For schools and various other institutions, summertime offers a seasonal reprieve, making this the perfect time to invest in some deep cleaning for your facility. If your facility features carpeting, cleaning these soft, porous surfaces should be a top priority, as they can carry a host of germs and bacteria. Ideally, you should deep clean your commercial carpeting via shampooing (and other methods) every few months to promote the health and safety of everyone inside and maintain the integrity and beauty of your carpeting. Whether it’s been that long or longer since you last cleaned your carpets, there’s no better time to do it than during summer break. Still, you might wonder how effective carpet shampooing is at disinfecting and sanitizing your facility’s floors.

Let’s explore what carpet shampooers are, how well they work, and what else you need to do to eliminate germs hiding in your commercial carpeting.

What to Know About Carpet Shampooing

What Is a Commercial Carpet Shampooer?

As its name suggests, a carpet shampooer is a device (or attachment) that delivers carpet shampoo to a particular carpet, usually connected to or sent through a commercial carpet extractor. In other words, a carpet extractor can be dubbed a shampooer when it’s relaying shampoo -- these pieces of commercial carpet cleaning equipment also provide pressurized water and steam for deep cleaning. After being sent through the extractor’s proper tubes, the carpet shampoo is vigorously soaked into the carpet, helping to lift up dirt before being rinsed and sucked upward by the machine.

Does Shampooing Your Carpet Eliminate Germs?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there’s currently no way to get rid of 100% of germs in soft, porous surfaces such as carpets -- there are simply too many cavernous areas for these microorganisms to hide. Despite this fact, proper cleaning and disinfection methods can take care of a large portion of harmful materials buried in your carpeting, and it’s worth the effort to try. After all, a clean commercial carpet is one that’s free from dirt, where plenty of germs like to hang out. While a commercial carpet shampooer won’t eliminate all germs from your carpeting, periodically shampooing your carpets will keep most of the germs in your facility at bay, improving your indoor air quality and promoting a healthier environment overall.

Is a Carpet Shampooer All You Need to Keep Your Carpet Clean?

While the right type of shampoo is an essential substance for commercial carpet care, there’s more to achieving clean, sanitary carpets than shampooing alone. Before shampooing, you’ll want to thoroughly vacuum your carpeting with a vacuum that’s certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) (in fact, all of your commercial carpet cleaning equipment should be CRI-approved). Then, you should pre-spray your carpet with an alkaline carpet cleaner using a pump-up sprayer and let it dwell for the instructed period of time (usually 5-10 minutes) -- this will help loosen any dirt harbored by your carpet. Then, it’s time to use your extractor to shampoo and rinse your carpet while lifting any remaining dirt (and the germs attached to it). For the deepest clean, use a steam cleaning extractor. After the cleaning is done, place high-powered fans in the area to help dry the carpet.

Depending on the situation, shampooing may or may not be called for to clean your carpeting. In some cases, alkaline cleaners and neutralizers are enough to get the job done. Professional commercial carpet cleaning services like The Budd Group will have the knowledge and equipment to properly fight germs in your commercial carpeting when the time comes. To learn more about our services and values, give us a call today at 800-221-8158!