One of the most efficient methods used for cleaning up upholstery includes hot water extraction and encapsulation.
Here, specialized tools are deployed to ensure the maximum removal of water from leading to low moisture.
This guarantees faster drying and prevents moisture from going very deep into the furniture.
Hot Water Extraction Upholstery Cleaning
With a lot of use, your upholstery furniture is bound to accumulate a lot of dirt.
Here, grime, odor, dirt, are all absorbed from the environment. Dust from the outdoors and dead skin cells are contributors to dirty upholstery.
What results is a situation where your upholstery begins to stink or give off a foul odor.
Of course, such conditions are ideal for germs to thrive. In a nutshell, you’re faced with all sorts of adverse conditions that can be taken care of with proper upholstery cleaning.
In addition to the foul odor released, you’re also left with discolored or faded upholstery. After trying out a variety of cleaning methods without success, some homeowners may decide to dispose of such furniture.
However, the truth is, upholstery can be restored to perfect condition with the right cleaning method. This is where hot water extraction cleaning comes in handy.
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Why Upholstery Cleaning Presents Problems
Before we discuss how hot water extraction cleaning works, it’s important to first consider why upholstery cleaning is a problem.
For a lot of homeowners, cleaning upholstery furniture is a headache due to the high moisture involved.
In other words, over-wetting is a common problem with upholstery cleaning.
With excess moisture in the furniture and improper tools to get it out, it steadily kills the upholstery. Moisture damage to upholstery happens slowly and leads to other unfavorable conditions like bad odor within your home.
Thankfully, advancement in technology has led to the development of efficient moisture removal tools. This is what hot water extraction upholstery cleaning represents.
How Hot Water Extraction Upholstery Cleaning Works
Whenever you need to deep-clean your upholstery, it’s best to have professional cleaning services provide such a service. Basically, it involves heating a solution of water and cleaning products to a certain temperature before application.
For better understanding, let’s consider the following;
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Heating the Cleaning Solution
When technicians come around, they make a mixture of cleaning solution and water which is then heated in a cleaning machine. Such a cleaning machine is mounted in the cleaning truck.
This solution is expected to reach temperatures of about 50 to 120 degrees Celsius.
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Applying the Cleaning Solution
Using an appropriate extension, the hot water is pumped into the upholstery at high pressure. This type of deep cleaning ensures that dirt and dust are broken down.
The advantage of this method is that it also kills germs within your upholstery.
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Extracting the Filth
With cleaning complete, what remains is to extract the filth within the upholstery. Specialized tools such as professional upholstery cleaners are deployed for such cleaning.
Here, the truck-mounted cleaning machine comes in handy. It’s designed to extract as much as 95% of the water from upholstery.
What remains is a situation where the furniture is deep-cleaned with a significant volume of moisture extracted.
Other Upholstery Cleaning Methods
Apart from hot water extraction cleaning, there are other ways to clean upholstery furniture.
Although the focus is on hot water extraction, it’s important to veer a little into these other alternative cleaning methods for the benefit of the reader.
They include dry cleaning, steam-heat extraction, and foam cleaning. Others are carbonation cleaning and chemical cleaning.
Let’s talk a little about each of these;
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Dry Cleaning
Unlike hot water extraction for upholstery, this method does not require the use of water.
As the name implies, dry cleaning won’t require any form of moisture. Rather, a chemical cleaning powder is sprinkled around the upholstery. This is worked into stained areas.
After working in the powder, it’s left for a while and vacuumed. This results in clean upholstery. Compared to hot water extraction cleaning, this method isn’t as thorough.
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Steam Heat Extraction
Steam heat extraction is similar in many respects to hot water extraction upholstery cleaning. Here, steam is applied at high pressure to remove all sorts of dirt, germs, and dust.
The only difference with hot water extraction is that only steam is used here as opposed to hot water.
Steam has a higher temperature than hot water. However, the results obtained are similar. You won’t have excess moisture problems to deal with after cleaning.
Also, the likelihood of fabric shrinkage is eliminated.
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Foam Cleaning
Foam cleaning is mostly performed on stained upholstery. Unlike hot water extraction cleaning, foam cleaning may be restricted to only the stained area. Here, a foam solution is applied by hand.
This is further worked into the stained spot and left to sit for about 30 minutes to an hour.
For stubborn stains, you’ll need to leave them overnight to be cleaned the next day. To clean, you’ll need to use a vacuum cleaner. This takes out any dirt or stains.
You get to limit the amount of moisture from the foam that goes into the furniture. The amount applied will determine whether you have excess moisture or not.
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Carbonation Cleaning
With carbonation cleaning, a thorough job is done in the removal of upholstery dirt.
Here, carbonating cleaning solution is used for this procedure. This solution is known for its effervescent effect. So, when applied to upholstery, it produces millions of bubbles that penetrate upholstery fiber.
The effect is the removal of grime and dirt through a chemical process.
These are lifted to the surface for easy wiping. Not only do you get to wipe off extracted dirt, but you also get the added advantage of a protective barrier that is formed to minimize future dirt accumulation.
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Chemical Cleaning
A chemical cleaning technique is also available for deployment.
This cleaning alternative can be applied to all types of fabric including leather. So, all you have to do is apply this unique shampoo to your upholstery.
The effect is the dry encapsulation and removal of dirt and grime.
One of the key advantages of this technique is the fast drying time. As a matter of fact, your upholstery can be used almost immediately after cleaning.
That’s that about upholstery extraction. For best results, it’s important to have a reputable cleaning service handle the procedure.