By Healthcare Facilities Today

West Chicago, IL - The wand on a carpet extractor plays a far more important role in effective carpet cleaning than many carpet cleaning technicians and cleaning professionals may realize. Some more advanced wands can speed up the entire cleaning process while also allowing carpets to dry more quickly and more thoroughly-if the wand is used properly.

Proper wand usage is key to successful carpet cleaning. "Some carpet cleaning technicians refer to working with a wand as 'dancing with the wand'-and in many ways, it is like a dance," says Doug Berjer, National Sales Manager for CFR (makers of continuous flow recycling carpet extractors). "However, you've got to know the proper steps for this dance to come out right."

Berjer offers the following suggestions for proper wand usage:   

• Start in a far corner of the room, move from left to right, and work toward the exit.

• Once on the carpet, pull the wand's trigger to allow water (solution) to flow onto the carpet. Then move the wand forward.

• Release the trigger and pull the wand backward to remove moisture from the carpet.

• Return to the starting point, repeat the process, and begin moving the wand to the left, overlapping the area that was just cleaned.

• Repeat the process until all areas are cleaned.

"It is not uncommon for streaks to develop during the extraction process," says Berjer. "Often this is because the wand left excess moisture on the carpet, which can be corrected by going over these areas once again."

Berjer says older wands tend to cause streaking problems more frequently, while more advanced wands flush and remove moisture from carpet fibers more thoroughly, thus minimizing this problem.