The History of Carpet Cleaning

Written by Sara Bedient on August 9, 2012. Posted in Uncategorized

We’ve talked about the history of carpeting in the home but what about the history of cleaning those carpets? Up until the mid 1800’s, carpets were cleaned by house servants. Dirt was beaten from the carpets to a carpet rod or a stiff broom. Smaller rugs could be shaken out outside. In the later 1800’s, carpet cleaning became a door to door business, with the equipment being pulled by a horse. The large equipment would be parked outside of the home or business that was being cleaned, and long hoses would be fed in through windows to get the job done. The first vacuum cleaners appeared around this time as well, but were a luxury item that few could afford. Traveling salesmen enjoyed visiting housewives beginning in the 1940’s to show off their carpet cleaning prowess. Often marketing “try before you buy” deals, the salesmen would demonstrate their carpet cleaning technique on a small piece of carpet and persuade the lady of the house to allow them to finish the job. Many of these traveling carpet cleaners had little more than vacuums, and there are still door to door carpet cleaning and vacuum cleaner salesmen today! The hot water extraction method of carpet cleaning did not come in to play until the late 1940’s. Mounting a hot water extraction machine in a truck or a van was certainly easier and worked a lot better than the previous methods of carpet cleaning, and provided the opportunity to market to the masses. This is the preferred method of carpet cleaning today, and there are many companies nationwide who provide this service.

The History of Carpet Cleaning

Residential Cleaning

Commercial Cleaning

Hardwood Flooring

Water and Flood Damage

Upholstery Cleaning

Pet Odor Removal

Tile and Grout Cleaning

Spot Removal