Anyone who has spent time cleaning carpets knows the approachto getting a carpet/rug clean you must follow 5 basic actions:

• Dry soil removal
• Soil suspension
• Soil extraction
• Pile setting (finishing or grooming)
• Drying.

For the sake of this conversation I’ll step to the secondbullet because I truly believe this is where OPers have a distinct advantageover other methods.  With regards to soilsuspension what we can do is employ:

• chemical action
• heat
• agitation
• time

 to maximizeremoval.  And as you’ll see some stepscarry more weight than others.

Chemical Action

Our first step in soil suspension is to use products thatreduce the surface tension and dissolve the various soils (chemical action).  What’s different about OPers is that when weuse encapsulation we are emulsifying some dirt but in general we are growingmacroscopic/bulk particles for removal by vacuuming.  I maintain this is one cool approach thatworks quite well.  However, when we usingcolloidal chemistry products (like Orbit Natural and Abstraction) we are usinga “technology” that most other’s cleaners overlook. 

The dirt and grime in carpets are layers of fine films madeup of fat, oil, grease, bacteria, dust mites and skin etc. These films arebonded to each other and to the carpet fiber surface by amino and fatty acids.Most cleaners emulsify some of these films, but do not break down the amino andfatty acids which attract more soil to the carpet. Colloidal chemistry cleaningproducts use plant based ingredients to remove these films and acids.

The nano sized particles called micelles that represent theactive ingredient in the products effectively cut through the carbon bonds inorganic molecules and emulsify organic matter.  Oil, grease and urine are broken down, suspended and safely lifted awayfrom the carpet fibers. The quick degradation of organic waste causes asignificant reduction of offensive odor caused by the naturally slow process ofdecay, and reduced organic residue will cause a diminution in population ofdisease carrying insects. Our OP process returns bounce to carpet fiber andeffectively removes organic soil without damaging textile fibers.

Elevated Temperature (Heat)

Heatreduces the surface tension of water and enables faster, more efficientcleaning than cold water. It is merely a matter of thermodynamics: heataccelerates the molecular activity of chemicals employed, and thus aids inseparation of unwanted matter from fibers. The issue here is that our first step whether encapsulation or colloidalchemistry does a great job of either isolating the dirt as a bulb particle oremulsifying the dirt thoroughly and thus eliminating the need to bring in heatvia copious amount of hot water. 

Agitation

Agitationis required to accomplish uniform chemical penetration and distributionthroughout the carpet.  In the absence ofagitation, soil suspension tends to be non-uniform, which is often indicated bysoil streaks following the removal process. Again what’s great for OPers is that our equipment delivers an aggressiveagitation other carpet cleaners can’t provide. The best a “steam cleaner” can do is comb in the pre-conditioningchemicals. The other option would be to employ a bonnet / OP machine before HWEbut this approach would be too labor and time prohibited as well as costineffective.

Time

Regardless of cleaning technique we all have time but it isoften the least considered in obtaining soil suspension.  Those soils in the carpet did not appearovernight, they were deposited and compacted over time so we must give theproducts time to perform their chemical action. Let “dwell time” be your friend and get adequate fiber penetration andmaximum soil suspension will occur.  Ifin doubt follow chemical manufacturer’s instructions.