Best Way To Dust Rugs?

[Rug_Girl]

Currently our rug cleaning techs vacuum and hand beat/dust rugs. We are looking for a more efficiant way to thouroghly dust the rugs without spending thousands of dollars. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Mikey P]

Please define "thousands"...

 

[Acp]

You can mod a sanitaire sc99 for rug dusting... ive heard it works pretty well compared to a rug badger but I have never used one personally.

 

[J Scott W]

"Efficient" usually means you can do a large volume of rugs in a short period of time. Expect to pay for efficiency if you have the volume of business to justify.

The Sanitaire works OK but not very fast.

A rug dusting machine (Badger, Wolverine or an Orbitec Rug Duster) will do a better job than the Sanitaire and do the work faster or more efficiently.

A tumble duster makes very good use of your time (or your tech's time) but will cost a lot. Not all rugs are suitable for tumble dusting. Tom Monahan has them for sale. We will be selling tumble duster at our rug washing class in Austin in May. A good bargain, but still in the "thousands range."

 

[Ron K]

You are beating the Back?

 

[Cleanworks]

I find a pile lifter works better than a regular vacuum. I usually vacuum the back first, then flip the carpet up by half. Vacuum the floor underneath both halves then turn the rug over and vacuum the face fibre.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

I find a pile lifter works better than a regular vacuum. I usually vacuum the back first, then flip the carpet up by half. Vacuum the floor underneath both halves then turn the rug over and vacuum the face fibre.

Where did you get your pile lifter Ron? @Cleanworks
I’m in the market for one.
Jeff @ SCC

 

[Cleanworks]

I have had a certified pile lifter for so long, I forgot where it came from. Last year, I bought a chemspec pile lifter from a guy in North van. $75 and it was in pristine shape. I like the chemspec because of the solid tank and the handle control that lowers the handle height. Both work good. There may be another one still on cl. Type in industrial vacuum and see what comes up.

 

[Cleanworks]

Actually it's under commercial vacuums. $75. I think it's the same guy I bought mine from.

 

[Ron K]

Sanitare is best economical option although labor intensive really beats the rug you can attach two together to increase time spent.
Hanging rugs should be carefully beat from the Front.
I use a pile lifter after washing and final beating is completed.

 

[Cleanworks]

Anyone of a reliable supplier of bags for either certified or chemspec pile lifters in the Vancouver area? I am down to my last chemspec and maybe half a dozen certified. I used to get them from a vacuum store but they have closed down.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

Anyone of a reliable supplier of bags for either certified or chemspec pile lifters in the Vancouver area? I am down to my last chemspec and maybe half a dozen certified. I used to get them from a vacuum store but they have closed down.

I contacted the guy, and he hummed and hahhed about the bags, then said ‘ebay’.... hmmmm, great deal on the vac, BUT, if I can’t find bags or parts, it’s no good to me.... damn, I thought it sounded to good to be true.... I was gearing up for a Saturday trip to the coast...

 

[Cleanworks]

I contacted the guy, and he hummed and hahhed about the bags, then said ‘ebay’.... hmmmm, great deal on the vac, BUT, if I can’t find bags or parts, it’s no good to me.... damn, I thought it sounded to good to be true.... I was gearing up for a Saturday trip to the coast...

I think I have seen them on eBay. You would think our legend brands guys would sell them.

 

[rmann]

If you are spending 3 hours a day beating the backs of rugs with an upright, or strap beater, you might consider borrowing the money to buy a tumbler. 3 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, is 780 labor hours a year that you can devote to other revenue generating work. What's more, tumblers are infinitely more effective than beater devices and can be used to 'polish' rugs after cleaning. We wasted untold hours of labor for over 20 years beating rugs before we had the opportunity to buy a tumbler. It was some of the best money I ever spent.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

If you are spending 3 hours a day beating the backs of rugs with an upright, or strap beater, you might consider borrowing the money to buy a tumbler. 3 hours a day, 52 weeks a year, is 780 labor hours a year that you can devote to other revenue generating work. What's more, tumblers are infinitely more effective than beater devices and can be used to 'polish' rugs after cleaning. We wasted untold hours of labor for over 20 years beating rugs before we had the opportunity to buy a tumbler. It was some of the best money I ever spent.

What about us guys who do 5-10 rugs a week Robert? What would you recommend? I’m looking into a certified pile lifter, that way I can use it in the shop for rugs, but also on some commercial contracts....
Jeff @ SCC

 

[Bob Pruitt]

I’m no expert but Using the Sanitare to vacuum front and back seems to work pretty well for this hack on location Rug Cleaner. I don’t do the volume of rugs to justify much more...at the moment.

 

[Cleanworks]

I’m no expert but Using the Sanitare to vacuum front and back seems to work pretty well for this hack on location Rug Cleaner. I don’t do the volume of rugs to justify much more...at the moment.

