You've probably seen the carpet steam cleaners that you can rent at your local supermarket. Or you might even have considered buying one if you need to clean your carpets on a regular basis, if you have pets that shed for example.
On the other hand, there are professional carpet cleaning services, such as Sears or Rug Doctor, that will come and do the work for you. They generally have a van with all the equipment in it, and a large hose that they can move from room to room throughout the house.
So the question is, which of the two options is more effective? Obviously, a steam cleaner that you can wheel out of your local supermarket isn't going to be as powerful as one that take up most of the back of a large van.
Both types of carpet cleaners will work for you, but they use slightly different principles. In a typical home unit, hot water is mixed with a cleaning agent of some sort then sprayed onto the surface of the carpet. A rotating brush works this cleaning mixture deep in the carpet fibers to loosen dirt. The water mixture is then sucked out from the carpet and into a container for disposal.
A home carpet steamer will remove most of the water from the carpet but because it is a wet cleaning system, the carpet will take some time to dry afterwards.
The professional steam cleaner still uses water, but it is more of a dry cleaning system than the home unit. Inside the van is a boiler that produces steam that's heated to more than 100 degrees Celsius. This "dry" steam passes through the nozzle into the carpet at a high pressure, loosening the dirt.
Because the carpet does not get as wet, it will dry much faster than with a home steam cleaner. It will often be dry in a matter of minutes after using a professional vapor steam cleaner.
While both methods are effective, the best choice will come down to a couple of factors.
First is the cost. A professional carpet steam cleaner will typically cost less than buying your own home unit, but because you will have to pay for it to be done every time you need the carpets cleaned it can be more expensive in the long run.
The second is how quickly and effective it is. A professional cleaning service is going to be faster to do the job, and the drying time is also much shorter. Plus, if you have allergies to chemicals or cleaning agents, the vapor steam cleaner is going to be the best choice.