Carpet Cleaning Methods: Bonnet

With years of experience, skill, and maintained knowledge, Preferred Carpet Care in Redding focuses on the best methods for keeping your carpet fresh and clean. In an earlier post, we promised to discuss the top 5 methods of carpet cleaning in more detail. Each method has pros and cons, and we feel it’s important for you to know more about them. In this series, we will cover each of those top 5 methods in more detail.

Bonnet Cleaning

Perhaps you’ve been to a large commercial building or hotel lobby late at night, where you see a person operating a floor buffer or rotary floor machine. This device uses a spinning pad to buff and polish floors of tile, linoleum, concrete, or other materials. Most large commercial establishments have at least one on hand and use them frequently.

At some point, someone got the idea that this rotary machine could probably clean carpet like it does other types of flooring. Using a bonnet of cotton, rayon or polypropylene, the person soaked the bonnet with shampoo and attached it to the rotary machine. They moved the machine over the carpet and, once it dried, the carpet was a few measures cleaner. Apparently.

For many commercial buildings with both flat surface flooring and low-pile carpeting, this option might seem like a no-brainer. They already have the equipment and manpower on hand, so there’s almost no extra cost. It dries rapidly (typically within 30 minutes), there’s less wicking, and it appears to remove spots and stains easily. It seems to be a quick and easy alternative to other methods. However, there are caveats to this method of cleaning.

Bonnet Cleaning Is Only Skin Deep

With bonnet cleaning, you’re basically scraping off the surface dirt. If you follow our other series, The Bane of Stains, you might remember how important it is to not scrub stains you are trying to remove, as it often pushes the stain further into the carpet. Well, a rotary machine is a big giant scrubber! Certainly, it can – and does – dislodge dirt from the surface, and even collect it, but it presses just as much dirt further into the carpet.

Sure, it looks clean when it dries in less than an hour, but those looks are deceiving. Keep in mind that bonnet cleaning has no extraction capability, so anything that doesn’t come off with the rotary bonnet just stays in the carpet – including the shampoo or detergent used. This could result in increased allergic reactions in your patrons.

Other Concerns

There is a level of skill and training required to use this method. Too little detergent will result in dry scrubbing the carpet and could result in friction burns. Too much detergent or shampoo leaves swirl marks behind, drying to a residue that needs to be vacuumed after the process. Not only that, but the bonnets themselves often need a variety for different carpet designs, and they need to be laundered after every use to avoid mold or mildew buildup. Though this is often a low cost, the frequency makes up the difference. Finally, most carpet manufacturers consider the use of bonnet cleaning to void the carpet warranty.

Take it From the Experts

Preferred Carpet Care in Redding does not recommend bonnet cleaning, even for large commercial establishments. The method can damage your carpet too easily, and simply doesn’t clean anything more than the top surface. To make sure your carpet is thoroughly clean without residue or other consequences, please discuss your options with our expert team of technicians. You can schedule a consultation by calling us at 530-243-8400, or by using our online form.