Carpet Cleaning Equipment

Carpet cleaning equipment consists of more than just anything you need to clean your carpet; it's a business that incorporates all these things into a billion dollar industry. It can be broken down into two main categories: commercial and residential use. Then you can break it down further between these two categories to two subcategories: portable equipment and truck mounted equipment. Portable equipment encompasses all of the carpet cleaning equipment in your home, such as vacuums, brooms and dust pans. While there are vacuums that are not easily portable, they don't require heavy equipment to transport them from place to place as with truck mounted gear, which is made for commercial efforts such as offices. This equipment stays in a truck and utilizes long extraction hoses.

The first use of professional carpet cleaning equipment came in 1869 with a sweeping machine made by Ives McGaffey called The Whirlwind. It had a hand pump that controlled a fan that sucked dirt into a canvas bag. It was made of wood and had everything that the modern vacuum has except a motor. Thirty years later Hubert Cecil Booth came out with the first commercial carpet cleaning equipment that was drawn by a horse cart. It was a large gas-powered machine with hoses long enough to reach the indoors of businesses from the street where it was parked. As time passed the machines became smaller and more efficient and by 1908 Will Hoover had purchased the patent to James Murray Spangler's electric version of the Sweeper Machine. The disposable bag filter was invented in 1920 and by the 1950's Bissel incorporated the use soap and water with their machines.

The Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Equipment sits in a truck especially designed to hold the high-powered extraction equipment. The truck acts as a generator to power the equipment. It carries its own water supply and cleaning solution as a self-sustaining mobile unit. Truck mounted carpet cleaning equipment is very powerful system that uses pounds per square inch of water pressure to clean commercial carpets and businesses. This high powered spray ensures that all stains are eradicated thoroughly and that drying is cut in half. There are two basic types of heavy duty cleaning equipment that are truck mounted. One is the slide in truck mount that is easily moved from one truck to another and has its own power system and the other is the van powered truck mount which is simply a stationary unit powered by the van's engine.

This type of residential equipment is also known as carpet steam cleaning equipment. These are made by famous brands like Hoover, Bissel, Eureka and others. It's not really steam cleaning in the sense that you think of steam being used. It's more a system of water and heat. They work by agitating the problem area or areas and then spraying water at them to break up stains. They don't have a high PSI as they are made for light spills and scuff marks, but they do a thorough job for most home issues. They look like vacuum cleaners but they have a container for water and cleaning solutions. One downside is that it takes several days for your carpet to dry after using one of these. These can create odors and mildew if you have high humidity levels in your home.

Portable is a loose term here. What portable carpet cleaning equipment means is that it's not bound to a truck or van. It can still be very large equipment but it will have its own motor power and drive capabilities and is easily handled by one person. They have moderate PSI capabilities and large containers for cleaning solutions but are used for maintaining a carpet surface more than removing deep stains. The units will either have extraction hoses with the suction head of a household vacuum that you push and pull across the floor and have the large container and motor system to drag along behind it or it will be all one piece.

Watch the video below to see truck mounted system. Many of these are available for carpet cleaning equipment rental.