“Before you choose know all the facts”

At All Points we are fully equipped to clean your carpets with almost any method available; so if you live in a high-rise building or a place where a truck mounted unit can not be used or is not allowed, Give us a call we can handle it but before you do that know all the facts to help you understand the different processes and how to choose the best for you.  If after reading this you are still not confident to make the decision, Give us a call we will help you whether  you hire us or decide to give the opportunity to some one else.
So here you are:

Carpet Shampoo Method

The theory in the shampoo method is to generate a lot of foam in the carpet, allow this foam to dry, have the resulting residue attract the soil, and vacuum up the residue and soil the next day.  This method will leave dirt trapped in the carpet pile. Carpet must be thoroughly vacuumed before and after cleaning. Shampoo method uses an ordinary rotary floor machine (the same kind used for stripping wax), sprays shampoo onto the carpet from a dispensing tank, and a rotary brush whips the detergent to foam. Most carpet mills and carpet fiber producers discourage the use of rotary brushes on carpet because of the potential damage that can occur. Over wetting is common with this method which can cause jute straining, shrinkage, and odor. Shampoo methods are inferior due to poor cleaning plus re-soiling problems. The Rotary Shampoo method can damage the carpet, especially cut pile which is what most residential carpet is.

Carpet Absorbent Cleaners

This method is often called "dry cleaning" since virtually no water is used.
In this method, dry absorbent compound (containing small amounts of water, detergent, and solvent,) is sprinkled over carpet or worked into the carpet with a machine. This purpose of this cleaner is to attract and absorb soil. Mechanical agitation from a brush works the cleaner through the carpet.
These products usually contain an absorbent carrier, water, detergent, and solvent. The theory is that the liquids dissolve the soil and this soil/detergent/solvent mixture is absorbed into the carrier and is then vacuumed up. They are often used with a detergent pre-spray in heavily soiled areas.
The absorbent cleaner most commonly is organic, but may also be polymers. The compound is supposed to absorb the dislodged soil and is then vacuumed away. Carpet must be thoroughly vacuumed before and after cleaning.
Very thorough vacuuming should be used to ensure that most of the carrier comes out of the carpet. With the extremely fine powder types, indoor air quality can be reduced. If a white powder starts appearing on shoes and cuffs of pants, too much was used and it was not thoroughly vacuumed up. This cleaning method has the advantage of no drying time for interim maintenance, since little water is used.

Bonnet Method / "Carbonated Cleaning"

This method is sometimes called "dry cleaning", which is a misnomer, since water is always used.

Bonnet shampooing is simply an adaptation of hard floor spray buffing to carpets.
This method for carpet maintenance consists of the use of a floor machine (the one that they use to strip and wax commercial tile) with an adapter that holds large cotton pads. The carpet is sprayed with the cleaning solution and then the rotary machine is driven on your carpet forcing the cotton bonnet to absorb as much dirt as possible.

“The maintenance brochure published by the world's largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries, suggests not using this method, especially on cut pile carpets due to pile distortion and fiber damage”.

This method has very limited capability for soil removal and leaves much of the detergent in the pile since it employs no real extraction. As a result, rapid re-soiling often occurs. Another disadvantage is that the spinning bonnet may distort the fibers of cut pile carpet, fuzzing the pile and leaving distinct swirl marks. Sometimes, carbonated water is used to (in theory) give better soil suspension and bring down the pH. Companies using this method frequently use "scare" tactics to convince consumers that extraction cleaning or steam cleaning will destroy the carpet. Check with your carpet manufacturer because many leading carpet mills recommend against this method of cleaning.

 

"Water Extraction / Steam Cleaning"

This method is often call "Warm Water Extraction", "Hot Water Extraction" or "Steam Cleaning" and is the cleaning method nearly all carpet manufacturers and carpet fiber producers recommend. This is the only cleaning method classified as "deep cleaning". All the others are considered "light surface cleaning" because they are incapable of removing soil deep in the pile. Also, all other methods leave large amounts of cleaning agent in the carpet after cleaning.
The maintenance brochure published by the world's largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries, recommends this method, because its own research indicates that it provides the best capability for cleaning.
This method is frequently called "steam" cleaning due to the fine spray of water used to force dirt out of the carpet which is sucked up by the vacuum slot immediately in front of the spray. Seldom is real live steam used, however. This process consists of spraying a solution of water and detergent into the carpet pile and recovering the water and soil with a powerful vacuum into a holding tank. This can be done from a truck-mounted unit outside the home with only the hose and floor tool brought inside, or by a portable, system brought into the home or office.
From a health standpoint, the truck-mounted system is preferred because the dirty air and humidity are exhausted outside rather than re-circulated around the house. Additionally, truck-mounted systems usually are more powerful than portable units and do a much better cleaning job and get the carpet dry more quickly.

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