How It Works
Our Equipment and Methods, Floor by Floor
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On carpet we use a truck mount for hot water extraction, at 300 to 500 PSI with water heated to 200 to 240°F. Tile and grout get a high-pressure rinse at about 1,000 to 1,200 PSI. Hardwood and luxury vinyl plank are cleaned with a small extractor. Showers are cleaned with hand tools.
We clean, maintain and protect all types of flooring, in homes and in commercial buildings. That takes more than one machine and more than one way of working. This page goes through what we use on each floor and why.
The main piece of equipment is the truck mount. It stays on the truck, heats the water, pumps it to the tool through a hose, and vacuums the dirty water back out to the truck. Carpet and tile are both cleaned from it, at very different pressures. The truck mount handles nearly every job. We have portable equipment for the rare job that needs it.
Wood and luxury vinyl plank cannot take that much water, so they are cleaned with a small extractor. Showers are done with hand tools, because the work is in the corners and on the walls.
David Laton started HydroClean in Jackson in 2010 and is IICRC certified. He still works the jobs, so the person choosing the method for your floor is the person using it. You are welcome to ask about any of this on the phone or at the walkthrough.
What Hot Water Extraction Does
Carpet: 300 to 500 PSI with water at 200 to 240°F. It is hot water, not steam.
On carpet, the truck mount heats the water to 200 to 240°F and sends it to the wand at 300 to 500 PSI. Jets in the wand put the hot water into the pile. A vacuum slot right behind the jets pulls it back out, with the soil in it, and sends it down the hose to the truck.
People call this steam cleaning, but it is hot water. The name stuck because hot water on cool carpet gives off vapor you can see.
Before the wand comes through, a traffic-lane cleaner goes down. Its job is to break the bond between the soil and the fiber. The hot water then carries the loosened soil away.
Most carpet manufacturers specify hot water extraction for warranty care. The grit that wears carpet out sits down in the pile, and extraction reaches it. Because the vacuum is on the truck, most of the water comes back out too. Allow about half a day for the carpet to dry, sometimes up to 24 hours.
The Two Carpet Methods We Use
Hot water extraction is what we use in homes. Encapsulation is a low-moisture option for large commercial floors.
Hot Water Extraction
Our method for carpet in homes and in most commercial work. It runs from the truck mount at 300 to 500 PSI with 200 to 240°F water. It cleans down into the pile. The trade off is drying time: about half a day, sometimes up to 24 hours.
Encapsulation
A low-moisture cleaning we offer for large areas of commercial glue-down carpet. It uses far less water, and the carpet dries in about 1 to 2 hours. That matters in a building that cannot close a floor for half a day.
The Tools on the End of the Hose
The truck mount supplies the heat, the pressure and the vacuum. The tool on the end of the hose decides where they go. On carpet that tool is a wand. On tile it is a high-pressure tool that rinses and vacuums at the same time, so the dirty water goes out to the truck and not across the floor.
The small extractor is for hardwood and luxury vinyl plank. It recovers the cleaner we pre-spray onto the floor without flooding it.
Showers are hand work. Hard-water deposits, soap scum, mold and mildew sit on walls, in corners and around fixtures, and hand tools are the way to get at them.
Pet urine has its own tools. We inspect with a UV light and a moisture meter to find where the urine is and how far down it has gone. If the pad is damaged in an isolated spot, we can flush it by subsurface extraction. If contamination covers more than roughly 30 to 40 percent of a room, replacement is usually the better advice, and we will say so.
What We Do on Each Floor
Each of these is cleaned its own way. Here is the short version for each one.
Tile and Grout
We clear the floor and apply cleaner with a pump sprayer. Then we rinse at about 1,000 to 1,200 PSI with 200 to 240°F water, and the dirty water is vacuumed out to the truck at the same time.
Showers
Hard-water deposits, soap scum, mold and mildew are cleaned with hand tools. It is slower work than a floor, and it is done by hand for that reason.
Hardwood
Two steps. We pre-spray a deep cleaner, or a stripping agent if store-bought polish has built up, and recover it with a small extractor. A neutralizing rinse finishes it. We also offer screen and recoat. We do not sand to bare wood.
Luxury Vinyl Plank
Almost the same process as hardwood, often with gentler cleaners. Pre-spray, recover with the small extractor, then rinse.
VCT and Commercial Floors
VCT is stripped and waxed. Large areas of commercial glue-down carpet can be cleaned by encapsulation, which is a low-moisture method.
Upholstery
We identify the fiber first. Then we pre-spray and give it 5 to 10 minutes of dwell, and clean by hand-shampoo or hot water extraction, depending on the fabric. Spots are treated, and the rinse leaves the fabric neutral to slightly acidic.
Cleaners, Dwell Time and the Rinse
Cleaners do part of the work, and each floor gets a different one. On carpet it is a traffic-lane cleaner ahead of the extraction. On hardwood it is a deep cleaner, or a stripping agent when polish has built up. Luxury vinyl plank often gets something gentler.
Dwell time is simply letting a cleaner sit long enough to work. On upholstery the pre-spray gets 5 to 10 minutes before we clean. Rinsing it off sooner would waste it.
What is left behind matters too. Carpet is neutralized if it needs it. Hardwood finishes with a neutralizing rinse. Upholstery is rinsed so the fabric ends up neutral to slightly acidic.
