Why Hot Water Extraction from a Van with a Truckmount?

Client says: "I have a Bissel carpet cleaner that I use." 

Client says: "We're not sure we want to spend all that money for you when we can rent a machine at the grocery store."

I hear these comments fairly frequently.  Truckmounts differ from all portable options in three basic ways:

First and foremost they have higher temperatures.  The science behind this says that for every 18 degrees above 118 degrees, so at 136 the cleaning effectiveness of the solution is being used is doubled.  It doubles again at 154, 172, 190, 208, 226, and 244.  This doubling effect means that at 226 degrees the effectiveness it is not just 6 times better but 64 times better.  The machine I use keeps the water fairly constant between 235-240 degrees.

The second advantage to truckmounts is that they have sufficient pressure 300-500psi to flush the emulsified soil from the carpet fiber and rinse it clean.  Portables have between 60-90psi. which is still enough to get the carpet plenty wet which poses a significant problem as you will see in the third factor.

Finally, truckmounts have lots of vacuum to extract nearly all the water they put out.  When a carpet is overwet by an amateur using a portable or an untrained technician the excess water can mix with soil or stains on the carpet back and come to the surface by capillary action as the carpet dries.  This is called wick back as the spots reappear in a few days.  Carpet that stays wet for days can also be a significant health hazard since mold can grow in 72 hours.  Having high temperature water and lots of vacuum gets carpets cleaner, dries them faster and they stay clean longer.

I recently attended a certification class for cleaning hard surfaces.  The buzz from the instructor was that new technology called XRF (X-Ray Flourescent) would soon change our industry.   Essentially it is a space age, hand held meter that measures the amount of soil removed from a carpet.  Professional Testing Laboratories (PTL) tested three different systems a home model, a rental unit and a truckmount.  The results were 6%,15% and 95% respectively. Which one do you want to clean your carpet?  Another advantage of the truckmount is that it is a whole lot less work.

In conclusion, understand that for new carpet all major carpet mills require truckmounted hot water extraction every 12-18 months to keep wear warranties in effect.