How many times have you seen or heard a carpet cleaner claim to be cleaning in accordance with the Australian Standard? When I ask them, they generally tell me that they pre-vacuum a carpet before they clean it and that makes them compliant with the standard.

A thorough pre-vacuum prior to restorative or corrective cleaning is certainly part of the overall maintenance process, but it is by no means the only thing that makes someone compliant with the “Australian Standard 3733/1995 Textile Floor coverings: Cleaning and maintenance of commercial and domestic carpeting.” I’ll explain….
There is a clause in the standard, under “Preparation for Hot Water Extraction, that says “5.5.2.2 (b) Vacuum, and if necessary, pile lift the carpet thoroughly (see Clause 4.3.1 (c) (d) (e) and (f)” and this is the clause that most people seize on to say that they are “cleaning in accordance with the standard”.

The clause itself actually says very little. It refers to other clauses from a different section of the standard. It is just one clause out of over 30 pages of the standard. To say that you clean in accordance with the standard means that you must be compliant with the hundreds of other clauses in the standard as well. So before you use this in your advertising and risk prosecution under the trade practices act, you really need to read, and more importantly, understand the Australian Standard 3733/1995.
The one thing I have noticed is that most people who say that they comply with the standard have never actually read the standard, let alone own a copy of it. You can buy copies on line at www.standards.com.au.

If they did read it, then they would find another clause 5.5.3.3 (p) which states “Thoroughly vacuum a carpet after it is completely dry.” How many carpet cleaners return to vacuum a carpet after the carpet is completely dry? If you don’t, are you non-compliant with the standard? Yes, dry soil removal is an important part of the standard, and nearly every other cleaning procedure for that matter. More importantly, and this is a big section of the standard, it is probably the most important process in the ongoing maintenance of a building. In order to reduce the soil load in a building and help maintain a clean and healthy environment, vacuuming with efficient equipment is essential.

But does pre-vacuuming make you compliant with the standard? To understand the answer to this question we need to look further. The standard was originally written for ongoing maintenance of a building’s carpet. Quite a lot of emphasis is placed on vacuuming as part of the maintenance regime that should be followed in order to maintain a clean and healthy indoor environment. Corrective, or restorative cleaning, is carried out on an intermittent basis to remove soiling that is not removed by regular vacuuming.

Those of you who have done some of the training classes around the country will have been told that “76% of soil is dry particle soil”, therefore pre-vacuuming removes 76% of the dirt.

This is a misconception.

The “76%” number comes from a study done by Dr Eric Brown of CRI UK “Cleaning Research International.” Dr Brown, the world renowned carpet expert, has written several books on carpet and carpet cleaning. He did his thesis on carpet soiling. On the samples that he worked on for his thesis, he came up with the figure of around 76% dry soil component.

The number actually varies significantly depending on the carpet, location, maintenance regime, and type of soiling in the carpet, but generally is comprised of the following components;
Soil component Percentage
• Sand and silicates: 30 - 40
• Oxides and carbonates:6 - 24
• Animal and cellulosic fibres: 20 - 24
• Resins and gums: 6 - 10
• Moisture: 3
• Free carbon: 0 - 3

As you can see, the typical soil analysis will vary considerably, with the top three, being dry soil components, totalling between 56% and 88%.
Dry soil removal is generally achieved by vacuuming. Consumers or building cleaners will normally carry out this task. Providing that they are conscientious in this task and have good equipment, they will maintain the carpet well. However it is not until the build up of oils, resins and gums reaches the critical level, where dry soils start to adhere to the fibre. The carpet will then look soiled enough after vacuuming to warrant professional corrective or restorative cleaning.
It is usually only then that we, as professional carpet cleaners, get called in. We will give the carpet a pre-vacuum as part of the requirements in the Standard, to remove what dry soils we can.

Will pre-vacuuming remove 100% of the dry soil in a carpet?
Definitely Not. Much of the particle soil is what is called “bound soil”. This means that it is basically stuck to the carpet by the sticky stuff. No amount of vacuuming will remove this bound soil. This is where we, the professional carpet cleaner get paid the big bucks. It is our job to remove the sticky stuff. We do this with detergents. Whether it be by hot water extraction or encapsulation or bonnet cleaning or powder cleaning, the detergents remove the sticky stuff or convert it to another state that can be removed with vacuuming, along with the remaining dry particle soils that are no longer bound to the fibres. This is why the standard also states that the carpet should be vacuumed after it is dry.

Vacuuming is just one part of a complex process that we as professional carpet cleaners must factor in depending on the conditions of the job. Obviously the more loose dry soils there is in the carpet, the more your pre-vacuuming is important in the process.
If you don’t yet have a copy of the standard, then buy one. If you do have one, then read it thoroughly from cover to cover. Then, buy yourself a good quality vacuum cleaner and stock up on compliant detergents.

What ever vacuum you choose, just remember one very important thing. If you want to be a professional carpet cleaner then your vacuum cleaner needs to be better than your customer’s vacuum cleaner, otherwise you will look like a complete dill.

About the author - Colin Nation is a veteran of the carpet cleaning industry. He is a specialist carpet cleaner trainer with the Daniels Associates and is director of WoolSafe Australia. Colin also actively works in a specialist cleaning service based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Colin is a member of the Standards Australia Committee TX9 that works on updating the Australian Standards.