Sanitaire will work fine for most but the pile lifter opens up the knap better. You have a 1/2 HP motor driving a full bristle cylindrical brush. Nothing better on commercial carpet. I have many customers remark on how the clean the carpet is after just pile lifting.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Too much for some rugs IMO. Speaking generally... I like the Sanitare.

 

[rmann]

Pile lifters are great for cat hair and dust, but don't knock particulate soil out of rugs. Uprights are very effective, but so slow. Strap beaters work but still waste hours a day of labor. At 5-10 rugs a week it may be hard to afford/justify the cost - dollars and space needed - for a tumbler. A strap beater will cost $3-4000, a pile lifter another $2000. Tumblers are about $20,000 (unless you are very creative with steel). Tumblers don't wear out and will always be worth at least half of what you paid for one if you decide to sell. If I was washing 10 rugs a week I'd probably buy one as long as I could figure out where to get the money. In Turkey - where small volume wash plants are common - a tumbler is considered required gear. Besides a few buckets, a water tank and some drying poles it's about all they have in most of the plants you visit.

 

[Rug_Girl]

Wow, thanks everyone for the input. We have looked at the large tublers, but they usually cost around $20,000 for a new one. We clean somewhere between 50-100 rugs a month. I guess it comes down to the cost of the tumbler verses what we make with rug cleaning.

I appreciate everyones advice. Thanks!

 

[Rob Grady]

The Certified machines use the Royal Type 'B' bags. I get them from a local vacuum repair shop. The Nildor Company in Bolivar Ohio is a good source for parts.
I have 5 Certified machines and schematics for original part #'s.

 

[roro]

We have looked at the large tublers, but they usually cost around $20,000 for a new one. We clean somewhere between 50-100 rugs a month. I guess it comes down to the cost of the tumbler verses what we make with rug cleaning.!

Wish we did that many; we currently use a Badger but they are time intensive. With that volume and allowing about $18 per rug you would recoup the cost in a year, and that's not costing in your labour.
roro

 

[cleanking]

Ideally if volume demanded, you would want a tumble duster and a flatbed strap duster. Some rugs do best in the tumbler but some (tufted, some machine made, delicate, damaged or dry rotten, etc) cannot take the stress of a tumbler, thus the reason for a flatbed strap duster.

Like us, if you don't have the space, budget, or volume for both, a tumble duster is the best option. To dust rugs that can't go into the tumbler a Sanitaire or Rug Badger type duster may be needed as well.

Do the math on how much labor cost will be using a Wolverine or Rug Badger style machine (figure roughly 10 minutes for an 8x10, 1.5 minutes/10sf generally) and see how long the pay off would be. Factor in $400-$1000 for some type of dust collecting unit and build cost for a shed to contain the tumble duster and the dust it creates.

 

[roro]

In our experience Badgering takes at least twice as long as what Jordan achieves.
We badger before cleaning and then again after the wash and dry.

roro

 

[cleanking]

In our experience Badgering takes at least twice as long as what Jordan achieves.
We badger before cleaning and then again after the wash and dry.

roro

All the more reason a tumble duster is truly worth the expense, just in labor savings alone.

 

[The Great Oz]

Wow, thanks everyone for the input. We have looked at the large tublers, but they usually cost around $20,000 for a new one. We clean somewhere between 50-100 rugs a month. I guess it comes down to the cost of the tumbler verses what we make with rug cleaning.

If you clean primarily hand-knotted and Karastan machine-made rugs, that volume could justify the cost of buying a tumbler. Take a look at the type of rugs you clean and see what percentage would go through a tumbling process OK. As Scott/Jordan mentioned, a tumble duster isn't for everything, as it won't help with stiff backed rugs, hand loomed rugs, inexpensive tufted rugs and many others that can be damaged by tumbling.


PS: We don't have a tumble duster, but often get complaints from customers that think the cleaning has worn out the rug edge wrap. They think we clean rugs in a giant tumble washing machine.

 

[Rug_Girl]

If you clean primarily hand-knotted and Karastan machine-made rugs, that volume could justify the cost of buying a tumbler. Take a look at the type of rugs you clean and see what percentage would go through a tumbling process OK. As Scott/Jordan mentioned, a tumble duster isn't for everything, as it won't help with stiff backed rugs, hand loomed rugs, inexpensive tufted rugs and many others that can be damaged by tumbling.

A majority of the rugs we clean come from overseas. We have a customer who buys hand woven rugs from England (most are antiques) and sells them. We clean around 40-70 of those. They are all wool rugs. We do get some machine made rugs in but not as often. I'm wondering if the tumber would be too rough for the rugs we clean. Here are some pictues of examples of the rugs we clean.

 

[The Great Oz]

Watching for specific conditions, those should all do well in a tumbler.

 

[T Monahan]

My company, Area Rug Cleaning Company, can own and use anything we make with my other company Centrum Force. Naturally, I have used everything we have made since our inception. My favorite and 'go to' duster is The Tumble Duster:

 

[Larry Cobb]

Certified Pile Brushes also have a black nylon-row brush that does a much better job of dusting than the continuous fill vegetable fiber brush.