Most carpet manufacturers recommend "Hot Water Extraction" as the preferred carpet cleaning method. Other names for this method of carpet cleaning is "Warm Water Extraction" or "Steam Cleaning". It is the method that nearly all carpet manufacturers and carpet fiber producers recommend.

This is the only carpet cleaning method classified as "deep cleaning". Others are considered "light surface cleaning" because they are incapable of removing soil deep in the pile. In addition, all other methods leave large amounts of cleaning agent in the carpet after cleaning.

Portable or truck-mounted equipment is used to spray heated detergent solution into the carpet pile at a high pressure, and is immediately extracted along with the suspended soil particles.

From a health standpoint, the truck-mounted system is preferred because the dirty air and humidity are exhausted outside rather than recirculated around the house. Additionally, truck-mounted systems usually are more powerful than portable units and do a much better carpet cleaning job and get the carpet dry more quickly.