No matter where you work or stay, every property – whether commercial or residential – deserves to be clean. And cleaning any building should start with its flooring – which often includes rugs and carpets.
There are a variety of ways to clean these fiber-laden floors – but can you dry clean rugs and carpets? Yes, you can dry clean rugs and carpets. It’s one of the most effective ways of removing dirt and filth from rugs and carpet, as it uses chemicals, water, and moisture to remove dirt and chemicals from the flooring.
To learn more about dry cleaning rugs and carpets, read on.
How Do You Dry Clean Carpets on Your Own?
Proper dry cleaning should lead to the elimination of all stains, dirt, grit, sand, pollen, allergens, and other elements from the surface of a carpet.
The following methods are some of the best dry cleaning strategies used by homeowners and cleaning companies:
Encapsulation method
The encapsulation method utilizes polymers that bundle the dirt and dust into dry clumps on contact.
For effective cleaning, polymers are combined with other detergents to get rid of dirt on the carpet fibers. Subsequently, the dirt, detergents, and polymers form solid clumps that can be vacuumed away easily.
Also, to enable thorough cleaning, the vacuuming process must get rid of all the polymer particles from the carpet. If you don’t vacuum after an encapsulation cleaning, these particles will continue to trap dirt while the rug or carpet is in use, making it even dirtier than before cleaning.
Depending on the chemicals used, encapsulation requires a short drying time before the carpet is vacuumed. Nevertheless, some cleaning compounds do not require drying time. These compounds can be brushed with a rotary brush and then immediately vacuumed with strong suction.
Dry compound method
This technique uses a cleaning compound that is spread over the stain and then brushed away without vacuuming. This cleaning compound attracts dirt on the carpet, and after drying for a short time, all the filth can be vacuumed to give your carpet a clean and new look.
After applying the compound, you need to give it a bit of time to dry. This is because the compounds used in dry cleaning rugs and carpets contain a chemical that attracts dust – this chemical must evaporate before you can vacuum.
The dry compound method deep-cleans carpets, but it requires thorough vacuuming; otherwise, the rug or whatever surface will remain stained by both the cleaning compound and the dirt.
Dry cleaning at home
Dry cleaning at home (instead of bringing your carpet to a professional) leaves your rugs and carpets clean, dry, and ready for use straight away while saving money on hiring a professional.
For people who keep pets and have kids around the house, steam or shampoo cleaning is not recommended. This is because it leaves moisture on the carpet, thus taking a long time to dry, especially if the carpets and rugs lie on wooden floors. Wooden floors cannot tolerate moisture or exposure to moisture for a long time.
Dry ice method
The dry ice cleaning technique uses a dry ice beam to dispel dirt from your carpet or other fiber surfaces.
It’s one of the most effective cleaning methods, but comes with a larger CO2 footmark and is costlier than other ways. However, cleaning with the dry ice method does not leave CO2 and moisture particles trapped inside your carpet fibers as they vaporize and fade away in a matter of minutes.
Due to the dangers of using dry ice, this method is not best for home use.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Dry Carpet Cleaning?
Dry cleaning rugs and carpets require specific machines to help in vacuuming carpets along with modern chemical technologies allowing no-moisture cleaning. It results in carpet beautification and elimination of allergens, dirt, impurities, and sand.
Pros
- Dry cleaning allows you to use your carpets immediately after the cleaning process is complete.
- If you’re dry cleaning an office, it doesn’t interrupt business operations and takes less time to perform than other methods.
- Dry cleaning makes for extremely clean rugs and carpets. The chemicals used to dry clean surfaces pull apart most stains, including stubborn ones that cannot be removed by other methods.
- Dry cleaning your rug or carpet uses less water and maintains the carpet’s delicate look.
- The process is direct and takes less time by just flushing the carpet.
Cons
- Dry cleaning uses harsh chemicals that may affect allergic or asthmatic individuals. If you’re unsure about what chemicals to use and how to use them, then talk to a professional cleaning company for advice on using effective and safe cleaning chemicals.
- Without proper vacuuming, dry cleaning can leave most dust or filth on the carpet. Also, it is not always effective for homes with pets.
- Dry cleaning rugs and carpets require the use of strong solvents, which may produce a bad smell.
Should I Hire a Professional Cleaner?
Hiring professional cleaners to dry clean your rug or carpet can save you time and energy while you sit back, relax, and watch the job get done.
While hiring a professional might cost more money, you’ll get to live with the peace of mind that the cleaning job was done correctly and thoroughly. This is essential if you have someone with allergies or asthma in your home, as improper cleaning can cause them significant discomfort.
What Is the Cost of Cleaning a Carpet?
Most cleaning companies will charge according to the size of a rug or carpet, and not by the hour. In-house cleaners are slightly costlier, but they can be worth it because you don’t have to deal with the hassle of transporting a large rug.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on March 12, 2020.
Conversely, off-site cleaning services do not disrupt your home to clean and dry the rugs or carpet, but they require transportation of fragile and large carpet. Also, you may need a pickup and delivery service, which increases the overall cost.
Here are some of the factors affecting the cost of cleaning rugs or carpets:
Size
Most professional cleaners charge based on the size of your rug or carpet. Averagely, cleaning cost is approximately $2 – $5 per square foot, meaning a standard 8’x10′ carpet cleaning would cost $160 – $400.
Cleaning method
Almost every cleaning company starts with carpet vacuuming.
Steam cleaning is a traditional method that involves soaking the rugs using water and a cleaner, thus removing the dirt and requires drying of the carpets for some days.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on March 12, 2020.
Chemical cleaning uses less amount of water, with more cleaning solution after that allowing a faster drying time. The cost of these processes can be compared at about $2 – $5 per square foot. Competent cleaners will first inspect your rug or carpet before deciding on how to clean it.
Some companies wash delicate rugs manually and allow them to dry. This method is the most expensive and labor-intensive method costing about $4 – $8 per square foot.
Carpet/Rug material
Synthetic area rugs are the most resilient with the least cleaning costs.
The natural fiber rugs, including wool and silk, are delicate and require a different process of cleaning, which can raise the cleaning cost by up to 20%.
More delicate rugs or old may have a high cleaning cost of up to 35% higher than the standard rates.
ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on March 12, 2020.
Final Thoughts
Dry cleaning your rugs or carpets is an easy and cost-effective way to keep your home or office free of dust and allergens. There are many ways to dry clean your carpet yourself. However, if you’re uncomfortable with that responsibility, hiring a professional cleaner is always an option.