Our Powerful Hot Water Extraction Process:
Most of our residential carpet cleaning is done with a powerful HOT WATER EXTRACTION unit.
This is the method recommended by carpet manufacturers as the BEST way to clean their carpets.
NOTE: Other operators may try to sell you on dry cleaning – dry cleaning methods are ok for lightly soiled carpets. Carpets may LOOK great sometimes after cleaning, but it doesn’t cut it when you need to remove deep down contaminants from the carpet. Dry cleaning is essentially a method devised for cleaning commercial carpets, NOT domestic carpets. Some operators will distribute misinformation about Hot Water Extraction, and while it’s true there are shoddy operators out there using all kinds of methods – carpet manufacturers recommend Hot Water Extraction as the most efficient way to get a carpet CLEAN, period. We offer dry cleaning as an alternative method, but only in certain situations – mainly commercial glued down carpets.
Our purpose built carpet cleaning rig weighs almost 4 tonne, and has a very powerful vacuum pump – great for retrieving as much water and solution as possible, leaving the carpets drier than other smaller van mounted units. The carpet cleaning machine produces it’s own hot water, and we are able to clean with water in excess of 100 degrees Celsius if the job requires it. That’s a LOT of grease cutting power!
Due to the power of the machine we are able to clean more than 100 metres from the van (we carry 60 metres of hose normally), which is great for carpet cleaning at larger commercial sites such as schools and office blocks.
How it all works…
Firstly, we apply a mild detergent to the vacuumed carpet, either with a sprayer or through a carpet scrubbing machine (for heavily soiled areas).
Then (in a nutshell) – We attach a small solution hose and large vacuum hose to the machine, and run the hoses into the building, where we attach a carpet cleaning wand to the end of the hoses. Then we start the machine (the machine is connected to your outside tap).
The 4 cylinder Nissan engine drives a large vacuum pump and water pump. Three heat exchangers heat the water to the temperature we want for cleaning. This allows us to literally ‘flush’ hot water through your carpet, and retrieve it immediately via the vacuum. Often the water is hot enough to produce steam as well, which is where the term “steam cleaning” came from. The dirty water and detergent are then sucked back to the waste tank in the van and disposed of down a sewer at the end of the day.
Because of the systems huge vacuum capability, we’re able to use a lot more water, and achieve better flushing results than we could with a smaller carpet cleaning machine. Some operators use very little water to flush, and therefore are able to claim very quick drying times. We prefer to use more water, resulting in a deeper clean. When we’re done, the carpet is ‘damp’ but not soaking wet.
Other aspects of our process
The above information outlines our method, but we do a lot more than that during the carpet cleaning process.
The detergents we use are the best quality products we can find (usually formulated overseas and imported). They are designed to leave no sticky residue, and we generally use a Woolsafe Approved detergent under normal conditions.
We don’t just run an emulsifier through the water and “hope it does the trick”. We apply the detergent at the recommended dilution rate, and give it sufficient time to sit on the carpet and release the dirt.
If some areas are particularly dirty, then we’ll apply the detergent using a scrubbing machine. This adds a real “POW” factor to the process and produces far better results.
We use corner protectors and ‘walk off mats’ to protect the corners and door step inside the house.
You won’t see us dragging coarse hoses around tight corners, removing paint as we go.
