Combat Dust

By: Scott Keller, Vertical Marketing Manager, Nilfisk-Advance

Protecting the health and safety of a facility and its occupants is one of the key challenges of a building services manager. This requires them to keep their building looking clean, visually appealing and, above all, improve the facility’s indoor air quality (IAQ). IAQ can be impacted from many types of dust particles, inside and out. Dust inside a building is present in a wide range of forms, from bacteria and allergens to paper dust and mold. Fine particles, such as asbestos and coal dust also add to dust generation. Dust from outside a facility, such as pollen, pesticides, fertilizers and other natural environmental toxins can also penetrate a building, which adds to poor IAQ.

Building services managers can combat dust particles with carpet cleaning equipment designed to effectively contain dust particles and remove soil while providing efficient, sustainable performance. When selecting carpet care equipment, cleaning professionals turn to the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), which rates machines on their ability to remove soil, contain dust and retain quality carpet appearance.

CRI Certification

A CRI Seal of Approval on a vacuum indicates the machine meets specific standards for operation and performance. Equipment manufacturers voluntarily submit their carpet care models for the Carpet and Rug Institute’s independent testing. An independent board of scientists reviews the test results and recommends whether to certify the machine. The CRI testing program certifies machine performance in three areas:

• Soil Removal: The combination of foot traffic and dust settlement leads to a large amount of soil buildup in carpet. To gain certification, a vacuum must make four passes over a piece of test carpet that contains one-tenth of a gram of soil per square inch of carpet.
• Dust Containment: This protocol evaluates the total amount of dust released into the air during the act of vacuuming, requiring that the vacuum release no more than 100 micrograms of dust particles per cubic meter into the surrounding air. 
• Carpet Appearance Retention: Over time, dust accumulation can wear down carpet fibers and diminish the appearance of carpet. This test is designed to assess the impact of a particular machine on carpet appearance. A cut-pile carpet is subjected to one year of simulated use, including vacuuming and walking. Researchers compare before-and-after photographs to determine the amount of wear incurred using a technique called Spectrographic analysis. The vacuum receives a passing grade if the degree of wear is judged to be equal to or less than one year of standard use. 

Results from all three tests are peer reviewed by experts in the field of maintenance and indoor air quality to assure their validity.

Advance SC450™ Automatic Scrubber Provides a Reliable, Cost-Efficient Solution for Daily Scrubbing

The Advance SC450™ is a battery-operated automatic scrubber designed for daily scrubbing demands. With dependable performance, high productivity and low maintenance, the SC450 provides a cost-efficient solution for contract cleaning in applications ranging from hospitals and schools to manufacturing facilities and warehouses.

Designed with the operator in mind, this contract-grade machine features simple and intuitive controls to ensure easy training. A unique two-button control panel allows users to quickly switch between scrub and vacuum functions, while the vacuum motor, brushes and water automatically shut off when the tank is full or when the machine is in neutral.

The SC450 provides the following benefits:

• Effortless operation with simple, intuitive controls.
• Easy maintenance enables operators to quickly access all machine components.
• Meets sustainable cleaning objectives, providing 68 dB A for daytime cleaning, minimal water and detergent use and maintenance-free AGM batteries.

Carpet Cleaning – Why You Have Carpet Spots

This article was originally published by Bald Guy Clean.

Carpet Cleaning Chemicals – Too Much and Too Many

The first mistake most make when cleaning carpet, it to use too many or too much carpet cleaning chemical. This is because there are so many.

There are probably twice as many carpet cleaning chemicals on the market than there are types of carpet. Everyone has been taught that you need to use pre-spray, de-browner, extraction cleaner, neutralizer, de-foamer, brightener, sanitizer and then a de-odorizor. Then you can apply a stain fighter or carpet protector, but when that fails you need several more chemicals to address specific stains and spots too.

That is a lot of chemical to pump into what is basically fabric! Most of those chemicals are sticky, even when diluted. After you have carpets cleaned, they are wet, right? Put your hand on that wet, clean carpet. Now let your hand dry and tell me what it feels like. Tacky? That’s how your carpet is too. The over use of chemicals are viewed as a short cut to removing dirt, but in fact, they will cause the accumulation of even more dirt. This stickiness stays with the carpet, covering over or even removing the stain fighting abilities that are built into carpet at the mill. The carpets may appear clean at first, but in a very short amount of time, the dirt begins to accumulate much quicker than it did before.

Even worse, when you need to clean them again, you will be battling the sticky residue from the last time you cleaned along with the dirt that it is holding.

Read the full article here to learn more about carpet cleaning solutions and chemicals. 

Advance SW8000™ Rider Sweeper Provides Superior Dust Control for Indoor and Outdoor Power Sweeping

Advance introduces the SW8000™, our newest industrial-sized rider sweeper. Featuring a 50-inch main broom—the widest in this sweeper class—and DustGuard™ side broom dust suppression system, the SW8000 provides the widest dust controlled sweeping path in the industry.

The SW8000 delivers unprecedented dust control through the patent-pending DustGuard dust suppression system, which attacks dust at the greatest source of power sweeper fugitive dust—the side brooms.

In addition to superior dust control, the SW8000 provides the following benefits:

• Quiet, smooth and reliable operation with reduced maintenance costs are achieved with Kubota® engines for all fuel types.
• Easy-to-use, One-Touch™ controls minimizes operator training.
• Clear-View™ design provides operator a comfortable and safe view of side broom and in front of machine.
• Enhanced operator safety with hopper safety arm engagement from the operator seat, impact-absorbing, roto-molded body structure with an integral 5-mph bumper. 

Designed for industrial environments, the SW8000 is ideal for a wide range of applications, including but not limited to manufacturing plants, warehouses, contract and rental cleaners, parking garages, surface lots, municipal parks and amusement parks.