[david@zap-clean]

How dry to you get carpets when you HWE them?  I know it depends on a number of factors, e.g. power of HWE machine, wand passes, type of carpet etc... but how well does the water extraction phase really work?

I don't have the most powerful machine on the market, but I am sometimes quite disappointed at how wet a carpet remains after I've finished.

I've been monitoring my results:
Typically, for every litre of rinse water I put down I get approx 75% back into in my waste tank.  I'm ignoring the pre-spray, which means I extract even less than 75% in reality.  Is this typical?
With some carpet types, extraction is down to ~50% (i.e. quite wet).

Is this your experience too?

[Neil Jones]

What machine David?

[Neil Jones]

What PSI are you running at?

[Carpet Dawg]

A powerful pre-spray and plenty of dry strokes. You cant do much more than that. Powerful vacs helps obviously, 2inch hose with the right vac set up.

The next phase would be using air movers and putting the heating on/opening windows if the weather allows.

Wool and wool mix always take longer.

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
You posted a video a while back showing you cleaning a carpet. You weren't lifting the wand at any time which means the  vacs can't clear the moisture from the hose back to the recovery tank which affects the performance of the machine. If you're still doing that that could explain your problem. Even with a portable carpets should be only slightly damp, dry in an hour or two, no more.

Simon

[Paul Moss]

David, this time of year that is the norm. Unless you are one of the super trainned and super porty users that can get the carpets and rugs dry before they leave or within an hour 

[wayne zabel]

I often see the websites saying most carpets dry in an hour.

Yes with PP I agree,but when I clean wool and wool mix I tell clients that they will be usable,but not totally dry in about 4 to 6 hours.

Am I doing something wrong or should I be able to get wool carpets dryable in 2 hours?

[Jamie Pearson]

David, this time of year that is the norm. Unless you are one of the super trainned and super porty users that can get the carpets and rugs dry before they leave or within an hour 

Is that from the van?

[Mike Halliday]

It's funny how these super portables do there best results the first week they are bought, I get sick of people coming along and saying......." Just got my new XR5000 portable..... it's amazing, did a house today and the first carpets I cleaned were  dry before I finished upstairs. This machine is amazing" 

I think wool carpet feels dryer than man made fibres after cleaning, although wool retains more water it is within the fibre not on the outer surface, a nylon carpet will feel wetter and run a bit of kitchen towel over a man made fibre and it will show more dampness than doing the same with wool.

I always pre-empt the over wet carpet situation by telling the client......" we clean the carpet then inspect it, if any areas need further attention we reclean those areas, But!! By doing so we are adding further moisture to the carpet which unfortunately increases the drying time. But we believe its worth that little longer drying time to get the carpet really clean"

[david@zap-clean]

Thanks for the replies - interesting... Plenty of info , but no-one has really answered my question about 'how dry'.  That's why I stated some figures in my original posting.

To answer some of the questions above:
My machine is 130psi  - but that's the pump power - the extraction uses twin Dual 3-stage Lamb Ametek vac motors.  The machine spec says:

'With dual vac motor you can achieve faster drying times and better soil extraction. You can run hose lengths up to 75ft.' 

Though I normally run at 25', and occasionally 50'.

Simon - Ref my old video wand action, that was over a year ago, I'd just started. I took note of your comments then - so thanks for that.

So, I think my machine is fine (with 25' hose), my 'wand action' is OK, I don't over-wet the carpets. So, is anyone getting better extraction of water than my (at best) 75%?

I have to say, in the heat of this summer, my carpets were drying in a very short time. But that was more to do with air temperature than extraction.

[Simon Gerrard]

David,
I really wouldn't worry about the percentages, I doubt many people check to that extent. It's more about how the carpet feels after being cleaned and that can depend on how and what you have had to do to it to get it clean etc. If you're worried you could always bonnet over it with a dry pad.

Simon

[david@zap-clean]

David,
I really wouldn't worry about the percentages, I doubt many people check to that extent. It's more about how the carpet feels after being cleaned and that can depend on how and what you have had to do to it to get it clean etc. If you're worried you could always bonnet over it with a dry pad.

Simon

Bonnet drying - that's a good idea!
Tnx Simon.

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
You might also want to look at the total litre'age your using as opposed to what percentage you are recovering.

Simon

[david@zap-clean]

Dave,
You might also want to look at the total litre'age your using as opposed to what percentage you are recovering.

Simon

Ummmm... an educated guess: 0.5 litres per sqm (rinse water).

[heritagecleaning]

Solution temperature must have some bearing on it too?

[maxcampbell]

We never really know how long carpets take to dry, and different people have different ideas of what "dry" is. All you can do is to be seen & understood to be doing your best. Get at least one dryer out on every job. Get the biggest machine you can justify. Hot carpets dry quicker than cool. Leave feedback forms showing concern & asking how the drying went.

You won't always like the answers, and it will show you that the people who say "dry within 2 hrs" are bullpoopters. We've got big TM's, run hot, and get fans out at the earliest opportunity. We still get people saying it took over 24 hrs before their carpets were dry - maybe they were real dirty heavyweight wool pile done on a rainy day, but promises about drying time are the same as promises about guaranteed stain removal - b******s.

[Ian Gourlay]

David

Your question has always done my head in.

Then there is all the guys who go on about correct wand usage
You can find most things on You Tube I wonder if that is there