Introduction

Shampooing your carpets is an essential step of the cleaning process, but most Americans avoid it. 

Why do we avoid it?  Because old shampooing technology has over complicated it.   Remember the last time you called a professional shampooer OR rented a Rug Doctor at the store?  Remember how they made you move all of your furniture and practically move out of your own house?   Remember how it took days for your carpet to dry and your carpet started to get that unsettling "stink smell"?

Well no more!  When you own a Kirby vacuum you can also get a professional shampooer attachment where you can save hundreds every year by shampooing your own carpets!

Here are some of the benefits of upgrading to a Kirby Shampoo system:

1.  Owning your own professional carpet shampooer can save you hundreds of dollars a year!

2.  Kirby vacuum's use a dry foam liquid solution that uses very little water.  This means you can shampoo your carpet and it be fully dry in a matter of hours (keep reading below for specific times it takes to dry your carpet).

3.  Kirby vacuum shampoo solution uses a "Scotch Guard" like chemical to protect your carpets against future stains.  This can add years to the life of your carpet and save you a lot of money.

4.  Tired of those old stains coming back?  Since the Kirby shampoo solution is not oil based (unlike other shampoo solution) you almost never see an old stain come back.  

5.  The Kirby vacuum cleaner is one of the only deep cleaners made powerful enough to actually pull the damaging sand out of your carpet.  Most other vacuums simply are not powerful enough and that sand starts cutting the carpet fiber.   This is what leads to "trails" and take years of life off of your carpet.   This allows you save thousands in not having to replace your carpet before its time.  

Shampooing gets rid of stains, scabs, and odor from the carpet. And now you don’t have to wait hours or days for the carpet to dry with Kirby’s Dry Foam Shampoo Cleaning.

Kirby Dry Foam Shampoo

Dry foam cleaning is a newly developed cleaning procedure that consists of nearly 90% air solubles and 10% water component. Kirby’s complete shampoo system uses a mixture of shampoo and water and converts it into foam. The foam is dispensed onto the carpet, and the attached Kirby brush works in a circular motion to clean each fiber of the rug. The dried foam removes the dirt crystals left behind by the Kirby brush.

How To Clean Your Carpet With a Kirby Vacuum 

Learning to shampoo and deep clean your carpets can save you hundreds of dollars a month.

You also get to do it at your own pace — without any intrusion from strangers who don’t know your house well enough and have no knowledge of the secret stashes of stains. 

There are two things you absolutely need to shampoo your carpet. The first thing is time, and the second is a solid piece of machinery offering a quick and fess-fry shampoo experience. 

Enter: Kirby!

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Kirby’s fantastic Multi-Surface Shampoo Kit and Dry Foam Cleaning technology is all you need to shampoo your carpet. The inbuilt cleaning studs, Kirby Dry Foam Shampoo, and industry-grade Kirby brush quickly clear out dirt and challenging stains. 

Kirby is a better choice for you than the extractors that pour gallons of water onto your carpet for an effective wash experience.

With Kirby’s effective dry foam cleaning, you don’t have to wait hours or days to dry the carpet. Here’s how:

Shampooing Your Carpet With Kirby Dry Foam Cleaning 

Step 1) Vacuum the carpet with your Kirby.
Step 2) Spray the dry foam solution on the stains and spots and give them a light scrub. 
Step 3) Prep your Kirby Dry Foam shampoo kit with proper shampoo and water. 
Step 4) Shampoo the carpet.

How Long Does It Take You For Carpet To Dry? 

Once you are done with shampooing via Kirby, it will ideally take about 2 hours for your carpet to dry. 

But as we will discuss below, the time it takes for the carpet to dry comes down to many other factors, some of which are beyond your control. 

We recommend a four-hour window before rearranging your furniture.

Why Choose Kirby?

Kirby vacuum targets even the worst scabs, scums, and heavily soiled synthetic and stained carpets. 

With an extraordinary 114.7 CFM rating, Kirby Vacuum is our recommended vacuum for lively homes with plenty of activity. It is also rated the #1 most dependable vacuum in the world. 

Stubborn stains like wine, spaghetti sauce, coffee, and pet urine stand no chance against Kirby’s dry foam shampoo. 

A 100 years in the making, Kirby’s new and advanced models now offer upgraded HEPA filtration, which tracks down up to 99.97% of allergens from the carpets.

