most things can be cleaned with soap and water, but carpets are a major exception. Because carpet fibers are densely packed, delicate, and attached to a structured backing pad, it can be incredibly difficult to rinse all of the soap out of rugs and carpets. 

This is true even if you use a detergent that is specially formulated for carpets. In your efforts to remove the soap, you’ll likely use an abundance of water that leaves your carpet soggy and not even close to soap-free. 

The carpet can take days to dry afterward; in the meantime, the moist environment between the fibers and the backing pad offers an inviting breeding ground for mold and mildew. Additionally, any soap left behind in the carpet fibers will form a sticky, unpleasant residue that acts as a dirt magnet. All in all, by the time your carpet dries, chances are it won’t be much cleaner than before.

Rather than simply using soap and water on the most soiled areas of your carpet, you may opt instead to rent a steam cleaning machine. In your mind, this might be a big step up from basic DIY carpet cleaning. However, these machines can be unwieldy if you’re not extremely familiar with them. 

Furthermore, steam cleaning comes with many of the same negatives as using soap and water. Your carpet may still take days to dry and will likely be covered with a detergent-based residue that can continue to attract dirt. 

If you get impatient waiting to use your carpet again and decide to move your furniture back in place before the carpet is completely dry, it could incur stains from the wood dyes or rust from the metal feet. Some carpets also have a tendency to shrink when they are overly saturated by the steam cleaning process, which eventually necessitates replacement.

Opting for Professional Carpet Cleaning From Chem-Dry

Now that you know the risks of DIY carpet cleaning methods, you may wonder what your options are for ridding your carpet of dust, dirt, and stains. Fortunately, there’s a solution that does not rely upon gallons of water or harsh, soap-based detergents to lift soil from dense carpet fibers. 

At Chem-Dry, we’ve developed an innovative process called Hot Carbonating Extraction (HCE) that frees carpets of dirt quickly and easily. After a visit from our professional carpet cleaning technicians, your carpet should dry in a matter of hours. 

Hot Carbonating Extraction relies on the power of carbonation to lift dirt particles from deep within your carpet. Then, these particles are easily extracted with powerful machinery, all while using nearly 80% less water than traditional steam cleaning. 

Rather than being saturated with water, your carpet will be clean, fresh, and healthy. At Chem-dry, it’s our mission to give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re treating your carpets with the specific care they need to remain the centerpiece of comfort in your home.

Learn more about the benefits of professional carpet cleaning with Chem-Dry today! Just dial 1-800-CHEM-DRY to get in touch with Chem-Dry technicians in your local area.