WHICH METHOD
CLEANS BEST?
Dry foam:
The carpet cleaner applies shampoo to your carpet, allows it to dry, and then,
without rinsing, and sucks the dried shampoo into a vacuum. Can you imagine
applying shampoo to your hair, allowing it to dry and then removing the shampoo
from your head with a vacuum? This method leaves dirty residue in your carpet,
which is one reason dry
foam in not too
effective.
Absorbent pad (bonnet
cleaning): This method is similar to dry foam, except that the company sets
a large cotton bonnet on your carpet and with a floor polishing buffer machine
on top "buffs" the carpet. The rotating motion causes the bonnet to absorb dirt
from your carpet. This method is also called bonnet cleaning. Bonnet cleaning is
like trying to use a large cotton towel or mop to rub the dirt out of your
carpet. It's not very effective.
Dry, absorbent powder: The dry-compound method spreads a
moist, absorbent powder through the carpet. The powder is allowed to dry and
then sucked into a vacuum. This method leaves dry sponge particles at the base
of the carpet yam. Because the carpet is not rinsed, this method is not very
effective.
Hot water
extraction: This is a fancy way of saying that a hot water cleaning solution
under high pressure is forced into your carpet and then sucked out of your
carpet.
In a recent Technical
Bulletin, Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet manufacturer, "recommends
the hot water extraction system, which research indicates provides the best
capability for cleaning".
You can
choose from two different types: Truck-mount extraction, which is done with a
large machine mounted in a truck or van. Or portable extraction, which is done
with a small, hand-held unit. On which type to choose, Shaw's Technical Bulletin
states: "[cleaning] can be done from a truck mounted unit outside the facility
with only the hose and wand brought inside, or where a truck mounted unit cannot
reach, by a portable, self-contained system brought into the
facility".
As you can see, Shaw
recommends the truck-mounted unit first. And this isn't surprising. You see, the
truck-mounted unit cleans much better because it heats the water to a high
temperature-and shoots the cleaning solution into the carpet at higher
pressures. This breaks up the dirt, bacteria, chemicals and pollens in the
carpet. Then the machine produces huge vacuum volume to draw the dirt and
chemicals out of your carpet. This is the method Fancy Touch Janitorial
use.
No questions, the most
effective way to clean carpeting is with a hot-water unit mounted in a truck.
It's the most powerful cleaning machine on the market and the only machine that
cleans your carpet of dirt, harmful bacteria, fungus, chemicals, pollens and
tobacco residue