Steam Carpet Cleaning

The Meaning of Steam Cleaning 

In the carpet cleaning industry, the term ‘Steam Cleaning’ is actually more of a marketing term, hence when someone refers to steam cleaning as far as cleaning their carpets typically that means hot water extraction.

There is another cleaning method called steam cleaning, but that’s typically used for steam cleaning greasy equipment, using actual power of steam.

Steam Carpet Cleaning

The Difference Between Steam Cleaning and Hot Water Extraction Method

The main difference between hot water extraction method and steam cleaning is basically the temperature of the water used during the process. Just like the name itself, steam cleaning uses the actual power of steam, hence it requires the water heated to the boiling point where the liquid converts to gas.

The confusion arises when we’re using hot water extraction method to clean the carpet. In this method, we use very hot water to rinse through the carpet, although the steam still comes up, but the truth is the hot water is doing the actual work of cleaning the carpet. 

 

Which one should I choose? 

The majority of carpet manufacturers recommend that their carpets be cleaned using a hot water extraction method since this process prevents fibres from shrinking and also removes stains well. Steam on the other hand is best avoided when it comes to stains because it can set them in permanently. 

In addition, applying straight steam to carpet isn’t overly effective due to the fact that there’s no rinsing of the fibers. It could serve the purpose of killing germs and bacteria, yet it’s not the best way to remove stains, soils and pet odour. 

Some cleaning companies use steam to clean synthetic carpets and often believe that it makes for better cleaning.

 

Hiring or Buying Carpet Hot Water Extractor Machine Myself

With the hiring or buying hot water extractor machine options available out there, it can be very tempting to think that instead of hiring professionals, renting equipment could be more cost-saving. 

However, the factors rarely being considered are using sub-standard equipment or without proper skills or experience to operate the machine, you might risk soaking your carpet or leaving a large amount of detergent residue on your carpet. The time and money required to fix it afterwards could be costly. 

Normally, a portable hot water extraction machine which is available for public to hire has to fit 2 criterias below:

  1. It has to be lightweight, so it’s easy to carry
  2. It has to be compact enough to fit into the car. 

As a result, the high horsepower motors used in professional cleaning machines aren’t used. The trade off for a lighter machine would be foregoing more powerful motors. 

What Do We Offer?

In ServTown, we only use industry standard hot water extractors together with gentle detergents. To ensure the best results for customers like yourself, our machines have high horsepower motors which have great vacuum power in removing stains and leave little or no residue behind. 

In general, it could take up to 3-6 hours for the carpet to dry out completely after the cleaning and it’s recommended to walk on the carpet after it has dried out. Some of the factors which could affect how fast the carpet dries include air temperature, airflow, humidity and water used. 

If you’d like a free quote or to make a booking simply proceed to our online booking form to reserve your spot with our cleaners or give us a call today on 0422 1140 76

Dry Carpet Clean

  • Dry cleaning, on the other hand, is better suited to carpets that are lightly soiled or simply need freshening. The main advantage of this type of carpet cleaning is that the carpet can be walked on right away, making it ideal for foyers and bedrooms in hotels as well as for reception areas and individual rooms in office blocks.
  • There are a few systems which fall within this category but basically they all involve chemicals (and a small amount of moisture) which are sprinkled in the form of crystals or sprayed onto the carpet as a liquid. The carpet is left for a while while the crystals or liquid absorb any dirt or dust, after which the carpet is given a thorough vacuum to remove the residues.
  • This type of system is best for surface cleaning only and doesn’t do a deep clean like steam cleaning does. It’s ideal for maintenance cleaning and is popular with hotels and offices.

Unfortunately, in ServTown we don’t offer dry carpet cleaning due to lower demand in general. In addition, stains on carpet still require a steam carpet clean after dry carpet cleaning method has been applied.