A Good Housekeeping article was recently published ranking the best carpet cleaning machines for use by homeowner, based on their lifestyle and the type of furnishings they have. Nominations ranged from well-known products such as the Vax range to Bissel and Rug Doctor with prices from around £200 to £300 for each machine.
Plus points for recommendation included being lightweight and compact to the ability to “pack a punch”, although in carpet cleaning terms I’m unsure as to what this actually means?
When using one of these machines how long does your carpet actually stay clean for?
Whilst a lightweight and portable machine would be a bonus for undertaking carpet cleaning yourself, and a machine that “packs a punch” does sound an effective bonus, something the article failed to discuss is the actual effectiveness of the cleans themselves, and most importantly the longevity of the carpet cleans once completed.
All carpet cleaning machines available on today’s domestic market use a variation of the same cleaning product:
Soap.
Removing Soap Residue from Carpets is a Very Tough Task!
This herein lies the problem as when soap is introduced to fabric, without absolutely thorough removal it leaves a sticky residue behind in the carpet fibres.
Tiny bits of soap are extremely difficult to remove which results in fast re-soiling.
Think of it as when you rinse the last of the washing up liquid or bubble bath out of the bottle to use. It foams and foams and takes a hell of a lot of water before it’s completely removed from the bottle.
Counter-Productive Carpet Cleaning
This is a good example of exactly how much water needs to be flushed through your carpet to remove all the soap these machines put into it. In a nutshell the carpet cleaner just does not have the ability to hold this much water in one go.
Without constantly re-topping your machine with clean water then removing all soap residue from the carpet is nigh on impossible, especially when you take into consideration that the soap is administered and removed within the same pipe on most carpet cleaning machines making your carpet even dirtier whilst cleaning it. A completely counter-productive process.
Domestic Carpet Cleaning Machines distrusted by Carpet Cleaning Professionals
It’s tempting to trust in the fact that many, many people do buy and use these machines; many of our domestic customers tell us that they have regularly used them in the past to clean their carpets, but they just don’t seem to get them as clean or as long lasting Floor Blimey! do. That’s because we understand that when we leave your home you want your carpet clean to have been an entirely sound investment.
Simply, this means you want your clean to last, so our Texatherm cleaning system is designed to never leave behind soaps or residues that will result in your carpet being dirty again within a week.
A typical Floor Blimey! clean should last at the very least 6 months – and in some cases a year depending on your lifestyle. Much less hassle and more cost effective than the investment in the carpet cleaning machine itself and the weekly detergent needed to operate it.
If you do actually enjoy wet cleaning your carpets every week and waiting for them to dry…. and if you are one that does enjoy that then maybe you’re simply away with the (Bisell and Vax) fairies I’m afraid. 😉