NOT ALL VACUUMS SUITED FOR SOFT

by Joel Fleischman

(using excerpts of an article by by Jane Herlihy in Floor Covering Weekly 8/25/14)

Everyone agrees that the new soft fiber carpets feel great, but not all vacuums work well on them.

“The new softest carpets are like a fine article of clothing,” explained Chris Yarborough, Shaw’s director of carpet technology and performance. “They take a little bit of special care to make sure they are maintained properly. Soft carpet has the luxuriousness of a fine garment that requires continued investment in proper care.” he said.

The issue is the consumer’s ability to push the vacuum across the carpet. The density of soft carpet is so much more than traditional carpets that the vacuum’s air flow can be restricted and it makes it difficult to move it.

This is critical:

You need an adjustable bar, adjustable suction and large wheels so the vacuum doesn’t sink in too far.

Carpet manufacturers keep making carpet denser and vaccum manufacturers are in a race for more suction. They are not aligned with similar goals. Simply, vacuums are doing too good of job and eating your carpet right up. What a horrible thing to realize AFTER it happens. See the picture of what could potentially happen to your carpet, the entire vacuum is filled with precious carpet fibers!

Remember and I am sure no one wants to hear it, but in light traffic area carpets should be vacuumed once a week. In high traffic areas they should be vacuumed DAILY. 3 passes for light work, 5 to 7 for heavily soiled.

If you want to learn even more please visit Shaw’s flooring website article on this.

I hope this article saves you some stress as well as preserving your new carpet!

Drexel recommends the following vacuums

(Remember manufactures will NOT stand behind warranties based on a client using the wrong vacuum. That’s a hard pill to swallow!)

Upright and Canister Vacuum Models:

• Bank Vacuum The Bank Vault with Soft-Clean Powerbrush Canister Bagged
• Carpet Pro
• CPU2TUprightBagged
• Fuller Brush Heavy Duty Upright FBMM-PW.4 Upright Bagged
• Kirby Sentria Upright Bagged
• NACECARE Harry – Soft Clean Canister Bagged
• Oreck Magnesium LW100 SP Upright Bagged
• Oreck Magnesium LW100 RS Upright Bagged
• Riccar VIBPBP.2 Upright Bagged
• Simplicity SYMP.6 Upright Bagged
• Soniclean Soft Carpet Series SFC-7000 Upright Bagged
• Zelmer 1500, 2500, 4000, 5000 w/ Soft-Clean Canister Bagged
• ** Miele canisters must be used with SEB 228 Electro Plus brush head 

Central Vacuum and Canister Vacuum Power Brush Heads:

• Air-Way CVAC Kit PT 250-SC
• Canavac Central Vacuum Kit 360SC
• Centec Power Nozzle CTQQ2D, CT14DXQD
• Cyclo-Vac EBK360SC
• Dirt Devil Edge Powerhead with Soft-Clean Technology
• Electrolux Serenity Central Vacuum Soft Clean
• HP Products Edge Powerhead with Soft-Clean Technology
• Nil¬sk Palace Collection PA10MSC
• Trovac EBK360SC
• Vacu o Edge Powerhead with Soft-Clean Technology
• Wessel-Werk Soft-Clean EBK 360
• Wessel-Werk The Villa Collection with Soft Clean