Carpet Shampoo Selection Guide

There are several things you will need to take into consideration when trying to find the best carpet shampoo for your carpet cleaning needs. The type and size of your carpet, how dirty it is overall, and the kind of stains you are dealing with are all important factors that can influence your decision. Also, the kind of carpet cleaning machine you are using may also limit your choices.

For carpets that have undergone a high degree of soiling, vacuuming is generally ineffective and shampooing is usually necessary. Obviously, along with your selection of the proper carpet cleaning equipment, your choice of shampoo will ultimately determine how well your carpet can be cleaned. Among the most important qualities of a good carpet shampoo is its ability to produce enough foam to be effective. This foaming action is usually provided by chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate, which is also an important ingredient in hair shampoo as well. Furthermore, dirt does more than just sit on your carpet waiting to be easily removed. The particles of the dirt actually bond with the carpet’s fibers electrostatically, and special detergent is necessary to break this bond and enable more effective cleaning. So in addition to proper foaming action, a good shampoo will also provide the cleaning power of the necessary detergents. Finally, a good shampoo for your carpet will also serve to lubricate the carpet fibers as it cleans. This is important because most carpet shampooers use a strong brushing action that works the foam and detergent into the carpet as it cleans. In the absence of lubrication, tangling of the fibers and other damage to the carpet may occur.

There are generally two kinds of carpet shampoo machines that can be used. One is a cylindrical foam carpet shampooer, and the other is a rotary shampoo machine.

The cylindrical foam machine employs an air compressor to produce dry foam which is then worked into the carpet by a spinning cylindrical brush. One drawback to this piece of equipment is that some amount of dirt is usually left trapped within the carpet, necessitating vacuuming both before and after the carpet is cleaned.

The rotary carpet shampoo cleaner applies the shampoo by spraying it onto the carpet and then uses a rotary brush to create the required foaming action. Some disadvantages to this method include potential damage to the carpet and excessive wetting of the carpet.

Kirby Carpet Shampoo

Kirby manufactures several quality shampoos and carpet cleaners. One popular choice is their Allergy Control Shampoo. It not only retains the foaming suds formula of their regular shampoo, but it contains a special ingredient that neutralizes dust mite allergens, providing noticeable relief to allergy sufferers. It also works to reduce allergens that are caused by pet dander and pollen. It sells for about $29.95 per gallon.

The Hoover Platinum Collection Carpet & Upholstery Shampoo is a professional strength detergent that is designed for use in high traffic areas and on the toughest of dirt and stains, including grease, oil, coffee, and wine.  It works with all deep cleaning machines and is approved for use by CRI – the Carpet & Rug Institute.  It is sold in a fifty ounce size for about $17.95.

Hoover also manufactures a pet formula shampoo that costs about $18.95 for a 48 ounce bottle.  It is made for homes with pets and utilizes odor fighting enzymes.  It is also tough on dirt and stains, and works to remove allergens as well.

Bissell is a recognized leader in this industry and has introduced a new 2X Ultra Concentrated Formula shampoo.  The primary benefit is that it yields the identical cleaning strength in half the package size of it’s non-concentrated counterpart.  This makes it easier to carry, to store and to pour (it even has a built in measuring cap, similar to the ones that come with many laundry detergents).  And being smaller in size, the bottles are more environmentally friendly and they require less resources for shipping.  In fact, the smaller sized bottle has 80% less greenhouse gas emissions associated with it’s shipping than does the larger bottles for the non-concentrated formula.

Regarding their commitment to the environment, Bissell claims that when you buy their 2X Ultra Concentrated Formula in smaller bottles you help to save 21,500 trees per year and remove the equivalent of nearly 400 cars from the road by using less plastic.  Whether those numbers are true or not, all of Bissell’s cleaning formulas carry the EPA’s DFE certification.  DFE stands for “Design for the Environment”  and Bissell’s connection with the program involves the screening of every ingredient in their formulations by the DFE scientific review team.  Each ingredient is checked for it’s possible environmental and health effects.  So far Bissell has more than twenty five formulas that have been recognized by the EPA as having safer chemistry, making them one of the leader’s in EPA partner products.

One note of importance concerning the use of the concentrated formula:  the tanks on Bissell deep cleaning machines are marked for the non-concentrated formula, so how you add the shampoo to the machine needs to be adjusted.  Follow the directions on the bottle carefully in order to get the proper cleaning results.

It is important to realize that many in the carpet care industry advise against the use of carpet shampoos.  One reason for this is that there is a likelihood of resoiling following a carpet shampooing.  This is because the process leaves behind a sticky residue that tends to attract and keep more dirt.  For this reason you will find that many professional carpet cleaners use reduced concentrations of carpet shampoo, if they use shampoo at all.  Another concern, one that has actually caused some controversy, is the use of what are called optical brighteners.  These are dyes that are added to some shampoo brands that are somewhat weak in their detergent and cleaning properties, and they work by causing ultraviolet light to become visible, thus creating a short lived brightening effect.  For a time the carpet will appear to be brighter – and cleaner – than it actually is.  Over time, however, the dyes will actually cause the fibers of the carpet to turn yellow, and this can not be reversed.  For this reason carpet professionals usually advise against using shampoos containing optical brighteners.

This video demonstrates how simple it can be to clean even the dirtiest of carpets and achieve excellent results when you use the right cleaner and shampoo.

Carpet Shampooer Selection Guide