Our products are tested and safe for homes. For severe allergies or sensitivities we have a hypoallergenic cleaner with no odor or perfume. Tell us about any specific concern before the service.
Which Equipment Goes on Which Floor
We Look at the Floor First
The walkthrough comes before any equipment. Carpet, tile, hardwood, luxury vinyl plank and upholstery are all cleaned differently, so we start by seeing what is there.
Carpet Gets the Truck Mount and a Wand
Pre-vacuum, traffic-lane cleaner, then extraction at 300 to 500 PSI with water heated to 200 to 240°F.
Tile Gets the High-Pressure Rinse
Cleaner goes on with a pump sprayer. The rinse runs at about 1,000 to 1,200 PSI with 200 to 240°F water, vacuumed out to the truck at the same time.
Wood and Vinyl Plank Get the Small Extractor
Pre-spray, recover with the small extractor, then a neutralizing rinse. These floors get much less water than carpet or tile.
Showers Get Hand Tools
Hard-water deposits, soap scum, mold and mildew are worked by hand.
Upholstery Starts With the Fiber
We identify the fiber, then choose between hand-shampoo and hot water extraction. The pre-spray dwells for 5 to 10 minutes first.
You Look at the Work
Before we leave, you get a chance to look at the work, and David asks if you have any questions or concerns.
What Is on the Truck
- A truck mount for carpet and for tile and grout
- Portable equipment for the rare job that needs it
- Carpet extraction at 300 to 500 PSI with 200 to 240°F water
- A tile rinse at about 1,000 to 1,200 PSI, vacuumed out to the truck as we go
- A small extractor for hardwood and luxury vinyl plank
- Hand tools for showers
- A UV light and a moisture meter for pet urine inspection
- Subsurface extraction for isolated pad damage
- A hypoallergenic cleaner with no odor or perfume, when it is needed
- IICRC certified training behind the method for each floor
What to Expect on Equipment
We would rather set an honest expectation than make a promise we cannot keep.
- No equipment removes damage. Bleach spots, dye loss and worn traffic lanes are changes to the fiber itself, and cleaning does not reverse them.
- We do not always know what will come out. Good equipment gives a spot its best chance. It is not a promise.
- With pet urine, most stains come out and the odor is removed or greatly reduced. We cannot promise complete odor removal every time.
- On hardwood we clean, and we offer screen and recoat. We do not sand to bare wood.
- The truck mount is loud, and a door stays open for the hoses while we work.
Method and Equipment Questions
Is hot water extraction the same thing as steam cleaning?
It is the same service under a loose name. What comes out of the wand is hot water, heated to 200 to 240°F, not steam. The name comes from the vapor you see when hot water meets cool carpet. A warranty that calls for steam cleaning almost always means hot water extraction.
What is a truck mount?
It is a cleaning machine that stays on the truck. It heats the water, pumps it to the tool through a hose, and vacuums the dirty water back out to the truck. The noise and the dirty water stay outside. Only the hoses and the tool come into your house.
Do you use the same machine on my carpet and my tile?
The same truck mount, yes. The water is 200 to 240°F for both. The pressure is not the same. Carpet is cleaned at 300 to 500 PSI. Tile and grout are rinsed at about 1,000 to 1,200 PSI, with a different tool and a different cleaner.
How do you clean hardwood without soaking it?
With a small extractor, not the high-pressure tools. We pre-spray a deep cleaner, or a stripping agent if store-bought polish has built up, and the small extractor recovers it. A neutralizing rinse finishes the floor. Luxury vinyl plank is done almost the same way, often with gentler cleaners.
When would you use encapsulation and not extraction?
On large areas of commercial glue-down carpet. Encapsulation is a low-moisture cleaning that dries in about 1 to 2 hours. In a home we clean carpet by hot water extraction. If you manage a building, we tell you which fits your floor after the site visit.
What if the truck cannot get close to the building?
The truck mount handles nearly every job. For the rare one where it cannot be used, we have portable equipment. Tell us about the access when you call.
Do you sand hardwood floors?
No. We clean hardwood, and we offer screen and recoat. We do not sand to bare wood. If your floor needs a full sand and refinish, we will tell you that it is outside what we do.
Ask What Method We Would Use on Your Floors
Tell us what needs cleaning, which rooms and roughly how big they are. We will explain how we would clean it and put an estimate together.
Trusted by our neighbors in Jackson, West Tennessee since 2010. Family safe, pet safe.
See the Method in Context
These guides cover what happens before, during and after the cleaning.
How It Works
Every stage of a HydroClean job in Jackson, from the first call to the finished floor.
Our Cleaning Process
The ten carpet cleaning steps, from the handshake at the door to your look at the work.
Drying Times
Why carpet takes about half a day, sometimes up to 24 hours, to dry, and what speeds it up.
After Service Care
Simple habits that keep floors cleaner between visits in a busy home.
Request an Estimate
Tell us what needs cleaning, which rooms and roughly how big they are.
One Jackson Team for Every Floor in the Building
We clean carpet, upholstery, tile and grout, hardwood, luxury vinyl plank and VCT in homes and businesses across West Tennessee. Each one gets its own tool and its own cleaner, and you are welcome to ask why.
Questions about your floors? Call (731) 437-0006 and ask David Laton what he would use.