Carpet Cleaning

Truck Mount Equipment

Well known amongst carpet cleaning professionals, the truck mount delivers outstanding results and maximized performance. A truck mounted carpet cleaner is a carpet and upholstery cleaning unit that is generally mounted to the floor of a van or trailer. This cleaning method uses hot water extraction and requires that a cleaning van be parked near the premises for easy connection to the vacuum hose and solution lines. The hoses are then brought into the building and connected to a carpet cleaning wand that can be transferred throughout the premises.

Hot Water Extraction or Steam Cleaning:

The hot water extraction cleaning method uses equipment that sprays heated water (not steam), sometimes with added cleaning chemicals, on the carpet while simultaneously vacuuming the sprayed water along with any dislodged and dissolved dirt. Many carpet manufacturers recommend professional hot water extraction as the most effective carpet cleaning method.

The primary advantage of the hot water extraction cleaning method is that effective cleaning is possible using only hot water or hot water with very diluted detergent solutions. This avoids the problems associated with detergent residues that can remain in the carpet with other cleaning methods. Detergent residues on carpet fibers can attract dirt from the soles of shoes as people walk on a carpet causing the carpet to become dirty again soon after cleaning.

Carpet Shampoo:

Wet shampoo cleaning with rotary machines, followed by thorough wet vacuuming, was widespread until about the 1970s, but industry perception of shampoo cleaning changed with the advent of encapsulation. Hot-water extraction, also regarded as preferable, had not yet been introduced.

Wet shampoos were once formulated from coconut oil soaps which leave residues that can be foamy or sticky in addition to leaving behind dirt. Since no rinse is performed, the powerful residue can continue to collect dirt after cleaning which leads to the misconception that carpet cleaning can lead to the carpet getting “dirtier faster” after the cleaning.

Encapsulation:

In the 1990s, new polymers began encapsulating (literally crystallizing) soil particles into dry residues on contact in a process still regarded by the carpet industry as a “growing” and “up-and-coming” technology. Working like tiny sponges, the deep-cleaning compound crystals dissolve and absorb dirt prior to its removal from the carpet.

Cleaning solution is then applied by rotary machine, brush applicator, or compression sprayer. Dry residue is vacuumable immediately either separately or from a built-in unit of the cleaning machine. Encapsulation is thought to improve carpet appearance compared to other systems and it is favorable in terms of high-traffic needs, operator training, equipment expense, and lack of wet residue. Encapsulation also avoids the drying time of carpet shampoos making the carpet immediately available for use.

Bonnet:

This method for carpet maintenance consists of the use of a rotary or oscillating head adapted with a stiff brush or drive block designed to drive wet, damp, or dry pads. The carpet can be sprayed with the cleaning solution and/or the pads can be soaked in the cleaning solution and squeezed lightly before placing the pad under the driving brush.

Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, suggests not using this method, especially on cut pile, due to pile distortion and fiber damage. This method has very limited capability for soil removal and leaves much of the detergent in the pile since it employs no real extraction. As a result, rapid re-soiling often occurs. Another disadvantage is that the spinning bonnet may distort the fibers of cut pile carpet leaving a “fuzzy” appearance as well as distinct swirl marks in the carpet surface.

We encourage you to check with your carpet manufacturer before deciding which cleaning method will be the most efficient in extending the life of your carpet.