Carpet Surface Cleaning Vs Deep Cleaning

[CharlesW]

There`s been several posts that talk about how the surface cleaning like I do to my carpet fails to really get the carpet clean like the deep cleaning of an extractor.
To get some idea as to the difference, I tried a deep cleaning today.
No extractor, but I flooded the floor of my shower and soaked, scrubbed and rinsed a carpeted mat after my usual vacuuming and surface cleaning.
I used hot water that was actually too hot to put my hands in to start with. I mixed up a liberal solution of Dawn and scrubbed away with a brush. The water hardly changed color. Certainly didn`t turn brown or even dark like I had expected. Thinking the Dawn wasn`t strong enough, I rinsed the mat thoroughly and repeated the process using an APC to scrub the mat. Same results.
As far as I`m concerned, my surface cleaning is doing a good enough job that I won`t be doing any more deep cleaning in the shower.

Charles

[audiboy]

I`d agree that if you`re doing a thorough job on the carpeted areas you`ll get them extremely clean. I think having an extractor would be really beneficial on cloth seating though. I find that I have to go light on the cleaning solution on the seats because it really soaks in when it gets too wet and at that point, my shop vac can`t get all of it out.

[Brenton]

I think it is tougher with seats, but most people don`t have the patience to do vac-shampooing well enough.

[Poorboy]

Charles you have way too much free time on your hands Do you want to come clean the carpets in my mini-van
I would probably think that you do not grind dirt or let too much dirt accumulate on your rugs or seats to get a variable free result. I have cleaned carpets and seats that were abused and without an extracor, there would have been a lot of dirt left behind

[CharlesW]

Charles you have way too much free time on your hands Do you want to come clean the carpets in my mini-van

You pay the round trip air fare and I`ll be happy to do it for you. Or stop by Ankeny when you are going through.

I would probably think that you do not grind dirt or let too much dirt accumulate on your rugs or seats to get a variable free result. I have cleaned carpets and seats that were abused and without an extracor, there would have been a lot of dirt left behind

We accumulate a lot of sand and slushy mud during the winter, but I vacuum weekly and surface clean the mats about once a week. They never stay dirty for long and I`m sure that is a big help.

Charles