Which
Method Should I Use???
WHICH METHOD CLEANS BEST ?
There are several sub-categories in some of the main methods, but in general there are:
"DRY" FOAM: The cleaner applies a shampoo to your carpet, uses a rotating brush to work the foam into the fibers, allows it to dry, and without rinsing, sucks the dried shampoo (and presumably, dirt) into a vacuum. Compare this to shampooing your hair, without rinsing, letting it dry to a powder, then vacuuming the chunks out. Of course, some of the dried residue is expelled back into the air to settle down into your carpet once again. Try that on your hair! Older method.For Maintenance cleaning only.
ABSORBENT PAD (bonnet cleaning): Similar to the dry foam method, except a large "bonnet", or cotton pad is used on a floor buffing-type machine. The rotating bonnet is supposed to absorb the shampoo and dirt from your carpet until it is saturated, at which point the bonnet is rinsed out and replaced. In some cases, the bonnet is saturated with the shampoo solution first, then placed on the machine, where it releases the solution into the carpet, then supposedly soaks it back up again. This is one of the more popular "dry cleaning" methods used, also called "dry-chemical". Compare this to working a washcloth into a lather, then applying it to your dry hair, then using the same washcloth to draw out the shampoo again. Without rinsing! Some companies now use solutions that leave less of their own residue.Still, For Maintenance cleaning only.
"DRY" ABSORBENT POWDER: The most recent versions of this method are available in supermarkets and department stores. A water-based solution is sprayed onto carpet. Then a dry compound is sprinkled onto the wet carpet, and is worked down into the fibers. The magical powder is supposed to cause the carpet to release dirt and pollutants, which are then absorbed back into the compound particles. Once it is dry, the powder is then vacuumed back out of the carpet. Some of it will undoubtedly be blown back into the air to settle once again in your carpet and on furniture. A good portion of it will settle deep down enough into the carpet where not even the vacuum will pick it up, leaving even more residual particles than before. Again, for Maintenance cleaning only.
Note that all of the above "dry cleaning" methods use water in the process. Most companies that use these methods also condemn the use of hot water extraction for leaving the carpet damp or moist. A damp carpet will dry out. Will a dirty carpet get cleaner as it sits? We think not.
HOT WATER EXTRACTION: A fancy way of describing the process of forcing cleaning solution under pressure into your carpet fibers then almost immediately extracting the solution along with soil and other contaminants back out of the carpet with high vacuum.
Some companies spray a cleaning solution into the DRY carpet at the same time as it's extracted. How much work can a cleaning agent do if it's only in contact with your carpet for a second or two? While this may be somewhat effective on new or very lightly-used carpets, OUR standard is to pre-condition or pre-spray the ENTIRE carpet to be cleaned, allowing "dwell time" for the chemical to work properly before extracting the suspended dirt, emulsified pollutants, and remaining cleaning agent from the carpet.
In a recent Technical Bulletin, Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet MAKER, recommends "the hot water extraction system, which research indicates, provides the best capability for cleaning."
You can choose from two main types of Hot Water Extraction Cleaning: Truck-mounted or portable.
Within the truck-mounted type, there is truck-powered and non-truck-powered (powered by auxiliary gasoline engine or electric motor). Portables are usually electrically-powered, although there are also gasoline-powered portables on the market. Either type may use a cleaning wand (looks like the floor attachment of a home vacuum, except larger and made of metal).
These Hot Water Extraction machines use pressurized solution nozzles to inject hot cleaning and rinse solutions into the carpet and high volume vacuums to draw out the dissolved and emulsified dirt, contaminants, chemicals and rinse. The more powerful the vacuum provided and the greater the airflow, the drier the carpet is after treatment. Good companies use a chemical neutralizer to stabilize the pH of the carpet when rinsing.
More conscientious companies use a more preferable rotary powerhead that cleans from all angles and provides superior agitation of the carpet for better soil extraction (estimated 6 times more effective agitation than a regular wand). Whether truck-mounted or portable, look for companies that use rotary agitation machines.
