In an industry as challenging as hospitality, the demand to keep every square foot of the facility clean is one of the foremost concerns for facility managers. The success of a facility can hinge on its cleanliness and the effectiveness of its cleaning crew at turning rooms over at a consistent rate for maximum occupancy.
For too long facility managers relied on outdated hot water extraction practices to clean carpets and were hindered by the extended drying time. This led to loss of RevPAR (revenue per available room), due to wet carpets.
Thanks to advancements in carpet cleaning technology, there’s a solution to help hospitality facility managers keep their spaces looking consistently cleaner and turned around in less time. In an independent, third party Time and Motion Study performed by the American Institute for Cleaning Sciences, the Whittaker Smart Care® System was found to increase productivity and save time over traditional interim carpet cleaning methods.
The study was performed in an unobstructed hotel ballroom with the Whittaker 20’’ TRIO and the 25’’ TRIO with three workers, one female and two male. In it, the study found the Whittaker 20’’ TRIO can effectively clean 18,229 sq. ft. per hour and the Whittaker 25’’ TRIO can effectively clean 20,640 sq. ft. per hour.
While the study focused on productivity, the study also found the dry times of the Smart Care® TRIO were dramatically less than that of hot water extractions. It had a dry time of just 20-30 minutes on the cut pile carpet, where hot water extraction would take 4-8 hours to dry and maybe require air movers.
“We’re very proud of these results which once again prove the advantages of the Whittaker Smart Care® System over traditional carpet cleaning methods. When we built the 20’’ and the 25’’ TRIO we looked to make the most productive carpet cleaning machines for the industry and these results show just that,” Tom Whittaker, President of R.E. Whittaker Co., said.
The study found the self-contained 2-gallon solution tank on the 20’’ TRIO and the 4-galloon tank on the 25’’ TRIO both eliminated the need for a costly two-step interim carpet care procedure. Also, it was found that the time to fill the solution tanks was just 2-2.5 minutes as opposed to the average 10 minutes per 1,000 sq. ft. required to use a hand pump sprayer or the average 5 minutes per 1,000 sq. ft. of an electric sprayer.
Additionally, the workers in the study preferred the triple brush design — a prominent feature of the TRIO’s design for superior cleaning performance and fingertip maneuverability. The workers all found the machine simple to operate without prior training, making it easy for other facility managers to integrate the machine into their cleaning practices.
AICS, which published the study, is the cleaning industry’s preeminent consulting firm in the commercial cleaning industry, serving property managers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, manufacturers and distributors.