Anyone who has spent time cleaning carpets knows the approach
to getting a carpet/rug clean you must follow 5 basic actions:
- Dry
soil removal
- Soil suspension
- Soil
extraction
- Pile
setting (finishing or grooming)
- Drying.
For the sake of this conversation I’ll step to the second
bullet because I truly believe this is where OPers have a distinct advantage
over other methods. With regards to soil
suspension what we can do is employ:
- chemical
action
- heat
- agitation
- time
to maximize
removal. And as you’ll see some steps
carry more weight than others.
Chemical Action
Our first step in soil suspension is to use products that
reduce the surface tension and dissolve the various soils (chemical action). What’s different about OPers is that when we
use encapsulation we are emulsifying some dirt but in general we are growing
macroscopic/bulk particles for removal by vacuuming. I maintain this is one cool approach that
works quite well. However, when we using
colloidal chemistry products (like Orbit Natural and Abstraction) we are using
a “technology” that most other’s cleaners overlook.
The dirt and grime in carpets are layers of fine films made
up of fat, oil, grease, bacteria, dust mites and skin etc. These films are
bonded to each other and to the carpet fiber surface by amino and fatty acids.
Most cleaners emulsify some of these films, but do not break down the amino and
fatty acids which attract more soil to the carpet. Colloidal chemistry cleaning
products use plant based ingredients to remove these films and acids.
The nano sized particles called micelles that represent the
active ingredient in the products effectively cut through the carbon bonds in
organic molecules and emulsify organic matter.
Oil, grease and urine are broken down, suspended and safely lifted away
from the carpet fibers. The quick degradation of organic waste causes a
significant reduction of offensive odor caused by the naturally slow process of
decay, and reduced organic residue will cause a diminution in population of
disease carrying insects. Our OP process returns bounce to carpet fiber and
effectively removes organic soil without damaging textile fibers.
Elevated Temperature (Heat)
Heat
reduces the surface tension of water and enables faster, more efficient
cleaning than cold water. It is merely a matter of thermodynamics: heat
accelerates the molecular activity of chemicals employed, and thus aids in
separation of unwanted matter from fibers.
The issue here is that our first step whether encapsulation or colloidal
chemistry does a great job of either isolating the dirt as a bulb particle or
emulsifying the dirt thoroughly and thus eliminating the need to bring in heat
via copious amount of hot water.
Agitation
Agitation
is required to accomplish uniform chemical penetration and distribution
throughout the carpet. In the absence of
agitation, soil suspension tends to be non-uniform, which is often indicated by
soil streaks following the removal process.
Again what’s great for OPers is that our equipment delivers an aggressive
agitation other carpet cleaners can’t provide.
The best a “steam cleaner” can do is comb in the pre-conditioning
chemicals. The other option would be to employ a bonnet / OP machine before HWE
but this approach would be too labor and time prohibited as well as cost
ineffective.
Time
Regardless of cleaning technique we all have time but it is
often the least considered in obtaining soil suspension. Those soils in the carpet did not appear
overnight, they were deposited and compacted over time so we must give the
products time to perform their chemical action.
Let “dwell time” be your friend and get adequate fiber penetration and
maximum soil suspension will occur. If
in doubt follow chemical manufacturer’s instructions.
------------- Mike Po
Centex Green
mike@centexgreen.com
http://twitter.com/centexgreen
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