Different Types of Carpet and Floor Cleaning Equipment used in hotels
Hotels are known for their impeccable cleanliness and maintenance. One of the most important aspects of hotel cleaning is carpet and floor cleaning. There are various types of equipment used for this purpose, each with its own unique features and benefits.
Firstly, there are vacuum cleaners that are used to remove loose dirt, dust, and debris from carpets and floors. These come in different sizes and shapes, with some being handheld and others being large industrial machines. They can also come with different attachments and accessories for cleaning hard-to-reach areas.
Another type of equipment used for carpet and floor cleaning is the carpet extractor. This machine uses hot water and a cleaning solution to deep-clean carpets and remove any stains or dirt that may have accumulated over time. It is especially useful for high-traffic areas or heavily soiled carpets.
For hard floors, there are different types of machines that can be used depending on the surface. For example, a floor buffer is used to polish and buff hard floors like wood or marble. On the other hand, a floor scrubber is used to clean and remove dirt from tiled or concrete floors.
Carpet and floor cleaning machines are very expensive hence they need to be cared for, maintained, stored, and used properly. Some of the commonly used equipment are explained below.
Types of Carpet and Floor Cleaning Equipment used in hotels
- Wet Extractors: These machines are used to restore the surface appearance of carpets, upholstery, and curtains. They remove the more deeply embedded soil which is normally not easily removed by suction cleaning. They are also useful in the application of soil-retardant finishes on carpets.
- Hot-water extraction machines: These are machines with no rotary action. They carry a tank for hot water and detergent, which are used for deep cleaning carpets. The hot water and detergent are shot into the carpet from high-pressure spray nozzles. The dirt is thus flushed to the surface and this, along with the soiled water is removed by suction into a container in the machine. Also, these machines are mistakenly called ‘steam extraction’ machines, there is no generation of steam and the cleaning agents are simply hot water and detergent. Hot water extractors should never be filled with water that is higher than 66° C [ 150° F ] in temperature, This is because wool carpets can shrink at high temperatures.
- Solvent extraction machines: These machines are primarily used for cleaning upholstery and curtains and to a lesser extent for carpets.
- Wet Vacuums: Such types of vacuums are used to pick up spills or to pick up rising water used during carpet or floor cleaning. Many wet vacuums can also be used on floors to pick up dry soil.
- Rotary Floor Machines: These can be used for a wide variety of surface cleaning jobs. For carpets, these machines can be fitted with pads or brushes to perform dry-foam cleaning, and on Hard surface floors rotary floor machines can be used for buffing, burnishing, scrubbing, refinishing, etc.
- Cylindrical-brush dry-foam machines: This system has a cylindrical brush that scrubs that scrubs and picks up in one pass, the foam generated by the machine.
- Rotary-brush wet-shampoo machines: A rotary brush cleaner in conjunction with a wet shampoo is employed for the cleaning of carpets here. The machine comes with a range of accessories including vacuum and drying equipment.
- Small rotary-brushes wet-shampoo machines: This is also a rotary brush cleaner, but employs 2 brushes instead of 1 and is somewhat smaller than the rotary-brush wet-shampoo machine.
- Scrubber-drier-sweepers: These machines remove debris, soiling, and/or water. They are suitable for large areas where mechanical sweeping, scrubbing, and drying are required.
- Power sweepers: These are self-propelled or manually propelled machines designed to remove debris and loosen soiling from roads, pavements, carpets, and large areas of hard flooring.
- High-pressure washers: This type of equipment is designed to remove soiling by subjecting the surface to water, steam, and/or sand under pressure. Water under pressure physically dislodges the dirt. The process can be assisted by the use of hot water, steam, or sand.
- Scarifying machines: Scarifying is the process by which heavy grease, mud, wet sawdust and thick deposits are removed from the surface of floors. The process is employed when simple scrubbing has been ineffective. Here dirt deposits are broken up by the chisel-like action of a wire-brush cutting tool.
Overall, the use of proper equipment is essential for maintaining the cleanliness and appearance of hotel carpets and floors. By using the right equipment and techniques, hotels can ensure that their guests have a comfortable and pleasant stay. It is one of the important tasks in the housekeeping department to decide when and how the carpets and floors should be cleaned. With the great number of cleaning equipment and solutions currently available in the market this has become a complicated task.
