Carpet cleaning Haverhill

Approximately 51 percent of the 139 million American homes include carpeting as the predominant floor covering. American families have a long-established relationship with carpeting and they have been using carpets and rugs to cover their floors for hundreds of years.

America’s dependency on rugs and carpets has also created a number of related industries including professional carpet and rug cleaning companies like ProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA.

The History of Rugs and Carpets

Rugs and carpeting date back more than 5000 years when nomadic tribespeople would hand weave rugs out of camel, sheep, and goat hair. Archeologists have discovered evidence of rugs dating back 4,000 years to the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. 

The initial use of rugs and carpets was to keep the floors warm however as mankind progressed and animal domestication became more widespread rugs and carpeting began to take on new roles. For example, in the Persian civilization rugs were used as a fashion item and as a historical reference. The Persians would record historical events by weaving pictures into their rugs and carpets. When cleaning their rugs Persians would hang them and beat them with a stick which is a far cry from modern cleaning methods utilized by companies likeProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA.

Around the same time period cultures like those of Afghanistan, Turkey and India also extensively developed their carpets and rugs.

Rugs and carpeting first appeared in Europe in Spain in approximately 1000 CE. The Spaniards were praised for their intricate hand-woven rugs and carpets and they soon became a fashion and status symbol as much as a functional product.

The history of carpet cleaning

Just as rugs and carpets have been in existence for thousands of years, so have ways to clean them. Ancient civilizations would simply hang the carpets up and beat them with a stick or leave them on the floor and sweep them with a broom.

Then, during the industrial revolution, new methods of carpet cleaning began to appear, including using a chemical cleaning agent in the form of lemon juice. Lemon juice and bread were both common household items used to clean carpets and these two products formed the foundation for modern cleaning methods utilized by companies such as ProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA.

By the late 19th Century new methods of carpet cleaning began to appear with some being based on absorption and others based on removing the stain with chemicals or moisture. One of the most widely adopted absorption methods was the clay and paste method, where cleaners would apply the clay to the stained area of carpet leave the clay overnight to absorb the stain, and then remove the clay the following morning. Modern cleaning methods utilized by cleaning companies like ProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA are far advanced from days gone by but they are still based on the principles of stain removal either by absorption or washing.

Different Carpet Cleaning Methods

Carpets capture dirt and allergens which is a primary reason they need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Some of the most common methods are mentioned here, including hot water extraction, dry cleaning, and vacuuming.

Hot Water Extraction
The hot water extraction system involves extracting the stain or dirt particles from the carpet fiber. The carpet is sprayed with hot water and detergent which dissolves stains and dislodges particles of dirt and grime which are then sucked up by a vacuum cleaner.

Dry Cleaning
Dry Cleaning utilizes VLM Very Low Moisture equipment together with dry compounds and chemical cleaning solutions which are applied to the carpet surface. When cleaning heavily soiled carpets using dry cleaning, it will sometimes be necessary to use manual spotting. When companies like ProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA engage in manual spotting, they will manually apply a pretreatment or preconditioner to a particular spot or part of the carpet prior to the dry cleaning. The pretreatments are normally detergents or emulsifiers that separate the dirt particles from the carpet fibers thereby enabling more effective cleaning.

Dry Compound Cleaning
Another common form of cleaning is Dry Compound Cleaning. Dry Compound Cleaning involves manually rubbing a chemical compound onto the carpet surface. This chemical compound is then left on the carpet to dry and dissolve the dirt and grime that has become attached to carpet fibers. After it has dried it is then removed by vacuuming.

Encapsulation
The encapsulation cleaning process involves using detergent polymers that bind detergent molecules and dirt molecules forming a crystalline solution that is then easily vacuumed from the carpet. The encapsulation cleaning method utilizes fluorochemicals and companies such as ProClean carpet cleaning Haverhill MA commonly use this process.

Other popular methods include Bonnet Cleaning which involves using a cleaning solution and a cleaning machine with an oscillating pad known as a buffer or a bonnet. One of the most popular modern cleaning methods is Dry Foam cleaning. This involves spraying dry foam onto a carpet leaving it to dry for approximately 10 minutes allowing the chemicals in the foam to dissolve dirt and grime, then vacuuming the carpet.