If you're talking to carpet cleaning companies, then they'll run you through what they do. As well as cleaning your carpets, companies also often offer other services, such as pre-vacuuming.

While some companies bundle this into their general cleaning package, some charge extra for it. Is pre-vacuuming essential, and why can't you just do it yourself?

Pre-Vacuuming Prepares Carpets for Cleaning

Both wet and dry carpet cleaning processes remove dirt and dust. If you have a pet, then this level of cleaning should also tackle old hair and fur that has embedded into the carpet. Some treatments even remove skin dander flakes that your pet sheds and that get stuck in fibres.

While you can go straight to the cleaning process, vacuuming first has its advantages. This vacuum removes a lot of the loose surface debris in the carpet. It works like a pre-clean, preparing the carpet for its main treatment.

This can give you quicker and better results. Removing loose dirt and dust puts the carpet in a cleaner state. It helps remove debris from the carpet that might affect the main cleaning process.

So when your machine clean starts, this stuff isn't there to get wet, spread around and make the carpet dirtier than it was. The machine targets deeper dirt from the get-go. Your carpet may simply look better at the end of the job if it has a pre-vacuum.

Effective Pre-Vacuuming Needs Extra Power

You may decide that you'll simply run your own vacuum over the carpet to give it your own pre-clean. This is easy enough to do, and it may save you a few dollars.

However, your home vacuum isn't likely to be as effective here as a professional machine. You may get rid of some surface dirt and dust, but your vacuum won't necessarily have strong enough suction to make that much of a difference.

The vacuums that carpet cleaning companies use tend to be commercial grade. They have a lot of extra power and suction; they also often come with special rotating cleaning brushes that give a more effective clean below the surface level.  These machines can get a lot more out of a carpet than your home vacuum can.

To find out if pre-vacuuming is worth doing on your carpet, talk to cleaning companies. They can explain more about the benefits and help you decide if you need this service as well.