Compared to years ago, carpet cleaning has come a long way. Our grandmothers were limited to a few very strong cleaning agents that usually took out the stain, right along with the color of the rug. Typically, they would just take the rugs out back and beat them silly, hoping for the best.
Once carpet cleaning machines, or rug shampooers, came on the market, carpet cleaning was easier but still left spots behind. The first machines were almost commercial grade. Some were too big to even get into your car after renting it at the corner grocery store.
Even though they were heavy and tough to move around, they were easy to use. Put shampoo and water in the right place, turn it on, and move the machine over your carpeting until you saw soap suds. The idea was that the machine would just put down the soap, lift up the fibers, and dry enough so that you could vacuum it up a few hours later.
These machines also had no mechanism to suck up the dirt that was supposedly being loosened by the brushes. The assumption was that the machine would simply apply soap, loosen up the fibers of the rug, and then you would need to take a pretty heavy duty vacuum later on and try to get rid of the residue. Typically, the results were disappointing. Try doing this a few times over a few years, and you shortened the lifespan of your carpets significantly.
Professional carpet cleaners could also come to your home. Even with the newest equipment and life time guarantees, stains wouldn’t completely come off. This difficulty in keeping carpets clean was instrumental in the resurgence of the hardwood floor.
Once we found out that steam was the answer to all cleaning problems, the carpet industry responded with commercial grade and residential quality steam carpet cleaners. You still need to use a shampoo, but it’s milder because most of the cleaning is done by the steam, not the soap. And once the steam and soapy mixture hits the carpeting, a reverse swipe of the machine sucks up the residue and dries the area.
Steam models can be found in the $300 range and are worth every penny.
Want to find out more about St Louis Carpet Cleaning, then visit Walter Wilhelm’s site on how to choose the best cleaning solution for your needs.
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.