Having your home's carpets cleaned regularly is not just about making them look good; carpets can hold a tremendous amount of dust, pollen, and other irritants that you breathe in every day and which may get stirred up and settle onto your skin. This is very unhygienic and bothersome for a person with allergies, asthma, or other sensitivities. However, it's good for a homeowner to leave this work in the hands of a professional rather than renting a carpet cleaning machine and doing it themselves. Note why this is so you know the best choice to make when you need your home's carpets cleaned.

1. Complete extraction

A big part of cleaning a carpet is extraction, or removing the cleaning solution after shampooing. Many homeowners fail to do this part of the job properly, not realizing that it should often be done more than once for a thorough rinse. Homeowners may also use a lightweight machine that doesn't work as well as heavy-duty, commercial equipment, so cleaning solutions and dirt are left behind.

This need for more extraction can be true even if the water used for rinsing the carpet appears clean, as the cleaning solutions themselves may be clear when extracted but are still not completely removed from the carpet's fibres. In turn, residue from the solution can actually make the carpet sticky so that it attracts more dirt if left behind.

2. Effective cleaning methods

Do you know what your home's carpet is made from, meaning the materials of the fibres? This is important, as a wool carpet may need a different cleaning method and different cleaning solutions than a cotton and silk blend. The level of the nap or height of fibres may also affect the methods that should be used to get those fibres clean without damaging them. A professional carpet cleaner will know the right detergent, brushes, and methods of cleaning the carpet so it's truly clean but not damaged by the process.

Along with knowing the best method for cleaning a certain carpet material, a professional may be able to offer more methods than you can manage on your own. For example, a dry clean uses strong solutions that are simply vacuumed up with a commercial vacuum, not rinsed with water. This is good for those in humid environments where the carpet can take a long time to actually dry after a cleaning or for those who don't want to wait too long before they can walk on their home's carpeting again.