Carpet Care & Maintenance: Our Advice

There are a few different carpet cleaning techniques, but there are only two that we would recommend. These two methods are suitable for any type of carpet, whether it’s synthetic or natural (including wool) – providing the correct detergents and other chemicals are used.

Method 1: Hot Water Extraction

This is our preferred method. It removes far more dirt, odours and stains than other methods and it doesn’t leave any chemical residues in the carpet that could attract more dirt in the future. It provides the best possible result and your carpet will stay cleaner for longer.

Extraction cleaning is not steam cleaning. Steam comes from boiling water (100 degrees), whereas we use a lower temperature of 60 degrees. The jets of hot water at high pressure and high temperature creates a ‘mist’ around our carpet attachment that looks like steam, but it’s just hot water vapour. Watch this two minute video from Ashby’s showing our ‘Power Wand’ attachment in action to see what we mean.

We only use extraction cleaning detergents, stain treatments and odour treatments from Prochem, and they’re all formulated for use on both synthetic and natural carpet fibres. You can read more about the carpet / upholstery cleaning chemicals we use, and why we use them, here.

How we prepare for hot water extraction carpet cleaning

1. Any stains are treated first using a detergent specifically formulated to work on that particular stain (soot, red wine, coffee, blood etc).
2. Areas of heavy traffic (corridors and other most walked on areas) are pre-sprayed. The pre spray breaks down grease, oils and heavy soiling.
3. The treatments are worked into the stain / high traffic areas with a carpet brush.

The washing / cleaning process

We place foil furniture protectors under the feet of any furniture in the room to avoid colour transfer from the furniture (particularly wood) to the carpet.

We dilute the extraction detergent with water and pour into our carpet cleaning machine’s 52 litre solution tank (the large tank means that we can do more cleaning before having to ‘down tools’ and refill). Our machine has a built-in heater that maintains the temperature of the solution at 60 degrees. This temperature helps to release more dirt, stains and odours without damaging delicate fibres.

The cleaning solution is expelled through jets in the power wand (more on this below) and into the carpet fibres at a force of up to 400 PSI (pounds per square inch). Our machine does also allow the PSI pressure to be turned down for work on delicate fibres or upholstery, and you can find out more about our upholstery cleaning services here.

We add a Prochem combined deodoriser (odour neutraliser) and mild fragrance as standard to our cleaning solution. Other companies typically charge for this as an extra.

Our machinery does the hard work

We don’t use an ordinary carpet cleaning wand because it doesn’t agitate the fibres (if you’ve ever hired a carpet cleaning machine yourself, you will know how hard you have to scrub) – instead we use a ‘power wand’ with motorised rotating brushes, which removes far more dirt. Some companies might use a manual brush to agitate the carpet once it’s wet, but this is an additional step which will add to the time it takes to complete the cleaning.

The power wand does everything: the high PSI pressure forces the cleaning solution deep into the carpet fibres; the rotating brushes scrub / agitate them, and the dirty solution is then sucked back out of the carpet, together with the released dirt and stains.

Our machine (an upgraded Ashbys ‘Enforcer’) has a large 40 litre recovery (dirty water) tank, which means more cleaning can be done before the tank needs to be emptied. It also has powerful suction to remove as much moisture as possible, which helps to avoid common problems from inferior cleaning machines and/or methods:

• browning stains (which can occur within several days when carpets are left too wet); and/or
• odours (which can also occur when the carpet is left too wet and results in a damp, mildew smell).

If you experience either of these problems then we can fix it: further cleaning with specialist browning removal treatments and/or odour removal treatments can be carried out.

Allow at least two hours drying time

The carpet will be very slightly damp after cleaning, and should be allowed to dry for at least two hours. To check when it’s OK to use the room, run your hand through the pile. It should feel dry to the touch; if it’s not, then you risk dirt on shoes, feet (or paws) being sucked into the carpet fibres. Ideally, heating should be on high and windows opened to aid drying.

SEE OUR PRICES FOR CARPET CLEANING

Method 2: Dry powder compound cleaning

This has three stages:

1. We sprinkle a powder* onto the carpet and agitate the fibres with a carpet brush machine**.
   The compound collects moisture from spills, wet stains, surface dirt and odours.
2. The carpet is then vacuumed with our Sebo BS360 professional heavy duty carpet vacuum cleaner.
3. A hand-held carpet brush is then used to align the carpet fibres.

* This is the powder compound we use. We only use Prochem – find out why they are our only formula supplier, and which products we use, here.
** This is the brushing/agitator machine we use.

This is basically the professional version of the household name brand ‘Shake’n’Vac. It’s important to be aware of its strengths and weaknesses as a carpet cleaning method.

These limitations aside, powder compound cleaning can be a good regular maintenance cleaning method for busy buildings in between less frequent hot water extraction cleanings.

SEE OUR PRICES FOR CARPET CLEANING

Carpet Cleaning Methods we DON’T Use – and Why

Carpet Shampooing

This can be performed with a soft carpet brush or ‘Bonnet Mop’ (basically a fabric pad) attachment on a rotary machine. This involves using a high foaming solution which is applied to the carpet via a tank on a rotary machine. The brush or bonnet mop separates dirt from the carpet fibres. The foam is then allowed to dry and crystallise before being vacuumed away, along with the trapped dirt and any associated smells.

Although this technique cleans very well, it does leave a sticky residue when dry. This will attract dirt, and the carpets will need cleaning more often. We do have the machines and formulas to carry out this method if asked to do so, but we honestly don’t recommend it. It’s a quick fix and not in your long term interest.

There is a variant of carpet shampooing / bonnet mopping called Micro Encapsulation. This uses the same method as shampooing, but with a different chemical which it is claimed leaves less of a sticky residue. We’re not convinced and we would not recommend this method either.

Steam Cleaning

We do not use steam (which for our purposes means water heated to 100 degrees Celsius) on carpets – or upholstery – due to the risk of colour loss and shrinkage.

Steam cleaning has one advantage (assuming no chemicals are used): there is no risk of allergens being present. However, if allergies or other sensitivity to cleaning detergents is an issue for you, then there are natural detergents that can be used. We only use Prochem for our cleaning chemicals: you can find out more about why we use Prochem and which formulas we use here. If you have allergen concerns then please talk to us and we can quote you for your exact carpet cleaning needs.

WE COVER CENTRAL & SOUTH LONDON WITHIN THE M25 AREA, INCLUDING:

Addington	Addiscombe	Anerley
Balham	Banstead	Beckenham
Biggin Hill	Blackheath	Brentford
Brixton	Brockwell	Bromley
Camberwell	Caterham	Catford
Cheam	Chelsea	Chislehurst
Clapham	Coulsdon	Croydon
Crystal Palace	Dulwich	Epsom
Ewell	Forest Hill	Fulham
Godstone	Greenwich	Hammersmith
Hayes	Herne Hill	Hither Green
Kensington	Kingston	Leatherhead
Lewisham	Mitcham	Morden
New Malden	Norwood	Nunhead
Orpington	Oxted	Peckham
Penge	Purley	Putney
Redhill	Richmond	Roehampton
Sanderstead	Selhurst	Selsdon
Shirley	Sidcup	Streatham
Surbiton	Sutton	Sydenham
Thornton Heath	Tulse Hill	Twickenham
Wallington	Wandsworth	Warlingham
West Wickham	Westerham	Whyteleafe
Wimbledon	Woldingham	Worcester Park