Around 2,000 dust mites can harbor every ounce of carpet dust. That is why cleaning your carpets is a must even though you find it not enjoyable. However, many carpet owners tend to forget even cleaning their carpets. Carpet cleaning isn’t all about getting rid of stains. The process can also help make your carpets last longer and look brand new.

But the question is, “should you go for a steam cleaning professional or go for a DIY project instead?” To answer that question, let’s have a look at the differences between a professional vs. DIY carpet steam cleaning.

What You Need to Know About Professional vs. DIY Carpet Steam Cleaning

Carpet Steam Cleaning Professional

A portable machine or a unit mounted on a truck is normally used by professional carpet steam cleaners. The former is advantageous for people living in apartments and condos because the truck’s hose can reach their carpets.

Meanwhile, the latter is far more effective in cleaning, but the downside is that its reach is fairly limited.

Carpet Steam Cleaning DIY

If you prefer the DIY route, you can buy or rent steam cleaning machines instead. Since many of these machines are available in the market, you might consider cleaning your carpet yourself instead of hiring professionals.

If that’s the case, we highly recommend having a small carpet steam cleaner if you often deal with accidents or spills that are hard to clean. But for general carpet cleaning, we highly advise getting the service of a professional instead.

Downsides of DIY Cleaning

The difference between professional and DIY carpet steam cleaning machines lies in the temperature necessary for cleaning. DIY machines don’t have the same temperature needed for effective cleaning compared to those used by professionals. Since DIY machines are not as powerful, they are not effective in removing water and dirt from your carpet.

If carpet cleaning is done properly, the carpet should only be a bit damp. If it is wet, it means that it was not thoroughly cleaned. You can use fans to dry a wet carpet and ensure that it is scorched before putting it back.

Another key difference between professional and DIY cleaning is the amount of carpet shampoo used in the machine and how fast the machine is.

Expense Concerns

You can only have areas with heavy foot traffic cleaned by professionals if budget is an issue. This means that professionals won’t need to move big furniture pieces such as beds and sofas and go around them.

Since a portion of the carpet is not seen underneath these furniture pieces, they don’t really need frequent cleaning instead of areas with a lot of foot traffic.

Conclusion

Regular carpet cleaning is important for removing stains or spills in your carpet and making it last longer. While it’s possible to do a DIY cleaning project, keep in mind that the scope of this project is fairly limited.

If you want a full-on cleaning of your carpet, going for a professional steam cleaning service is undoubtedly the ideal option.