Consumer Report

What is the Best Carpet Cleaning Method?

There are many different methods of carpet cleaning. With the help of Nationwide Consumer Testing, I have evaluated the Different Carpet Cleaning Methods so that you, as a consumer, can decide which method is best for your purposes.

Steam, Chemical Dry, Rotary Brush, Shampoo and other Methods

Nationwide Consumer Testing found that the Steam methods, which are misnamed because they don’t use Steam, did only a surface cleaning. The hot water detergent solution that was shot into the carpet, forced more dirt deeper into the carpet than it removed. Soil removal was 15.6%. The high amount of detergent residue remaining in the carpet caused it to re-soil in 2 to 3 months. Drying time was from 1 to 5 days with the average being 2 1/2 days.

The Chemical Dry, Rotary Brush, and Shampoo methods removed a higher percentage of soil (21% to 46.5%) but the remaining residue was high and it re-soiled in 3 to 5 months. Drying time was from 1 to 4 days with the average being 2 days.

The combination of Shampoo and Steam had poor soil removal (25.1%) with a high level of detergent residue causing carpets to re-soil rapidly in 1 to 2 months. Drying time was from 2 to 7 days with the average being 3 1/4 days.

The aerosol spray cans and the small Shampoo, Steam and Rinse machines-for-rent did such a poor cleaning job that Nationwide Consumer Testing discontinued testing these methods. They said, “They can advertise all they want, but these methods have very poor soil removal and very high detergent residue.”

Circular Dry Foam Carpet Cleaning Method

The Best Carpet Cleaning Process found by Nationwide Consumer Testing is the Circular Dry-Foam Carpet Cleaning Method.

The Circular Dry-Foam Carpet Cleaning Method had a very high level of soil removal (92.3%) with little or no soap residue. It doesn’t use harsh detergents which are oily or sticky. Carpets resoiled in 12 to 16 months. Drying time was from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours with the average being 1 1/4 hours.