What is a Carpet Brush and How to use it (Pros & Cons)

I am all about health and wellness when it comes to my home. I know that cleaning carpets in time is the thing, which keeps my home attractive and neat for me and my family members. To clean up the carpet fast, I use a carpet brush. Let’s go deeper and reveal all information about this little helper.

A carpet brush is a simple device, which consists of bristles and a handle. There’s a great variety of carpet brushes, available in the market. The bristles can have various stiffness and the handle can have different length. It is possible to pick up a suitable brush for any type of carpet fabric and pile. Read further to know, what 3 types of carpet brushes exist. 

A Few Words about Carpet Brush

A brush is a rather old device, invented by mankind. The typical brush was changing through time and new kinds of it appeared. Thus, nowadays we have special brushes for cleaning carpets, among which there are many variations. Thus, there’s a universal brush, suitable for each carpet. There are also special brushes for cleaning various types of carpets and certain dirt on them. There are 3 main types of carpet brushes: manual, mechanical, and electrical. Let’s look a little closer at each of them. 

Main 3 Types of Carpet Brushes 

1. Manual carpet brush

A manual carpet brush seems too simple to modern users. Nevertheless, it is one of the most productive devices, which helps you maintain your carpet properly. I am sure, each homeowner has several manual brushes at home. Very often manual brushes are used not only for carpets but also for furniture and car upholstery. Look at the video to see, how to use manual carpet brushes.

I am sure, you’ll be overwhelmed with the wide variety of manual carpet brushes, which are available nowadays in the market. The manual brushes can be either low- or long-bristled. Besides, the brush bristles may be natural or artificial; soft or stiff. They may have either short or long handles.

Usually, manual carpet brushes are not expensive. That’s why I have several different brushes of this kind at home for various types of carpets. 

2. Mechanical carpet brush

A mechanical carpet brush is a simple device from a technical point of view. It consists of a long handle and a brush, which has several wheels on its bottom. The wheels circle and make the brush move and it collects pet hair and debris from the carpet pile. If you have such a brush at home, you can arrange the dry cleaning for your carpets as often as you wish.

Mechanical carpet brushes are made of plastic and metal. Some models can change the height of the brush roller to capture larger or smaller debris. According to the description of the manufacturers, such brushes clean fast and well small debris, dust, cigarette ash, and dry dirt on carpets.

3. Electrical carpet brushes

The 3rd type of carpet brush is the electrical one. It is also a simple device, which looks similar to the mechanical brush. From a technical point of view, these two kinds of brushes are identical. The only difference is the electrical motor, which is joined to the brush’s wheels. The motor makes their circle. Electrical brushes can collect debris and dust faster than mechanical and manual ones.

In addition to these 3 types of brushes there are also carpet brushes for vacuum cleaners, but we won’t focus our minds on them in this post. I want to pay your attention to carpet brushes, which serve as a budget alternative to a vacuum cleaner.

How to Use a Carpet Brush?

A carpet brush removes dirt from a low-pile or long-pile carpet (it depends on the brush type). Your priority when cleaning a carpet is to focus on dirt patches and run your brush over them until they escape. Doing so ensures dirt particles do not cling to your carpet.

Cleaning your carpet with a carpet brush alone is often not effective. If you see, that a carpet brush is not enough to remove all dirt and stains from the fabric, finish the cleaning process with a vacuum or steam cleaner.

If you’re deciding which carpet brush to buy, I’ll help you to know the pros and cons of different types of carpet brushes

Pros

Pro 1: Carpet brushes are cheap

Carpet brushes are very cheap and easily available. A carpet brush typically costs around $10 to $12. You won’t have to worry about spending too much money on just a brush. If you are looking for a cheap alternative to a professional carpet cleaning service, a carpet brush is just the right product for you.

Pro 2: Carpet brushes can reach spots that are hard to find

You can even reach spots that would normally not be reachable with a carpet rake. This way, carpet brushes allow a process of thorough cleaning. You can easily brush out any corner of a carpet and ensure nothing is left out.

Pro 3: Carpet brushes are portable

You can take a carpet brush almost anywhere with you. Their small size allows them to be easily transported. You won’t be able to do the same with a carpet rake. Because of their small sizes, carpet brushes can also be stored easily.

Pro 4: Carpet brushes don’t have any special instructions to use

No difficult instructions need to be followed when using a carpet brush. Anyone can use a carpet brush. Other carpet cleaning equipment requires you to read a long list of manual instructions before getting to work.

Pro 5: Carpet brushes are effective 

The carpet brush of any type copes well with various kinds of stains and with cleaning the carpets. The brush is especially effective if you use it with some cleaning product.

Pro 6: Carpet brushes are noiseless

I am sure, you can’t clean the carpets with a vacuum if the kids are sleeping in your house or if it is early morning, etc. The vacuum makes lots of noise, so sometimes you refuse from cleaning the rugs with it to keep silence in your home.

But cleaning carpets and rugs with brushes – no matter manual, mechanical or electrical ones – is noiseless. So, you can start cleaning anytime you like.

Cons

Con 1: Carpet brushes can damage sensitive rugs

You might want to get a carpet brush with softer bristles when dealing with a sensitive carpet. Some rugs and carpets are at risk of tearing. These brushes intend to perform surface-level cleaning. You will end up damaging your carpet if you want to go deeper into the fibers.

Con 2: Carpet brushes are time and energy consuming

Using a carpet brush can be time and energy-consuming. You might want to look for a faster alternative such as a vacuum cleaner. Using a brush on your carpet is generally considered an ineffective method for deep cleaning. Brushing out a carpet is just a temporary fix.

If you’re someone who has already got too much on your plate, consider opting for a faster alternative that can give you instant results.

Con 3: Carpet brushes are hard to be cleaned themselves

Have you finished your carpet cleaning with a brush? Now it’s time to wash the brush itself. It is a quite hard process. You have to clean up from the brush’s bristles the pet hair, debris, food remnants, etc. This process may be quite hard and not pleasant.

Do Carpet Brushes Work?

I have to say, that carpet brushes work. I recommend having at home several manual brushes with bristles of various levels of stiffness and length. Besides, you may get brushes of various sizes to clean the carpets in the areas, which are hard to reach.

I also advise you to get the mechanical or electrical carpet brush to use is instead of a vacuum cleaner. You may use it for fast silent cleaning if you can’t make a lot of noise, but still need to refresh your carpet look. 

Conclusion

We have discovered, what a carpet brush is and its pros and cons. We also discussed 3 different types of carpet brushes. It is necessary to pick up the type of brush bristles, which is suitable for your carpet pile. Otherwise, the brush can tear the fragile carpet fabric, if its stiffness is not chosen correctly. It has its own set of benefits and disadvantages. Carpet brushes are cheap, portable, and do not require any special instructions. However, they can take too much of your time and energy.

If you liked reading about carpet cleaning, go ahead and check out our post about steam cleaning on carpets.