Your First Line of Defence Against Pests
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Most operators may not comprehend that the commercial grade machine, that you took a deep breath to purchase, is really responsible for saving your operation from a major infestation. All the more reason to emphasise to your cleaning staff, the importance of being thorough. Just because the carpet looks clean, you indeed do need to vacuum the whole room. Move and vacuum behind the bed and vacuum the mattress as part of the cleaning ritual. Most cleaning staff need to be trained to conform to these standards and it's a big mistake to assume they have the same standards of hygiene you do. You cannot always control the level of hygiene your guests practice either, and making a great job of vacuuming is essential to remove new unwanted guests and their eggs!
This brings up the question of which machine do I invest in? To make a great job you also need a great machine, one that is reliable, able to effectively filter out allergens, pollen and other nasties.
What is HEPA?
This is the acronym we give to vacuum filters that operate at around 99.95 per cent or greater.
It stands for High Efficiency Particle Arrester and is very good news for anyone using one, even the cleaner breathing the vacuum exhaust! It should be the standard for hospitality as the most basic life form of any vac and first requirement. As long as you have a vacuum with reasonable power, remember all vacuums rely on airflow to operate efficiently; HEPA is an excellent first choice to upgrade your machine. Like all good things,these filters don't last forever, and should be replaced annually to maintain high performance.
Power head brushes / Upright Vacuums ? Get these by all means possible. If the budget extends to a genuine upright commercial vacuum, these are the premium choice for hospitality provided a HEPA filter or similar is employed. Upright machines typically start around the $850 plus GST mark and move north from here on, depending on the foot width purchased.
The latest air driven brushes are amazingly efficient and provided you keep at cleaning staff to use a razor blade on hair caught by the brush, these are my choice to raise cleaning standards in a cost effective way. It can be as simple as replacing the vacuums foot with the air brush. I have seen these priced from $93 to $275 and frankly the $93 dollar unit was better!
So which machine do I invest in? What are the pros and cons of these essential tools?
Firstly, use a machine with a bag! Eliminate all domestic types from your reckoning with their claims of two thousand watts and more. You find out quickly the watts drawn is not really a guide to superior performance. Also that commercial grade machines can not be compared with domestic units watt for watt . I say use a bag because of the nature of our industry, always coping with a new batch of unwanted guests who would like to rule the world. A word on bags, go for a machine employing the new matrix white filter material which fills up 40% more dust than a paper bag and improves the machines airflow. Having a bag to empty is more hygienic and pleasant for the cleaner who will rarely go to the trouble of obtaining another vacuum to clean the cloth dust bag if ever. Using a bag can save a lot of grief and extends the life of the motor, because all dry machines employ flow thru motors, which are quieter than wet vacs by-pass motor designs. Less dust thru the motor equals more motor life- simple.
You want a machine that has parts back up, has a proven track record under our tough conditions and will take a hammering. Machines with an ABS plastic base are a good choice, also stainless steel tubes will last the life of the machine without denting or rusting. If the machine has a retractable cord make sure that this is performed via a crank handle rather than a spring. We find that retractable cord machines of this nature are very popular with cleaners who are tired at the end of their shift.
Wet & Dry Machines and Extraction Machines.
Most wet and dry vacuums use a filter system specific to wet use. When one wishes to use it dry with dusty conditions, the machine must be taken apart, the wet filter removed, the tank dried out, the dust bag installed, the dry filter fitted and the machine reassembled for use. All this is easy if you know how, but there is now a machine with a cartridge type filter able to perform wet to dry to wet operation without fuss. As stated above all wet machines are much more noisy than their dry cousins, but what a useful addition to any hospitality operation!
Extraction machines should be regarded at the top of any hospitality operations wish list.
These machines are wet vacuums with two tanks, one for fresh water or detergent solution and one for recovery of dirty water. A pump sprays water onto the surface to be cleaned, and this is then recovered by the wet vacuum into a separate tank. These machines have nearly no limit in terms of how much one can spend, it all depends on the size of your operation and wallet, but there is a machine on the market featuring 3 in 1 functions – wet, dry, or extraction cleaning for $849 plus GST. Great value in my book.
Add to this, an upholstery wand and carpet wand along with wet/dry use tool kit and you have one blast of a package.
So enjoy shopping for vacuums but remember that almost any new vacuum will suck well on first start up. It's down the track that the men are sorted out from the boys, as the motor has to cope with whatever is drawn thru it, inferior grade filtration increases the load, cheap grade materials now are coping with loads outside of the intended design limits and hey presto, you need to buy another cheap $89 unit from your favorite chain store. . .
The message is clear – no one ever regretted buying quality.
