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.

Steam Cleaning or hot water extraction initially involves the application of a detergent based solution. After appropriate dwell time, a pressurized manual or automatic cleaning tool (aka wand) passes over the surface several times to thoroughly rinse out all residue and particulates.

Heavily soiled areas require the application of pretreatments, preconditioners, or "traffic-lane cleaners", which are detergents or emulsifiers that break the binding of soils to carpet fibers over a short period of time, are commonly sprayed onto carpet prior to the primary use of the dry-cleaning system. One chemical dissolves the greasy films that bind soils and prevent effective soil removal by vacuuming. The solution may add a solvent like d-limonene, petroleum byproducts, glycol ethers, or butyl agents. The amount of time the pretreatment "dwells" in the carpet should be less than 15 minutes, due to the thorough carpet brushing common to these "very low moisture" systems, which provides added agitation to ensure the pretreatment works fully through the carpet.

The newest carpet steam cleaning technology utilizes no soap, detergent, or solvent, rather the cleaning solution is created from water which is modified into a softened, high pH alkaline water. The water is heated to about 200 degrees, and extraction is accomplished with a traditional carpet wand. The high alkalinity works as a degreaser and cleaner, and the pH level returns to neutral within one or two hours, resulting in a cleaned carpet without any soap or detergent residue.

Post extraction is by far the most important step in the hot water extraction process. Since the hot water extraction method uses much more water than other methods like bonnet or shampoo cleaning, proper post extraction is critical to avoid over saturation. When carpet is saturated there is a risk that soils and residue from deep in the carpet fiber and backing will wick up to the surface resulting in browning

Many dry carpet cleaning systems rely on specialized machines. Dry carpet cleaning systems are mostly technically "very low moisture" (VLM) systems, relying on dry compounds complemented by application cleaning solutions, and are growing significantly in market share due in part to their very rapid drying time, a significant factor for 24-hour commercial installations. Dry-cleaning and "very low moisture" systems are also often faster and less labor-intensive than wet-extraction systems.