Carpet cleaning, for beautification, and removal of stains, dirt, grit, sand, and allergens, is achieved by several methods, both traditional and modern. Clean carpets are recognized by manufacturers as being more visually pleasing, potentially longer-lasting and probably healthier than poorly maintained carpets.

The professional carpet cleaning industry is primarily educated and unofficially governed by The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC). It is a nonprofit certifying body for the specialized fabric cleaning industry that sets modern carpet cleaning standards. It accepts five basic professional cleaning methodologies.
 Currently, Steam Cleaning (a.k.a. Hot Water Extraction) is the most popular and widely accepted process, the other methods also have their merits. Carpet cleaning chemical manufacturers have spent the last 20 years+ creating new carpet care technologies. Particularly, Encapsulation dry-cleaning and Green based chemicals have been the talk of the carpet cleaning industry for the last few years. Below are the different methods that are available.