Kirby Dry Foam Shampoo Vs. Market Detergent:

Are you considering substituting the Kirby Dry Foam shampoo with an ordinary detergent? You might want to take a pause. 

Dish soap and laundry soap are surfactants. Unlike the usual dish soap and disinfectants, Kirby shampoo is not a surfactant. A chemical cocktail induces "Dry Foam" when mixed with water. 

Kirby’s specially designed and uniquely crafted Dry Foam Shampoo is the ideal choice for deep cleaning your home. You will notice an instant improvement even in the high-traffic areas. With its signature lavender scent, the shampoo leaves your home feeling like fresh laundry.

Laundry detergents are unsuitable for carpet cleaning, as they make a mess and leave a slimy-like goo and other residues on the carpet. Kirby shampoo, on the other hand, leaves the carpet stiff after shampooing. Within a couple of hours, you can resume functioning in your home. It will begin to feel like walking on a clean and soft cloud.

Kirby Dry Shampoo has many fans. It is our fastest selling product. We recommend that you stock up before it sells out again. Get the shampoo here, and save a good chunk on the shipping costs. 

What is the right quantity of shampoo to use?

Kirby’s inbuilt water storage unit has measurements that will guide you regarding your water and shampoo ratio. 

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As you can see from the image, the container has three separations. 

If you’re dealing with a small space, such as a single room, fill the water until the first layer. 

If you are cleaning an ample space, you can fill the water until the second or third separation. 

Kirby has you sorted for the measurement of the solution as well. You don’t need fancy tools or measurement cups. The water storage cap will do just fine. 

You need one cup full of the Kirby Dry Foam Shampoo for every level you fill.

How Often Should You Shampoo Your Carpet?

It is ideal to deep clean and shampoo your carpet once a year to remove dirt deposits, allergens, and grime. 

However, it comes down to several factors. Here’s what we recommend:

Factors Affecting the Drying Time of Carpets

So you did it! You cleaned your carpet! 

Your house smells fresh, and you feel ecstatic about your efforts. 

But what’s next? 

Well, now is a rather crucial step of waiting for the carpet to dry out. We now know shampooing your carpet with Kirby Dry Foam technology takes only two hours to dry. 

In case you haven't used the dry foam shampoo method, then here are the factors which affect the drying time of carpets. 

1. Airflow 

• What is the airflow and cross-ventilation situation of your home? 
• Can you open up all the windows simultaneously? 
• Can you turn on the ceiling fans? 

The carpets have a good chance of drying up quickly with a steady airflow within your home. 

2. Type of carpet 

Perhaps the most critical factor that makes a difference in your drying time is the type of carpet in your home.

For example, carpets with dense fiber count are high in quality but can also be a headache when cleaning. The thicker the carpet, the more water it will soak up. 

Similarly, woolen carpets absorb 30% of their weight in water instantly. 

Polypropylene carpets don’t soak up any liquid at all, bringing down their drying time to 30 mins at best. 

Another crucial factor that impacts the drying time is the amount of soil present in your carpet. 

The more the soil, the more water your carpet will likely soak up.

1. Weather and humidity 

Deep cleaning during damp or rain-soaked weather is not ideal. 

Wet carpets take longer to return to their dry form in places with high humidity, low ventilation, and no airflow. 

And so, if the air inside or outside is humid, it will elongate the carpet drying process.

2. Stain history 

The shape and state of the carpet can make so much difference in its drying time. 

If your carpets are harboring year-long stains, shampooing, scrubbing, and cleaning will get much harder. 

This increases the carpet’s absorption of water. The longer your carpet is soaking the water in, the more time it will take to dry up. 

2. Washing method

A common way of cleaning and shampooing carpets with a vacuum is the watershed method, which relies on plowing gallons of water on the floor and then suctioning it off the carpet and waiting days for your carpet to dry. 

Next in line is the hot water extraction (steam cleaning). The pressurized water is mixed with cleaning agents to extract dirt and fight stains. 

It’s obvious that with the watershed method, it will take much longer for your carpet to dry out than with the hot water extraction method. 

With the dry foam shampoo method, your carpet dries up in just two hours. This is why it is a fan favorite. 

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Why You Need To Wait For Your Carpet To Dry Properly

You should wait out the drying process before resuming full activity and rearranging the furniture in your home. 

Doing so will save your investment, time, and, most importantly, the cleaning process. 

