A lot of other carpet cleaners getting around will have it mounted in a van. 

These machines run on either petrol or diesel. Therefore they have an engine much like your car. In the near future we will also have affordable battery powered electric options. But we’re not quite there yet.

The difference between a truck mounted carpet machine and say, a portable machine simply comes down to the power they can produce. The result being a much deeper and thorough clean, faster drying times and a more efficient flushing action. In short they produce the best results by far.

Portable machines will plug into a 10 amp outlet of the household. This means they are limited in the power they can use before tripping the meter board.

The operator can get around this by running more power through a generator. But typically portable machines are designed to plug into a standard wall out let. And thus are limited in the amount of power they can produce.

Not to dismiss the value of a portable machine. There are some top quality portable carpet machines that do a fantastic job. I personally have two. I use them when needed. Often for commercial applications that the truck mount carpet machine simply cannot reach.

Picture a high rise apartment complex, or a shop inside a shopping centre. I can still produce top quality cleans with these machines. It just might take me a little bit longer than the truck mount. And these are high end portable machines not a cheap hire from the supermarket!

So why not just hire a portable machine from the supermarket? Well basically although they would have their uses in some situations as a cost effective option. They are at the lowest end of the quality spectrum. You really get what you pay for when it comes to carpet cleaning.

In short there are 3 factors that will effect the quality of the clean and the end result;

Suction: The type and grade of vac motor in the machine will determine how much sucking power the machine has and how effectively that pulls the water, chemical and filth from the carpet or upholstery.

Water Pressure: The amount of PSI the machine can produce. A higher pressure will be able to clean deeper than a lower pressure.

Heat: Any portable carpet machine operator advertising as a “steam cleaner” is simply false advertising. Truck mounts (due to the power they can produce) can reach water temperatures over the boiling point and thus procuring “steam”.

Although in reality most operators will run at somewhere between 70-80 degrees, which is still very effective. Portable machines simply can not heat the water to these temperatures with the limited power they have available.

This article was written by Simon from Coastal Carpet Cleaning, if you would like to get in touch for a quote or to arrange a service please contact us today. For live updates follow us on Instagram or Facebook

Floor Matts in the entrance ways.

Did you know… Roughly 80% of the dry particulate soil dispersed in your home happens in the first 20% of walkways? One simple way to reduce ware and soiling of inside flooring is to install a foot matt inside the doorway. This will go a long way to protecting your carpets main traffic ways.

Become a “shoes off” household.

Simple yet amazingly effective… Protect your carpet with a simple floor matt in the entrance of your home. I can often tell straightaway when walking into a job if the occupants are a “shoes on” or “shoes off“ household. As well as reducing the fine particle soil that footware naturally introduces. You also minimise the ware on the carpet that your rubber soled shoes create through friction.

Carpet and Upholstery Protector.

Basically carpet and upholstery protection can be applied to most carpet types and fabric upholstery. The process is quite simple; its sprayed evenly on the surface mainly the main surfaces, and worked into the fabric with a soft cloth or carpet rake.

How does it help to protect my carpet and upholstery?

Carpet Protector and Upholstery protector provide a Teflon layer which is completely transparent and unnoticeable to the eye. It effectively reduces the carpet surface tension, meaning that any spills will not soak into the fibres. Or at leas be greatly reduces. Allowing much more time to wipe up any spills. I often get requests to fabric protect carpets and upholstery which have recently been purchased. Alternatively we can apply carpet and fabric protector immediately after a steam clean.

Vacuum Regularly.

This is particularly important if you have pets. Dog hair and fine dust particles brought in from outside are a constant source of carpet soiling by owners.

How often you vacuum will depend on your individual situation. A weekly vacuum (with a decent quality machine) will remove the dry particulate soil and avoid build up. For pet hair or human hair, I highly recommend a vacuum cleaner with a spinning brush. This does wonderers in “freeing” the hair from the surface.

Regular Scheduled Carpet and upholstery deep Cleaning by a professional.

By far the best carpet and upholstery protection is to have a professional carpet cleaner service your home. Another common question is “how often should I get a professional steam clean”? 

This is obviously a very customer specific question. It really depends on the individual and their specific needs, lifestyle, living situation etc. I have customers who I service four times a year, and I have customers who I service once a year. 

Often the difference will depend on whether there are pets or messy kids in the house and how many of each there are. It also has a bit to do with how well you are doing all the other things listed above. But the short answer is that once a year is should definitely be the bare minimum and will go a long way to getting a much longer life out of your carpets. Booking a service with Coastal Carpet Cleaning is easy feel free to contact us today.

What About Spills? What should I do?

Whilst I will endeavour to cover individual spills in a future article, this topic gets quite involved as there are obviously many different factors/ variables in each situation. In my experience I have found most people will jump straight onto google and try something themselves before having to call a professional, which is understandable.

Potential problems with Carpet Spotters

The main problem with going to the supermarket and finding some “catchily named” chemical to try, is that once you apply that substance you are not extracting it back out. Now this chemical might be effective in removing the troubled spot to some degree, that area will now form a sticky layer on the surface which as you walk over in the days that follow will attract dust and soil causing dark patches. I see this all the time.

Other Risks to your Carpet/ Upholstery

A second common problem is that carpet varieties vary so much in regards to fibre types. Broadly speaking there are natural or synthetic fibres. And then any combination of both. Often people will not read the tiny writing on the back of the bottle which will suggest to do a spot test first. And so if there are any natural fibres in the carpet such as wool these are prone to bleaching or colour fading.

I’m not suggesting any product at the supermarket is useless just that it is potentially risky! And does have a chance of making the situation worse.

So, what do you do? 

A universal “risk-free” solution to any situation is use diluted dish washing liquid. Dilute at a ratio of around 1:6. And gently scrub it and blot it out with a clean cloth or towel. You then want to dry it as fast as possible through ventilation, heating, stamping with a dry towel. Natural fibres will hold water as they are absorbent. And so it is important to dry it as much as you can.

Finally I will add that prevention is often the best cure! I hope you enjoyed this article on carpet and upholstery protection. I hope it helps you maintain and protect the quality of your carpets and upholstery.

When I first bought my equipment 4 years ago from a guy in St Helens, everything was housed in this old faded white box. “Coastal Carpet Cleaning” was sprayed on every side of it in this retro looking blue and funky font.

I still hadn’t yet though of a good business name at the time, so asked the seller if I could use it. He had no complaint, and thus Coastal Carpet Cleaning was born!

Unfortunately due to some damage to the side door I was forced to obtain a new one and finally it is ready and I am very happy with it. Sign writing still to come.

Special thanks to Chris from Pro Fab Kingston for welding it up to specs and James from Tasmanian Cleaning Specialists for assisting with the swap of machinery.

It was a particularly quiet 2nd quarter this winter at Coastal Carpet Cleaning so I spent some of the spare time welding up a trolly designed specifically for Carpet Cleaning. Mainly when I do portable based jobs that my truck mount can’t reach such as appartments in the city. Pretty happy with how it turned out and the virgin flight went swimmingly. It will make my life a whole lot easier on those portable Carpet Cleaning jobs that happen once in a while.

Whatever your steam cleaning needs may be, I have you covered bringing years of professional carpet cleaning experience in to provide you the best carpet cleaning possible at an honest price.