Commercial carpets are perhaps one of the hardest-to-maintain fixtures on the property of any business, be it an office, a hotel, or a hospital. Carpet cleaning by professionals is thus a vital part of maintaining cleanliness and ensuring that everyone who passes through the premises remains safe and healthy.
This guide on professional carpet cleaning solutions will help you choose a method to clean your carpets, tell you how often you need to clean them, and also lay down the various machines and carpet cleaning supplies needed for this crucial activity. At the same time, it is also important to choose a solution that keeps in mind the sustainability goals of your business while caring for and protecting your customers, employees, and the environment.
Commercial Carpet Cleaning Methods
Getting carpets to be truly clean is not that easy. You might have tried using a rented machine but failed to get the result you wanted. Or perhaps, despite trying very hard, you have not been able to get rid of the damp smell emitting from your carpet; and if damp is left, it can lead to the propagation of mould.
There are a few methods listed below that can be used to clean a commercial carpet with the advantages and disadvantages of each to help you make an informed choice for your business.
Carpet Shampooing
This conventional method of cleaning carpets still remains a popular solution for carpet cleaning. The product or shampoo is applied directly on the surface of the carpet and is thoroughly spread out using a brush. Once the carpet is dry, a vacuum cleaner is used to collect all the dust that has come out from the carpet.
Pros: This method requires just a cleaning solution, a brush, and a vacuum cleaner. It is simple to carry out and affordable compared to many other methods.
Cons: The carpet would be wet for a long time and some of the solution might not be cleaned by the vacuum, making it feel sticky. A wet carpet can also become dirty again very quickly.
Dry Carpet Cleaning
The product applied in this case is in powder form, because of which this method is also called compound cleaning. Some water is sprayed on the powder to activate the ingredients and react with the dirt in the carpet fibres. After this, a good-quality vacuum can lift up the debris. This is a relatively new method in carpet cleaning solutions.
Pros: As the name suggests, you do not have to worry about drying time with this method. This is an effective and easy way to clean commercial carpets.
Cons: The chemicals used can be toxic and leave an unpleasant scent as well as dust build-up. You might not be able to get out all the stains either.
Water Extraction
Water is mixed with professional cleaning products and injected into the carpet. This combination successfully breaks down the stains and dirt in the carpet, even the ones that seem hard to get rid of. Next, a powerful, purpose-built vacuum cleaner extracts the dirt as well as the water from the carpet. Your carpet will look replenished with new life after this thorough cleaning.
Pros: The water extraction method is great at getting rid of stains and is also one of the more sustainable carpet cleaning methods available.
Cons: This is a long, time-consuming process where you also need to leave the carpet untouched to dry fully. The noise made by the powerful machines might make it difficult to use during business hours.
Encapsulation Cleaning
Instead of breaking down the dirt particles, the foam used in the encapsulation cleaning method dissolves and absorbs (or captures) the particles and then turns them into crystals or a powder. You have to leave it for almost 24 hours before using a vacuum to clean up the crystals. This cleaning method has gained some popularity in recent years.
Pros: This method uses less water and has a much shorter drying time. The carpets also tend to remain clean for longer.
Cons: You might need to vacuum more than once to clean thoroughly, and even then the stains might not disappear.
How Often Should You Clean Carpets?
Any carpet - particularly one that is well trodden - needs daily maintenance to remain in good condition, but you don't need to heavily treat a carpet on a daily basis. The schedule for this will depend on usage. Here are some guidelines to help.
Daily Carpet Maintenance
The key is to target the areas with maximum soilage. The areas in an office that have the most traffic have the maximum carpet soilage—entrances, corridors, and circulation areas. All these high-foot-traffic areas need to be vacuumed every day.
A good way to avoid spots and stains from becoming permanent is to treat them at the earliest rather than leaving them for later.
Intermediate Carpet Maintenance
Intermediate is the stage that comes between daily and deep cleaning. This is especially applicable to carpets that are made of expensive wool or a wool-mix and can shrink or bleed colour if treated with strong chemicals.
A multi-purpose machine can do the trick. One application of the Diversey TASKI Procarpet 30 & 45 which can be carried out weekly and is a great way to clean the top and middle levels of the carpet fibre.
Periodic Carpet Maintenance
Periodic maintenance has the potential to breathe new life into a carpet that is seemingly in a terminal condition. It is advisable that this becomes a scheduled form of maintenance to improve the visual appearance and extend the life of the carpet.
For this, a machine that can do extraction cleaning as well as brush activation is perfect, like the TASKI Procarpet 30 & 45.