As you notice your carpet getting a little too shabby for its usually-chic vibe, you decide to give it a bit of TLC on your own. You zip off to the nearest shop to rent a carpet cleaning machine and stock up on water, soap and whatever you might need to become a warrior on the home front, ready to vanquish every last stain in the battle.
With water in the tank and soap at the ready, you’re feeling powerful and able. As you drag around a vacuum-like contraption watching that dirty water build up into your tank, it’s hard not to feel empowered. After all, you’re saving a fortune!
But are you really? When it comes to cleaning your floors, being a weekend warrior isn’t always the way to go. Don’t get me wrong; these DIY rental machines are great for a quick fix – a spill here, a stain there – but they’re no match for professional equipment when it comes to real cleaning muscle. And while you save money in the short run, there are two hidden dangers of using DIY carpet cleaners in place of professional ones. For Commercial Carpet Cleaners Gloucester, visit https://intocleaning.co.uk/contract-cleaning-services/commercial-carpet-cleaners/gloucester/
Danger 1: Endless Bubble Bath
We’ve all been there: when it comes to washing anything, from cars to carpets to ourselves, we equate the number of suds with cleanliness. And so, when you find out that many carpet shampoos have a sudsy formula, it’s tempting to add another tablespoon or four to ensure the job gets done. But be warned! While they look fun, all those bubbles could leave you stuck in an endless bubble bath situation when it comes to your floor.
Here’s why: most DIY rental machines don’t have industrial-strength suction, leaving any extra soap behind in the fibres. The problem with this is that once soap dries into your carpet, it creates a kind of magnet for dirt and stains which means that if you want to try to avoid over-shampooing, you could end up over-dirtying just as quickly.
Danger 2: The Swamp Effect
Over-wetting is easily the biggest risk you’re taking anytime you rent a carpet cleaner and use it yourself. Professional truck-mounted vacuums remove up to 95% of moisture from the carpet immediately after cleaning. A rental machine will get half that, if you’re lucky. What this means is that water is soaking down to the carpet’s backing material, the foam pad that lies between carpet fibres and the floor, creating the perfect environment for mold, mildew and musty odours.
But that’s still not the worst of it. If your carpet stays wet for too long, say longer than 24 hours, you could end up with everything from a smelly floor that smells like mildew to a backing material that warps, separates from the fibres altogether, ripples or even shrinks like some new-age sweater fresh out of the dryer. Not a pretty picture!
