I want to focus on some ideas on proper vacuuming. First of all I will start with the industry standard “IICRC” The Clean Trust. They have in their standard for professional carpet cleaners that ALL Carpet MUST be vacuumed before cleaning. Why? at least 85% of soil in a carpet is dry particulate soil. So vacuuming is very important. Dry Master and our featured system Host has maybe the best vacuum machine made. The Host machine we use, (we have both the residential Freestyle and a commercial Liberator) is a unique machine. It is like three machines in one. A carpet cleaning machine that features two counter rotating cylindrical brushes that work the Host sponges cleaner into the carpet. See one of our videos. It is also a gentle pile lifter. Also we can flip a switch and turn on the vacuum. The vacuum joins with the cylindrical brushes on the bottom to remove in our pre-vacuum process much more dry soil than many vacuums. Vacuuming is more about half to two thirds of our time cleaning. We pre-vacuum then we clean and then we vacuum twice after the cleaning step to remove the soiled sponges.
For a homeowner, a good upright bag-less vacuum with a hepa style filter or the more expensive filter-less vacuum work great. Always remember the hopper needs to be emptied every use. This is so important to proper vacuuming. A filter and that includes the bag style or hopper styles, loose so much strength after just one vacuum. It is best to vacuum depending on traffic every few days or sooner. Dry particulate soil can damage the carpet fibers. On a hard floor surface like a kitchen floor if a dog runs in with a lot of sandy mud it get swept up right away, because we can see it sitting there. On a carpet as it dries it will by gravity work down into the carpet fibers so its “gone”. Just because we cant see it does not mean its gone. A carpet can hold 3-6 times its weight in sand and soil. That is another reason why test have shown the proper way to vacuum is 7 times in each direction- N E S W like a compass.
A popular vacuum sold on TV says to take their challenge use their brand new vacuum and after first vacuuming with your machine use their New one. Then cut open their new vacuum bag and see how much more their machine vacuumed out of your rug. Well that shows how much a good running machine works with a new filter bag. If you replaced the belt on your vacuum and put a new bag of filter on yours and vacuumed after their machine you would find more soil when you cut your bag open. Its like a car engine if you put a turbo on it you need to improve the exhaust system too. It all about airflow and good maintenance of your vacuum and of your carpet. A good spot cleaning and professional cleaning will also do much for your carpets life.


