WHERE DO THE SAND AND PEBBLES GO?

Have you used an $80 discount store vacuum cleaner lately? You know, the kind a large majority of households own. Notice what happens as you're vacuuming? That familiar sound of sand and pebbles rolling around the vacuum canister but never being sucked up and removed. According to Proctor and Gamble, 79% of the soil contained in a carpet is insoluble soiling. Insoluble soiling are things like sand, quartz, and gypsum that cannot be dissolved by water based solutions or solvent based solutions. The simple truth is that the majority of those "sandpaper like" abrasive insoluble soils are not being removed by household vacuuming. Without professional pile lifting equipment, even the most conscientious housekeeper's vacuum cannot remove the majority of them.

That leads to what we all endorse--the need for professional cleaning. But if one examines professional or even do-it-yourself cleaning methods, one concludes that in comparing the professional cleaning method's ability to remove insoluble soiling, not all is equal. In fact, you'll see only one cleaning method is highly effective at removing insoluble soiling from carpets.

Let's take a look at how various cleaning methods approach the removal of insoluble soiling:

  1. DRY POWDER--The use of absorbent dry powders which are designed to work like "thousands of tiny sponges" is primarily designed for solvent soluble soiling. In principle, the dry solvents contained in a dry powder system break down and dissolve the solvent soluble soiling. Then the absorbent powder surrounds the dissolved solvent soluble soiling and absorbs the water soluble soiling, and all of this chemical and residue is designed to be removed by vacuuming. Obviously, nothing in dry powders dissolves insoluble soiling.
  2. CARBONATED SPIN BONNET--Bonnet Cleaning chemicals are designed to break down water soluble and solvent soluble soiling. The addition of carbonation to this process is designed to aid in the chemical activity that dissolves soiling as well as to assist in the "emulsifying process" of large particles. The Spin Bonnet then absorbs the soiling. Herein lies the problem with removing our sand and pebbles. This insoluble soiling, through foot traffic, has been driven deeper and deeper into the carpet and carpet backing. Spin Bonnet is a surface cleaning method. It cannot get down deep into the carpet and backing and bring large particles upward. Even if it could, the particles would be far too heavy to be absorbed and held by the spin bonnet. In actuality, the carbonation has little if any effect on insoluble soiling because of its particle size. The spin bonnet is unable to absorb the small amount of insoluble soiling that it can attract from the surface of the carpet. As a matter of fact, the pressure of the rotary machine actually drives these particles deeper into the carpet making them even harder to remove.
  3. CHEMICAL ABSORPTION SPIN BONNET--The chemical absorption spin bonnet method does not use carbonation to assist it in its cleaning process. Instead it uses a chemical prespray which is designed to act like the positive charge of a magnet upon soiling. Then the chemical contained in the spin bonnet pad is designed to act like the negative charge of the magnet. That means they are designed to be attracted to each other for soil removal. The spin bonnet chemical is still designed to break down water soluble soiling and solvent soluble soiling. The spin bonnet then absorbs and removes the soiling. We still have the problem with removing our sand and pebbles. It's been driven deep into the carpet. This bonnet cleaning method is still a surface cleaning method. It cannot get deep down into carpet and backing and bring large particles upward. Even if it could, or even if the large particles were surrounded by the prespray to become positively charged, they are still far too heavy to be absorbed and held by the spin bonnet. Once again,, the pressure of the rotary machine actually drives these particles deeper into the carpet, making them harder to remove.
  4. SHAMPOOING--The foaming of a shampoo chemical can emulsify insoluble particle soiling to a certain extent. But you are still limited by the power of the vacuum to remove the particle. In addition, the sheer weight of the emulsified particle may prevent it from being removed. However, using a shampoo/hot water extraction process can be highly effective. We'll discuss that later.
  5. DRY FOAM SHAMPOO--A dry foam shampoo will emulsify and surround the insoluble particle soiling that it can reach. However, the injection system of a dry foam application is not designed to inject foam too deep into the carpet because it would be too difficult to vacuum out. The cylindrical brush of most dry foam applicators will assist in the removal of some soiling, but it will drive the large particles deeper. Here we are limited also by the power of the dry extraction process.
  6. PROFESSIONAL TRUCK MOUNTED HOT WATER EXTRACTION (STEAM CLEANING)--The Hot Water Extraction Process effectively works upon the insoluble particle soiling in four ways:
      First, the jet injection of water dislodges the particles deep into the carpet.

      Second, the wide variety of cleaning chemical used both in the prespray and in the rinsing process contain emulsifying and lubricating agents which will surround the particle to assist in removal as well as make it easier to remove.

      Third, during the rinsing phase of the extraction process, a large majority of even the largest particles are picked up by the water.

      Fourth, the power of the vacuum system reaches well down into the carpet and carpet backing to allow the suction to remove 96-97% of the soiling in the carpet, including the insoluble particle soiling!

In areas where large particle insoluble soiling is really an intense problem (such as beach front properties, mountain homes, etc.), we recommend the use of a very foamy prespray such as a Carpet Shampoo followed by an extraction rinsing process.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Quite simply, it is easy to see that Hot Water Extraction is by far the superior method for removing the sand and pebbles. Add to that its superior cleaning action upon water soluble soiling and solvent soluble soiling, its extremely low residue level, its versatility in using the cleaning action of temperature, then its the obvious choice for restoration cleaning. Dry Powder, Bonnet Cleaning, Dry Foam Shampooing, and Shampooing are appearance interim maintenance cleaning methods that can be used in commercial carpet maintenance programs. The truth is that all of the marketing hype in the world cannot make them as effective for restoration cleaning of carpets. Nothing replaces flat out performance! It really "chaps my hide" when I see purveyors of other cleaning systems sell marketing over performance. It is our job, our responsibility to give the customer the very best cleaning job. It is our responsibility to educate them. The truth is that Steam Cleaners do need to be better salespeople. We need to educate consumers about professional cleaning. We need to effectively and excitedly "sell" the performance of the Steam Cleaning Process. It simply works better.

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