Chem-Dry vs. Steam Cleaning

If you perform a simple search online for “carpet cleaners near me” you will find that several of the local carpet cleaning companies in Bloomington advertise steam cleaning.

That’s because steam cleaning carpet is the most common method utilized by Sacramento carpet cleaners. But is the steam cleaning process good for carpet? What does it entail and is there a better method for cleaning your carpet?

What is Steam Cleaning?

First off, steam cleaning does not use steam to clean your carpet. Hot water is involved which creates steam but the steam itself provides no cleaning power.

Instead, the steam cleaning process typically entails a carpet cleaner to spray detergent or soap onto your carpet and let it permeate into your carpet fibers.

Then the carpet cleaner will use their equipment, often a wand attached to hoses and either portable equipment or a motorized system in their work vehicle. The steam cleaning equipment provides two functions.

First, the equipment sprays hot water into the carpet to activate and lather the detergent or soap that was sprayed into it. Then the carpet cleaner will use a different switch on the wand to extract or vacuum the dirt, soap or detergent and the hot water.

The steam cleaning process usually requires around 1-2 hours depending the total square feet of carpet and then, depending on the amount of water used, can require anywhere between 12-24 hours to dry.

There are a couple of reasons why steam cleaning is common and popular. One reason is that the cost can be cheaper but it is important to remember that cheaper is not always better.

The other reason is that the soap or detergent creates a pleasant “shine” afterwards as a result of the soap or detergent, similar to what you might see after handwashing dishes or drinking glasses.

The shine can be deceiving as it likely means that some soap or residue has been left behind in the carpet. If residue is left behind it will instantly attract soils, dirt and contaminants that reach the carpet after the cleaning and create a dark soiling effect wherever the residue is.

It’s for this reason that some customers believe carpet cleaning makes carpet dirtier. Overall, the carpet isn’t dirtier but the residue locations to create a more noticeable stain.

What is the Best Way to Clean Carpet?

There is another choice for carpet cleaning besides steam cleaning. We’re biased, but we feel it’s the best way to clean carpet. Chem-Dry of Bloomington offers carpet cleaning that features 80% less water than steam cleaning, no soap, no chemicals and industry-recognized and certified equipment.

You might hear Chem-Dry carpet cleaning referred to as “dry carpet cleaning”. Our service is drier than steam cleaning but there is still some moisture involved.

Alternatively, there are some methods of dry carpet cleaning that rely on the use of chemical cleaning agents, whereas Chem-Dry carpet cleaning is 100% chemical-free and green-certified.

A better description of Chem-Dry carpet cleaning is “carbonated carpet cleaning”. Chem-Dry uses The Natural®, a green certified cleaning solution that creates millions of power bubbles (or carbonation) to lift deep, embedded dirt and allergens to the surface of the carpet.

The Natural® requires almost no water to activate or lather. Therefore, our Hot Carbonating Extraction (HCE) equipment and process is much drier than steam cleaning. We don’t need as much water to lather or rinse out soap or detergent.

Our equipment extracts The Natural®, moisture and dirt and allergens from the carpet similar to steam cleaning and transfers it to disposal tanks in our vehicle.

Chem-Dry carpet cleaning also requires around 1-2 hours depending on the total square feet of carpet but where you will really notice the difference is in the amount of time it takes for your carpet to dry. Instead of 12-24 hours for carpet to dry, your carpet should dry in typically 1-2 hours after the cleaning.

Not only is Chem-Dry carpet cleaning drier, it’s healthier too. We already mentioned that our service features eco-friendly and green solutions but did you know that those solutions remove over 98% of allergens from carpet? It’s a great home remedy for allergy relief.

That’s right! There are some well known steam cleaning companies in Bloomington that advertise removing 94% of allergens but a recent home health study proved that Chem-Dry and HCE remove over 98% of allergens!

So, is Chem-Dry or steam cleaning better? We will let you decide, but if you are looking for the drier, cleaner and healthier choice, you know who we would choose!

Chem-Dry of Bloomington serves Monroe County, IN and is proud to offer Chem-Dry services for your home or business. Call us today at (812) 287-9886 to schedule an appointment.