There are currently 3 major tools in this category. Of the 3, I have used 2 extensively. Both were designed by the same inventor. I use the latest design which incorporates features missing from the first one. The third remaining model is a combination of the first two machines, and includes some design features of the older and newer machines.
NOTE: Even though truck-mounted units advertise superior vacuum capacity and higher temperatures, these are measured at the truck. Frequently, hoses have to be run as much as 150 feet from outside, which can cause a significant loss of both heat and vacuum. A truck-mount that boasts of 200 degree heat at the truck can lose 30 degrees in the hoses, AND another instant 20-30 degree loss in the air gap between the nozzle and the carpet, meaning perhaps 140 degrees at the carpet in cool weather. When used only with the standard cleaning wand, such a machine also loses a considerable amount of vacuum power due to parasitic drag within long hose runs. Each time the technician lifts the wand off the floor and breaks the vacuum, it takes time for the machine to re-establish a higher level of vacuum when the wand is put back down - just as with a regular household vacuum cleaner does. The longer the hoses, the longer it takes to reach full vacuum. Thus, in many instances, the truck mounts using hand wands-only, aren't reaching full vacuum capacity since technicians can't afford to wait for the extra 3-5 seconds each time they place the wand back down. They would take twice as long to do the job!
Using a rotary-jet extraction machine like our Rotovac ensures that there is no such lag time. So solution application, agitation and extraction are always done at a uniform rate.
Our truck-mounted cleaning plant incorporates a propane water heating source to make sure we make the grade when heat is what is needed most. Most units today are of a heat exchanger design rather than fuel heated (propane, kerosene).
When a truck mount or high-powered portable, such as we use, is combined with the Rotovac powerhead, cleaning takes place under the stainless steel heads which sit on the carpet at all times. This means much less heat lost in the air gap, since the spray nozzles are closer to the carpet and enclosed. It also means a more constant vacuum level, since the vacuum nozzles are in constant contact with the carpet. My equipment is ALWAYS operating at the peak combination of both airflow and vacuum suction.
The only setup that might provide cleaning superior to this arrangement would be a very high-powered truck-mounted unit, used in conjunction with the same type of powerhead. This assumes all IICRC guidelines are followed. Very few companies in any given geographical area use such a combination, primarily due to cost of the powerhead. In general, about 5% of companies use a powerhead (meaning 95% use regular wands). Remember that only about 25% of technicians are IICRC-certified.
The primary advantage of a truck vs. a portable is an increase in daily capacity with a truck mount. i.e., The truck could clean more in a day than the portable, IF all other factors are equal. If all factors are NOT equal, then you are comparing apples to oranges because you will arrive at two very different leves of cleaning.
Another factor to consider is this: Quality, type and capacity of the equipment itself. There are MANY equipment manufacturers, each of which have a number of models - usually of both truck-mounted AND portable equipment. There is a difference between Truck-MOUNTED machines and Truck-POWERED machines. Truck-powered machines use the vehicle engine for power. Truck-MOUNTED equipment might use a separate gasoline engine ranging from 14 to 50+ horsepower. There are also Truck-MOUNTED units that are electrically-powered from the client's home. Likewise, there are also gas and electrically-powered PORTABLE machines. All of these machines have a WIDE VARIETY of solution pumps, number and type of vacuum blowers, heaters or heat exchangers and the like. With all of this variety, it is no surprise then that clients rarely see consistent results based solely upon the general type of equipment used.
TACH Cleaning Co. uses truck-mounted equipment and full-power professional portable equipment incorporating not one, but TWO of the strongest (portable) vacuum motors available.
Our unique combination of extractor, rotary-jet powerhead agitator, top-quality chemicals, experience in some of the best homes in the area, and formal training and testing, are what makes us so successful at what we do - Clean your home until it can get no cleaner.
Regardless of which Hot Water Extraction (professional) equipment is being used, it remains the most thorough overall method of carpet cleaning because it rinses the dirt, bacteria, fungus, dust mites, etc. from your carpet. It also flushes out what was left behind by many of the "dry" cleaning methods.
All Site Contents Copyright
©1997-2007,
Frank Nihei, TACH Cleaning Co.