A good vacuum like the Koblenz or a Lindhaus is NEARLY all you'll ever need...
http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=11&idproduct=272
http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=11&idproduct=78
So then you may be asking, where does a Pile Lifter like the X-Vac come into play?
http://www.excellent-supply.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=11&idproduct=81
Commercial glue down carpet is typically extremely DENSE. The tufts of fiber are packed very closely together. And especially with loop construction, there's a tremendous ability for dry soil to load up at the base of the fiber. In cases where there's inadequate dry soil removal, the carpet's backing can become completely plugged with dry soil.
Pull apart the pile in a high traffic CGD carpet and inspect the backing. You may find that the backing has a dark color rather than white (it should be white). This is an indication that the backing is holding a lot of soil.
A Pile Lifter does a good job of opening up the pile. It penetrates down into the fiber and digs crud up to the surface. It may still not be possible to fully restore that ignored carpet with the black backing, but it's a step in the right direction. There is no other tool like a good Pile Lifter for digging debris up to the surface.
Not all Pile Lifters are created equal. The older style Pile Lifters were horrible at vacuuming. Sure, they would dig stuff up to the surface. But they would then spit the debris right back onto the carpet without ever swallowing it. The X-Vac is an improved Pile Lifter design that actually does a pretty decent job of vacuuming (far better than the older style units). However a good commercial vacuum is still the best tool for routine "vacuum cleaning". So in a perfect world, the commercial carpet care professional would have a Pile Lifter and a good commercial vacuum to remove as much dry soil as possible. Especially since the largest percentage of soil in the carpet is dry soil.
Rick Gelinas
rick@excellent-supply.com
