Chem-Dry Vs. Hot Water Extraction: Which Carpet Cleaning Method Actually Works Better?
- James Shea
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
In this article we will attempt to educate our consumers on the most popular methods of carpet cleaning, we will outline the benefits, downfalls and overall job expectancy. By the end of this, you should know exactly what to expect regardless of which route you decide to go! In our opinion, Chem-dry has its place for maintenance and light soil cleaning, but when it comes to truly performing a deep cleaning on carpets, hot water extraction reigns supreme. It is also considered the industry standard!
How Chem-Dry Works:
Chem-Dry is a process that has been around since the late 1970's, it utilizes carbonated cleaning solution for soil suspension, rotary or scrubbing machines for agitation, low moisture extraction tools, and post cleaning spot agents. When done correctly this method can provide good cleaning results for carpets that are not heavily soiled or have severe staining/oil issues.
The Process:
When done correctly, the process is somewhat similar to what we do in Hot Water Extraction. It involves a few similar steps and a few differences.
Fiber Identification, traffic lane inspection, spotting evaluation. This step is vital in understanding what cleaning method will work, where to focus attention and overall the scope of the work involved.
Pre-Vacuuming. This is an important step in any carpet cleaning method you decide to go with. Using a commercial vacuum with a beater bar is very important for removing as much dry soil as possible before continuing with any cleaning method.
Application of carbonated cleaning solution. The idea behind the carbonation is similar to using club soda for stain/spot removal. The activated solution helps in soil suspension utilizes the micro Co2 molecules to release the hold soil has on the fiber.
Mechanical Agitation. Using a rotary bonnet machine, counter rotating brush machine or rotary extraction machine, this step is vital to help the cleaning solution further break the bonds between soil and carpet fibers.
Extraction. Using low moisture extraction tools, here is where they are able to get much shorter dry times, but also cannot reach as deeply into the fibers. This allows carpets to dry in 1-3 hours typically.
Conclusion for Chem-Dry:
As stated above these methods can be a good solution for lightly soiled carpets, customers concerned with longer dry times and providing a good maintenance clean between deeper cleanings. While we believe in Hot Water Extraction being the superior method, we can't knock the fact that Chem-Dry still works and can provide a decent cleaning depending on circumstance.
How Hot Water Extraction Works:
Hot water extraction has been around since the creation of the carpet cleaning industry, and its considered the industry standard. We over at Two Shea's choose to use HWE because of the numerous benefits it provides. Though the dry times can be a bit longer than Chem-Dry, the benefits far outweigh the issues. Hot water extraction typically involves using premium detergents, agitation, and 200+ degree water at 300-400 PSI to reach down further into the carpets. Combine these aspects with a high powered wet vacuum system to extract as much soil as possible taking it away with us.
The Process:
There are some similarities with the Chem-Dry process, but there are some key differences, we will go in depth on each step and why its important to the process.
Fiber identification, traffic lane inspection, stain evaluation. Similar to above this step is vital in understanding the specific needs for every job, so we can use the proper products, methods and have a gameplan for the job!
Pre-vacuuming. Vital in every carpet cleaning job, this step allows us to remove as much dry soil as possible before getting anything wet, using a powerful commercial vacuum this allow us get the floors ready to be cleaned.
Detergent application. This is the first major difference between HWE and Chem-Dry, using premium soil suspension detergents the different combinations of products we can use here can provide desired results based on what needs to be addressed.
Mechanical Agitation. Another difference here between the two methods is that in HWE we don't have to use mechanical agitation on every job to achieve desired results, though we do use agitation for heavily soiled carpets or heavy traffic patterns, most jobs actually don't need it due to the premium detergent application.
Extraction. A major difference between our extraction and Chem-Dry is that we use super hot water (200+ Degrees), at 300-400 PSI. This allows us to penetrate deeply into the fibers, all the way down to the pad. This allows maximum soil removal, allergen removal and stain removal. At Two Shea's we take advantage of multiple drying strokes to maximize water removal. Since we can reach so much further into the fiber this provides a true overall deep cleaning.
Drying fans. Since we are using more water to truly extract all the soils, detergents and allergens, we utilize drying fans in order to speed up the drying time for the floors. This does allow us to get dry times closer to 4-6 hours, sometimes however it can take 12 hours depending on humidity and temperature conditions.
Conclusion for Hot Water Extraction:
We find this method to be superior to Chem-Dry by allowing us to remove more soil, destroy and remove allergens, kill bacteria and ultimately provide a cleaner, more sanitary finished product when we leave the home. Not only will this process work for maintenance cleanings, it can work on the most difficult and soiled of carpets. Using proper techniques and processes we can get the floors incredibly more dry before leaving the home. To learn more about how Two Shea's does things, check out our Carpet Cleaning Page!
Pros & Cons For Each Method:
To simplify all the above information we will list out the pros and cons between both methods and systems so that you can understand the major factors of each!
Chem-Dry Pros: | Hot Water Extraction Pros: |
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Chem-Dry Cons: | Hot Water Extraction Cons: |
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