When it’s time to have your carpet cleaned, it’s important to know your options. There are five different methods of carpet cleaning for you to choose from: shampooing, dry cleaning, foam cleaning, bonnet cleaning and hot water extraction. Before you schedule a service appointment, make sure you know what you’re getting and how effective it will be in your home.

1. Shampooing

This is probably the least effective method of cleaning. The reason why is that special detergents are applied to the carpet, given a little “scrub” and then the shampooed carpet is vacuumed.

The detergents have brighteners and deodorizers that leave your room smelling good and making the carpet seem brighter. However, much of the dirt remains in the carpet.

It’s the equivalent of you shampooing your hair without water and hoping a breeze takes away all of the dried shampoo and dirt. You will quickly notice that the dirt and stains quickly reappear.

2. Dry cleaning

Dry cleaning and foam cleaning are very similar to shampooing. However, dry cleaning is often considered preferable because there is no need to wait for the carpets to dry.

Instead of a wet product or foam, a special cleaning powder that is designed to attract dirt is applied to the carpet. Once the powder is worked into the carpet, it is thoroughly vacuumed away.

3. Foam cleaning 

This method works the same way as dry cleaning, except it uses a minimal amount of water and foam detergent. Either one of these methods will only clean the top third of the carpet. These can be good choices for interim cleanings. However, badly stained areas of carpet won’t be affected by either of these two types of cleaning.

4. Bonnet cleaning

This method is used in office buildings as they have commercial/industrial grade carpeting. Most home carpet would be damaged with this method of cleaning. Bonnet cleaning entails applying a chemical detergent and then using an absorbent pad on a rotary shampoo machine to rid the dirt.

5. Hot water extraction

This is also be known as “steam cleaning.” There are the portable machines that you can rent, but the most effective are the industry, truck-mounted systems. Newer or well-maintained systems can remove up to 95 percent of the water used in the cleaning process.

Professionals that buy used equipment to save costs may not be any more effective than a portable machine. Make sure you hire a company that keeps their equipment current.

Hot water extraction entails using a powerful machine that injects a solution of very hot water and detergent into the carpet. The mixture is then powerfully extracted by the machine, leaving the carpets looking and smelling like new.

Most importantly, this method removes as much of the ground-in bacteria, dirt, soil and stains as possible. Once again, make sure you hire well-trained carpet cleaning technicians. If they over-wet your carpets, the moisture left in carpet can encourage mold growth.

When it’s time to have your carpet professional cleaned, make sure you understand what type of cleaning they provide and how effective it will be on your soiled carpet.

Shampooing, dry cleaning and foam cleaning companies will be able to provide a large square footage of cleaning for a much lower cost than a reputable hot water extraction company, but the quality of the cleaning will be much lower, too.