When it comes to the best carpet cleaning tips, look no further than Schwalm’s Chem-Dry. This time, we’re going to discuss the use of your shampooer on your carpet. Shampooing is an excellent way to ensure that your carpet is always clean, fresh, and healthy. The shampooer unit itself is not unlike your vacuum cleaner, but with the added bonus of using warm, soapy water to clean the material.
The shampooer uses hot water extraction to eliminate germs, bacteria, and contaminants that can make you and your family sick. A brush gently massages the carpet as the warm water and cleaning solution eliminate all the dirt and grime before being sucked back out into a waste water reservoir.
Now that you know how the shampooer works, here are some tips to help you use it for maximum efficacy:
Preparation of Your Carpet
Before you shampoo any part of the carpet, you should check your carpet care instructions to make sure you are using the right type of cleaning solution and shampooer unit. Take all furnishings out of the room so you can reach every part of the material. Don’t be afraid to get into those high-traffic areas and use your shampooer’s special attachments if need be.
You may need to pre-treat some areas with a stain remover to lift those stubborn discolorations and cosmetic damage.
Preparing the Shampooer
Start by filling the clean water tank with warm water and your preferred carpet cleaning solution. Be careful as to how much shampoo you put inside the tank as using too much will result in the carpet being covered by a dry residue. This film can be sticky and dirt and grime will attach easily to it, this will make your carpets appear dull and dirty all over again.
Using the Shampooer on Your Carpet
The first thing to keep in mind is that you want to take it slowly. Don’t rush this work, you want to be sure the carpet looks its best and that can only occur when you take your time. Cleaning the carpet thoroughly will require you to go over the entire surface of the material more than once. But as you work, you might need to pause to spill out the dirty water that has collected.
As you maneuver the machine around, use long even strokes in both forward and reverse. Move the shampooer up and down, moving from wall to wall and then back again until all of the water that is being extracted is coming out clear instead of murky and dirty.
On those particularly stubborn stains, you may want to run the shampooer over these areas of the carpet more than once or twice. Just be sure you don’t inundate one part of the carpet with too much excess moisture, you must extract all of the water to prevent saturation and potential growth of mold and mildew. Check the carpet to see if it’s still wet. If so, suction the moisture out over again. This is important to repeat so the carpet is completely dry.