Should you vacuum after carpet cleaning? Yes, you should always vacuum after carpet cleaning. Although vacuuming can contribute to the success of the carpet cleaning process, only a few people remember to do it. The idea of vacuuming after cleaning your carpet may sound weird, but it has great significance in achieving the desired cleanliness of your carpet.
In this article, we will review the importance of carpet vacuuming after carpet cleaning and check out effective techniques to maximize its effect.
Should You Vacuum After Carpet Cleaning?
Yes! You should vacuum after carpet cleaning because vacuuming helps to remove any residual dirt, debris, or cleaning solution remaining in the carpet fibers. Vacuuming also helps to prevent re-soiling and maintain the overall cleanliness and appearance of your carpets. But please note that you can only vacuum the completely dry carpet, it will take approximately 24 hours for the newly cleaned carpet to dry.
Steam Cleaning
The steam cleaning of carpets is one of the most popular methods, it is also known as hot water extraction. The process uses a high-pressure machine to inject hot water and cleaning solution into the carpet fibers. Therefore, the solution will loosen the dirt and grime like pen ink and grease, after that, it is extracted out along with dirty water. Steam cleaning is quite effective at taking out deep-seated dirt, stains, and allergens.
Dry Cleaning
On the other side, dry cleaning is a procedure with the absence of water in its solution. Instead, it goes directly onto the carpet then gets encapsulated and allows dirt and debris to go inside. After that, the encapsulated dirt is vacuumed away, leaving your carpet clean and dry. This procedure is usually done on some sensitive carpets or where moisture may be an issue.
The Importance of Vacuuming After Carpet Cleaning
Vacuuming after carpet cleaning is good for several reasons, consolidating why we say yes to the question “Should you vacuum carpet after steam cleaning”:
Improve the air quality
The carpet cleaning process can eliminate dust, allergens, and other particulates that may be deeply entrapped within the fibers. However, vacuuming is an important step to remove these particles and generally improves air quality inside your house by reducing allergy symptoms or respiratory ailments. According to the information from UNEP, approximately 4,700,000 died from exposure to fine particulate outdoor air pollution in 2021. That is why we must vacuum the carpet after cleaning so that it helps to maintain the air quality of a house strictly.
Prevent mold growth
Mold and mildew really love the remaining moisture from your cleaned carpet. If you don’t know, the United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that mold has severe impacts on human health. Vacuuming helps to extract extra moisture, thus reducing mold and health-related problems.
Remove remaining dirt
After professional cleaning of carpets, this is the time some particles of dirt remain behind in the fibers. If dirt still remains on your carpet, vacuuming would easily take these remaining particles out to ensure proper cleaning of the carpets. Vacuuming prevents dirt particles from getting embedded deeply into the carpets for a very long time.
Enhance aesthetic appeal
A carpet that is usually vacuumed always looks cleaner, fresher, and inviting, compared to one that is never cared for. Regular vacuuming may be the way to help your carpets last longer and save you that bother and costly installation of a new carpet. This reason may be the strongest answer to why you should vacuum after steam cleaning.
What happens if you don’t vacuum after carpet cleaning?
Most cleaning methods, such as encapsulation, usually involve applying cleaning solutions to the carpet to trap dirt and other particles. Then, the encapsulated dirt is supposed to air-dry into crystals for easy vacuuming.
If you don’t vacuum after a dry cleaning method, several things may happen:
- Residual Cleaning Agents: There could be a bit of dry cleaning solution remaining in the carpet fibers. These types of residues are engineered to be straightforwardly vacuumed up, but if this doesn’t happen, some residue will be left behind. The remaining solution can attract dirt over time and make the carpet look dirty.
- Insufficient dirt removal: In the absence of vacuuming, encapsulated dirt and cleaning agents may remain incomplete within the carpet. Overall cleanliness and appearance might be affected since the amount of cleaning solution is not enough to remove all the dirt.
- Re-soiling: There would be possibilities of re-soiling if the encapsulated dirt is not extracted. Entrapped particles may dislodge from the carpet fibers and may redistribute themselves on the surface, especially in high-traffic areas.
- Texture and Feel: If not vacuumed, the carpet may have a different feel, perhaps even crunchy, and the entrapped crystals can eventually affect the texture of the carpet.
The final step of vacuuming automatically ensures the success of carpet cleaning methods. It removes the encapsulated particles and residuals to leave the carpet clean and fresh.
FAQs
You should vacuum your carpet once or twice a week. However, the frequency of vacuuming will depend on various factors. If you have children or pets in your house, you should vacuum more frequently to maintain a clean environment.
While the steam cleaner can be effective, it is not that necessary after a professional cleaning. Most professional cleaners use high water pressure and hot water extraction methods to remove deeply embedded dirt and stains. If some of the stains or odors appear again, dog smell for example, then the steam cleaner will be useful.
Yes! Carpet deodorizers are helpful because they can get rid of odors and freshen the carpet. However, you should be careful in choosing the right deodorizers for your carpets. Severe chemicals will damage your carpet fibers and cause allergies to people and pets.
Bottom Lines
Well, the answer to “Should you vacuum after carpet cleaning” is really straightforward and simple right? We should vacuum after cleaning the carpet. To maintain your carpet’s cleanliness and health, make sure to vacuum soon after a carpet cleaning. If you follow the good advice from this article, you will know how to keep the carpets clean and free from dust, debris, and allergens.
