Carpet Care: New Equipment Line Makes the Grade

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There are 163 buildings in the Jefferson County Public School system in Louisville Kentucky. Many of the classrooms, hallways and offices have carpet on the floors. An in-house carpet crew is in charge of the school system’s carpet cleaning, repair, and installation.

With almost 100,000 students, “You don’t know what you’re dealing with when you see a stain on the carpet. A stain could be caused by food, grease, or an unknown substance,” says Danny Koch, a lead housekeeping professional in the Jefferson County school system.

The carpet crew is using a new machine, the Clean Track™ carpet extractor made by Clarke, a Springdale, Ark., manufacturer of floor maintenance equipment. The Jefferson County carpet crew runs the Clean Track for six hours per day, and is pleased with the machine’s performance and ease of use.

“Every spot and stain we’ve seen so far has been removed by the machine. You don’t have to work hard with the machine while you’re using it. Whoever designed it did a great job. I talk to our carpet crew guys daily about the machine and they really like it,” says Koch.

The Clean Track washes and rinses in one pass, so it cleans carpets faster and increases operator productivity. It also has a patented ergonomic design that reduces stress on the operator’s elbow, shoulder, and back, and requires less physical effort.

One of the greatest advantages of the machine is that it has good recovery, according to Robert McGlasson, one of the members of the carpet maintenance crew.

“You’re picking up about as much water as you’re putting down, so it dries faster. It’s also a lot less strenuous on your back than the box-and-wand type machine. You don’t have to do any bending with the Clean Track,” says McGlasson. “I like the brush, too. It really helps get the sand and the dirt out of the carpet.”

The Jefferson County Public School system has seen some very positive results. The condition of the floor is much better than it was before they started to use the Clean Track because it does such a great job with stain removal and with getting excess dirt out of the carpet. The school system saves labor, because they’re washing and rinsing the carpet in one pass, and the workers find that the machine is easy to clean because its design allows for easy access.

Besides the increase in productivity and the decrease in drying time the folks at Jefferson County schools are experiencing, there are also a few side benefits that they’ve noticed with the Clean Track.

“It’s a very quiet machine,” says Koch. “We’re seeing less water use, too.”

They’re also happy with the 18-inch brush and cleaning path. They were using a machine with a 12-inch brush, so they’re covering a lot more area in the same amount of time.

When asked if he had any words of advice for prospective Clean Track users, Koch said, “They need to try it. It sells itself.”