InstaDry's Cleaning Technology

"Ground Breaking, Novel, and Unique"

Revitalize your floors with this deep cleaning!

So, what are Host Sponges and how do they work? The answer is both simple and complicated, and to understand the process a little bit of background is required. Namely, how carpet cleaning actually works.

Cleaning anything, from carpet to clothes to toilets and countertops, requires three things. First, something needs to emulsify the soil stuck on the surface. This is usually performed by various soaps and detergents, without breaking the chemical bond that forms between soiling particles and the molecules of the surface, the dirt and gunk will just stay stuck where it is. Detergents perform this by reversing electrical charges on soil molecules and causing them to repel from the surface. Second, some form of mechanical agitation, or scrubbing, is necessary. While detergents changing the electrical charge of stain molecules will remove about half of the particles dirtying up a surface, some form of scrubbing needs to happen to get the detergent into the proper places, as well as break up the remaining bonds. This can be done with a brush, sponge, towel, or other lightly abrasive material. Finally, cleaning doesn’t happen without an extraction, or removal of the dirt. All the detergent and scrubbing in the world won’t help if the now loose soil isn’t removed from the surface. A sponge, rinse, vacuum, or anything else that removes the dirt must be used.

So, going back to the Host Sponges used by InstaDRY, they perform all three duties. A mild, citrus oil based detergent is present in the sponges to help break down chemical bonds inside soiling. There’s just enough to get the job done, but no so much as to cause overwetting of the carpet fibers. Carpet is very porous and absorbent, so moisture control is essential to prevent soiling from settling into the pad, and to prevent mold and mildew. Second, the sponges work as a very mild abrasive while being scrubbed in with the machinery used by InstaDRY. These brushes provide a thorough, vigorous scrubbing all the way to the bottom of the carpet pile without damaging the fibers of the carpet. While most wet methods rely on either pressurized water to lightly move the carpet, or a wet rotary bonnet to press the pile down and scrub a single side of it, InstaDRY uses a scrubber that cleans the entire pile, all sides of the carpet, and does so in a very thorough manner. Finally comes extraction. Host sponges are made of a plant-based cellulose which absorbs just about any liquid they come into contact with. This includes stains, spills, and the now liquefied dirt left over from the emulsifying detergents and scrubbing. These sponges absorb and trap all the gunk left in carpet, and are ready to be removed by a high-powered vacuum.

Wet methods, at best, only recover 70% of the water they use. The rest is left to dry over the course of the next few days, or weeks if too much water is used. The equipment used by InstaDRY recovers 99% of the sponges on the first treatment, with the small amount remaining continuing to absorb dirt, dust, and odors until the floor is vacuumed again. This combination of detergent, scrubbing, and extraction makes Host Sponges the ideal materials to use for any carpet cleaning.