Effective dry cleaning for carpets
August 1st 2005

Conference and Recreational centres attracting heavy daily usage from sometimes 1000’s of people each and every day of the year are increasingly turning to Host von Schrader to solve the problem of both cleaning and maintaining the appearance and life of carpeted areas Mike Egerton, UK managing director, Host von Schrader, “It’s not just simply a cleaning issue with these centres but how to keep carpets looking their best through the application of a planned maintenance programme. Dry Clean not Wet Clean, is our mantra and one which happily is now being taken on board by Facility Managers and Cleaning Supervisors charged with the task of provide round the clock usage of their facilities”.

“Two recent case histories demonstrate this growing trend both of which have differing criteria but need the same end result”.

Burleigh Court is a purpose built conference facility attached to the 10 000 student Loughborough University. As a specialist sports and engineering university the demands placed on this facility are high – the centre is open 365 days of the year! With over 2000 sq metres of carpet and often more than 1000 people at the centre the task of maintaining the carpet is challenging to say the least for the 16 strong team of cleaners led by supervisor, Helen Higgins. “Burleigh Court has a demanding daily schedule and the need to turn round bedrooms and public access areas quickly led us to investigate Host’s dry cleaning process. We have seen instant results and our operators found the machines easy to use and strain free. It’s a simple three stage process”.

Firstly, Host’s new generation of equipment incorporating their integrated vacuuming system, ExtractorVac, powerfully removes dry embedded soil from carpets even right down to the carpet backing.

This is a critical first stage of the cleaning process given that up to 85% of the soil in carpet is dry and can therefore be removed by this unique system.

The second stage of the process involves the brushing of the Host sponges onto the carpet surface. Host’s sponges are a safe, non-toxic, biodegradable cleaner which deep cleans by dissolving, trapping and removing spots, spills and greasy or oily stains. The third and final stage is the removal of the sponges by the powerful vacuuming up of the now soiled cleaner using Host’s ExtractorVac.

Clive Morey building and cleaning services manager at New Forest Commercial Services had a similar dilemma. With over five recreation centres, one golf club, five large public offices and sixty other housing and hostel sites to look after one problem was common throughout – how to keep carpet maintained and looking good.

Clive Morey, “one top of the appearance and maintenance of our carpets, there were three additional problems. The first was the migration of water based glues through the Heckmondwike carpeting that comprises 80% of the floor covering, the cause of this being over wetting. Secondly was the need on a daily basis to get carpet clean, dry and back in use immediately. There was a need to focus on the carpet that was in continual use and needed high levels of attention. Finally, there was a problem with transition areas where there was a change from carpet to a hard floor. Wetness on carpets tracked onto hard floors or simply on the soles of shoes was a slip and fall issue that could not be ignored”.

“We was decided that a dry cleaning process was the answer. I knew about HOST and talked to industry colleagues who recommended the system with its new generation of equipment incorporating the integrated vacuuming system.

The results were instant, our operators found the machine was easy to use and the system is very transportable and so our three fully qualified operators can move easily from site to site at New Forest”.

The other major influencer in Clive’s descision to use the Host system was the rolling training programme provided by local distributor, Julian Stoneman of CMG. A planned programme across the varied property portfolio was put into place with a maintenance schedule dictated by the traffic flow and soiling of individual carpeted areas.

Clive Morey, “the training and maintenance schedule together with the overall efficiency of the system has meant that our carpet now looks great days after we have cleaned it, spots we’ve cleaned go away permanently and there is no wick back – we have seen substantial productivity gains and now that we are in total control of the system we don’t have any quality problems at all”.

Mike Egerton, “Whilst hot water extraction can still be used at both these centres for disaster recovery, the Host system is proving a much more reliable and cost effective method of cleaning and maintaining Helen and Clive’s carpeted areas. They get more usage due to the quick turn round and their carpets last longer and look better than they have ever done before”.

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