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Cleaning machine types -
You may think that choosing the type of cleaning machine is one of the more straightforward
parts of the process when deciding to buy one -
Vacuum Cleaners.
1. The dry vacuum cleaner.
This type of vacuum cleaner is the one commonly seen in thousands of homes and place
of work countrywide. It may be of the 'tub' or 'cylinder' variety, or a single or
twin motor upright machine -
2. The wet & dry vacuum cleaner.
This type of machine comes in various shapes and sizes but is almost always of the
'tub' variety. It will happily exist as a dry vacuum cleaner but, usually 
with the
simple rearranging of internal filters and changing of floor tool, will vacuum liquids
also. It's a handy machine to have if you need the ability to clear up liquid spills
on an infrequent basis, i.e. when washing out a cellar or some other place where
it can be difficult to remove water. It is not designed to clean carpets or upholstery
and indeed has no capability to do so. (We'll come to that later.)
3. The wet vacuum cleaner.
As its name suggests, this machine is for dedicated wet use only (It's also widely
known as a wet pick-
of vacuum machine is widely used by hard
floor care professionals to clear away soilage and slurry after the floor is cleaned
(using some form of scrubbing machine) and prior to the application of polish or
other floor treatment. Unless you have large quantities of liquid (and some of these
machines are very large!) to clear up frequently, this probably isn't the machine
for you.
4. Combination machines.
Into this category come all sorts of cleaning machines that have the capacity to
perform several cleaning tasks. They are almost always based on vacuum cleaners and
have accessories (e.g like the Kirby) to enable them to perform all manner of cleaning
tasks, with varying degrees of efficiency. They are a good choice if you do not mind
attaching and detaching accessories as required. 
The Numatic 'George' is another
example, though it confines its extra activities to carpet cleaning and so is quite
easy to change over and use.
That about sums up vacuum cleaners as such -
Pressure Washers
Although there's a page elsewhere on this site concerning pressure washers, we'll try to give some further information here. Ignoring the domestic/commercial categories, here are a few pointers about types of pressure washer.
1. Cold water electric.
This is the basic type of pressure washer seen just about everywhere. Very basically,
it takes water from the mains supply and, by means of an electrically-
(the business end!)
which, because of its much smaller diameter has the effect of increasing the pressure
dramatically, giving the cleaning power you require. This machine comes in all sizes
from ones you can fit in a carrier bag up to behemoths you couldn't fit in your estate
car -
2. Cold water petrol.
These machines work in exactly the same way as the electrics except for the fact
that the power needed to drive the pump comes from a petrol (or, on large models,
diesel) 
engine. These machines are particularly useful if no mains electric or generator
is to hand and are usually slightly more powerful in terms of output pressure than
their electric motor counterparts. They are usually supplied as a mobile model with
wheels or in a tubular steel cage which makes loading by forklift or hoist easier
and protects the working components from damage.
3. Hot water electric.
These machines still utilise electricity to power the motor which in turn drives
the high pressure pump -
machines above -
4. Hot water + steam electric.
This type of pressure washer is the same as the one above in the way water is heated
-
very high pressures
are not needed when cleaning with live steam! -
There are other types of pressure washer available such as models which are designed
to serve multiple outlets, dedicated static units etc., but these are beyond the
scope of this article and are highly specialised units. If you would like further
information on these or other custom-
Dry Steam Cleaners
Although we have a page with general advice on this type of machine, we'll just have
a quick run-
1. This type of machine should not be confused with a pressure washer.
2. This type of machine should not be confused with a spray extraction carpet cleaning machine.
See the relevant page on dry steam cleaners for further details on this type of machine
-
Carpet & Upholstery cleaning machines.
1. Spray extraction machines.
This type of machine is probably the most popular sort of carpet/upholstery cleaner
in use at present. Basically, it consists of two main parts -
In either case, these sit inside the rigid tub, although some machines are of an
oblong shape with a tank at either end and the
motor and pump in the centre (just
to confuse things!). Clean water and carpet cleaning chemical is used to fill the
clean tank, the motor housing is then replaced, (again, models vary slightly) the
machine now being ready for use. A combination solution and vacuum hose is attached
to the machine, at the end of which is the rigid vacuum tube and carpet tool. The
pump and vacuum motors are then switched on and, when the trigger on the vacuum tube
is pulled, cleaning solution is pumped down the solution hose and sprayed via a nozzle
in a fan-
It may sound involved but with a little practise it is as easy as using a vacuum
cleaner -
2. Automatic carpet cleaning machines.
As with so many things, this name is not really accurate. A truly automatic machine
would need no human hand to guide it -
these machines do, unfortunately! The
term 'automatic' refers to the fact that the machine dispenses solution automatically
when switched on and usually has a revolving or oscillating brush which aids in loosening
and removing soilage. Most types of this machine also have a 'take-
Just a word of warning! If you decide to buy or hire a machine to clean your carpets
or especially your upholstery, have a good talk to the hire shop or supplier first
as to how to use it correctly. Also tell them the type of carpets or upholstery you
have (wool, wool mix, nylon etc.), then ask them to recommend the correct chemicals
to use. If they don't know or tell you one chemical will do anything -
Floor polishing and scrubbing machines.
These machines are again varied in size, weight, cost and performance yet once again
fall into two broad categories -
1. Rotary floor polishers.
These machines vary in size from small domestic units through commercial workhorse
machines such as the Numatic Multideck range right up to ultra-
They all work in the same way, however -
for floor scrubbing will have a pad speed
of about 150 r.p.m., a combined scrubber/burnisher about 230 r.p.m. and a dedicated
polishing machine about 280-
Conversely, polishing machines use finely woven pads which create less resistance,
enabling the gearing to be higher in order to produce a good finish in a short time.
It is possible to use a 'standard' (150 r.p.m.) machine for polishing -
Numatic International’s famous ‘Henry’ dry vacuum cleaner
Numatic’s WV570
Numatic again -
Karcher’s K685 heavy domestic cold water electric pressure washer
The HD1040B from Karcher
Karcher’s HDS550C hot water pressure washer
Karcher’s HDS798 unit
Another Prochem Europe machine -
2. Scrubber -
Scrubber-
are therefore almost always found
in the commercial arena. Shown here at left is the small Truvox machine whilst the
machine to the right is a much larger Numatic commercial unit.