What would you think if you walked into a restaurant in the morning for a nice breakfast, and the first thing you noticed was that they had not cleaned up the restaurant after a day’s activities the night before? You would likely leave and go find a different restaurant.

The same can be said when it comes to caring for portable carpet extractors. Unlike your truckmount, your portable extractors are taken into the job site where their condition and appearance will immediately be noticed by anyone who is in the room or building. If you have obvious areas of the machine where you should have wiped up spilled materials, or a smelly waste tank from the prior days activities, you are not going to make the kin of “first impression’ that your business would like to. Always remember that customers will surely notice the machine you use. What kind of impression will it give them if your extractor is soiled and dirty?

But after a busy and hard day of work, it is not hard to understand why many carpet cleaning technicians and cleaning professionals may believe their day should be “over and out” when they finish cleaning the carpets. So how do you convince a tired but dedicated carpet cleaning technician (might be an employee or it might be you) it’s actually smart to make cleaning and caring for the machine itself the last job of the day? The best way to do it is to build it into your daily routine or schedule. Make it second nature and make it an expectation of finishing your day.

Before adding this step to your daily routine, however, be sure to review the manufacturer’s instructions as to how to care for your portable extractor. Some machines may require specific maintenance on a set or regular schedule. 

For most machines, the following maintenance steps should be taken at the end of the work day:

• When cleaning your carpet extractor at the end of the day, be sure the tanks are clean and fresh by flushing them with pure water. Leave the tanks empty and allow them to air dry. In severe cases, consider adding a deodorizer to the solution you wash them out with
• You may also find it necessary to occasionally run a little deodorizer or disinfectant through the vacuum hoses along with some defoamer.  Be sure and rinse thoroughly. This keeps the hoses clean and sanitary and helps make sure air can move freely through the hose.
• You should also de-scale the unit’s pump. Again, check the owner’s manual for information about if and how you should perform this task on your particular machine.
• Rinse the machine’s wands off and make sure no clogging has started. Use a wire comb to pull lint, hair, and other debris. Also, make sure there is no fraying or cracks on the hoses or electrical cords. These invariably become worse over time.
• Clean vacuum cut off screen in recovery tank, rinse screen and the vacuum cut off ball  and use a brush to remove all hair and lint, this will  give you a good shut off when tank is full and you won’t pull water through vacuum motors.
• A soft toothbrush may be used to clean the jets on the wand to remove mineral deposits.
• Wipe the machine down from top to bottom, and don’t forget the wheels. This will ensure that you don’t roll any soil from yesterday’s job into the first job tomorrow morning.
• The end of the day is also a good time to inspect and listen to the machine. Investigate anything unusual, including any unusual sounds you might hear when the machine is operating.
• Finally, it’s a good idea to check your chemicals that you used at the end of the day as well. Make sure they are secured and the tops are tight, and wipe the containers down.

Remember, keeping your equipment and chemicals clean and well maintained ensures worker safety, enhances professionalism, and ultimately makes your job a lot easier.