Here’s why drying out the carpet is so necessary:

1. Mild indentations

Placing heavy-weight furniture such as heeled sofas and tables on damp carpet can cause lasting indentations on it.

2. Mildew build-up 

Mold and mildew grow in a moist and damp environment. An inadequately dried carpet can quickly become the breeding ground of mold build-up, which is harmful to your family’s health. 

3. Smell

Leaving the damp and semi-dried carpet out will negate the purpose of the wash. Instead of walking on a warm and fluffy carpet, you’ll be tracing steps on a floor that’s ruminating adverse odor. 

How To Accelerate Your Carpet Drying Process 

Here are our top recommendations for accelerating your carpet drying process. 

1. Ceiling fans 

Turn on your ceiling fan to quicken drying out your carpet. If your house doesn’t have a ceiling fan, you can point a high-powered standing fan toward the floor. 

2. Cross ventilation 

Open windows get the air moving and accelerate the evaporation process. But you have to be mindful of the weather. You should only open the windows when there’s a hot and sunny day outside. It is best to close the windows and rely on fans for the dry-up for cold and humid days.

3. Dehumidifiers

Dehumidifiers suck the excess moisture out of the room and collect it in a storage tank. You will be surprised to see the water molecules collected in your dehumidifier after you subject it to a room with a wet carpet.

4. Air conditioner

Air conditioners, much like dehumidifiers, speed up the drying process by removing moisture from the air. It is an effective way to fasten up the drying process. 

Common Mistakes That Delay The Carpet Drying Process 

It takes only 2 hours for your carpet to dry up after the Kirby dry foam shampoo. 

If you’re using a Kirby model that doesn’t support the dry foam shampoo, then chances are that it may take around 5 to 6 hours for your carpet to dry. 

You also might end up making some grave mistakes and end up delaying the drying process.

Here are a few things to look out for while shampooing your carpet with Kirby:

1. The shampoo-to-water ratio

The shampoo and water go in the Kirby Complete Shampoo System. The instructions are pretty clear on this one. As we mentioned above, you can’t have too much or too little of the Kirby Dry Foam shampoo in your water. 

For the perfect dry foam cleaning, just follow the manual printed on the back of the shampoo bottle and prepare the best cleaning cocktail for the dry foam shampoo. 

2. Speed

When you are shampooing your carpet, you need to pick up the speed and make sure you are done with the entire floor quickly. 

The dry foam ejected from the machine crystallises with quickness, as it entraps the thick dirt deposits from your carpet. 

Therefore, you cannot take your sweet time and sway across the room with ease. As soon as you turn on your Kirby, you are on a ticking clock. 

3. Spot treatment

Dealing with tough stains? The special Kirby Spot Remover is the solution to that problem. 

It’s simple! 

Just take the concentrated Kirby Spot Remover in the Hand Held Shampooer Spray Bottle Tool, and spray it on your stains. Just as you can see in the picture below. Scrub out the stains after 10 minutes. 

Happy Cleaning

​​Your carpets need shampooing. Weekly vacuums are a great way to keep your carpets dust and dirt free. But it’s not enough to keep your carpets clean and stain-free, right?

Now that you know the exact time it takes, go ahead and schedule your yearly cleaning and shampooing with Kirby today. 

Important Safety Tips

• Always make sure your machine is unplugged and the power button is turned off before servicing your vacuum.
• Always make sure your hands are dry and free from moisture before servicing your machine.
• Be sure to wear gloves when servicing your machine to prevent any cuts or scrapes.
• If you are uncomfortable working on your vacuum, please don’t hesitate to contact us at service@greatvacs.com, and we can help you through the process or you can send it to us to fix it for you. 

Which model of Kirby vacuum is the best? Here’s what we think!

Looking for more info? Check out our Education Center!

Need your Kirby repaired? Send us an email at service@greatvacs.com

We sell Kirby vacuums with shampooers starting in the $500's!  This is a great time to own your own professional shampooer (not to mention that the Kirby vacuum is one of the last made in the USA vacuums and Consumer Reports ranked them as the #1 most dependable vacuum).  And we sell shampoo, bags, belts, cords, or anything else you need as well!

Here at GreatVacs.com, we’ve serviced and rebuilt over 50,000 Kirby vacuum cleaners, so if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave us a comment or email us at service@greatvacs.com! You can also head on over to our YouTube channel to see more educational videos.