Chapter XII: Selection of Cleaning Plant

We have considered in detail the various appliances which, taken together, make a complete vacuum cleaning system, but without considering their relation to one another. It now becomes necessary to choose an exact type and form of each of these appliances which will produce in combination a complete vacuum cleaning system best suited to the conditions to be met in a given installation.

In selecting a vacuum cleaning system consideration must be given to the character of the material to be removed, the kind and quality of the surfaces to be cleaned, the rate at which cleaning must be done, the extent of the cleaning system, and the cost of labor to operate the system, all of which must be considered in each step in the selection of a suitable plant.

In assembling the complete system, the author will take up the various parts thereof in the order in which they were discussed in the preceding chapters.

=Renovators.=--The selection of renovators is the most important step in making up a vacuum cleaning system, as the entire makeup of the system, whether good or bad, is dependent on the proper selection of these tools. The carpet renovator is generally considered first in importance, because the cleaning of carpets has nearly always been found to be the principal field of usefulness in vacuum cleaning work. This is due, perhaps, largely to the fact that from the beginning of the art of vacuum cleaning, this function of the system has been held before the eyes of the public by the manufacturers of the earlier systems. Nearly all demonstrations of cleaning systems shown to the public consist of the removal of ordinary wheat flour from a carpet. The reason for this is two-fold; first, because it is the most striking demonstration to the eye of the layman, and, second, it is the easiest to accomplish with a small air displacement and small power, which was characteristic of the apparatus made by these manufacturers.

The author was at one time of the opinion that this function of the cleaning plant was given too much prominence by builders of systems having small air displacement, and letters were sent to the officials in charge of sixteen Government buildings in which vacuum cleaning systems were installed, asking them, among other questions, whether the cleaning system was used to any extent in cleaning bare floors, of which there were large areas, both wood and marble, in the buildings in question. The plants installed were of various makes, some of which maintained 12 in. mercury at the separator and used 1-in. hose, while about an equal number of others maintained 6 in. mercury at the separator and used 1¹⁄₂-in. hose. The answers showed that out of the sixteen buildings the cleaner was used on bare floors in but two of the buildings. One writer, who had a plant maintaining 6-in. vacuum, provided with Type F renovators and 1¹⁄₂-in. hose, stated that he had tried cleaning bare floors without success, as the renovator and hose became so clogged with litter as to be inoperative. The majority stated that the cleaning system displaced brooms on carpets and rugs and several stated that the cleaning system was used to advantage in cleaning walls, cases, pigeon holes and relief work.

This indicates that for the average office and departmental building the cleaning of carpets is the most important function of the vacuum cleaner. This is also true of residence work. Schools, department stores and manufacturing buildings contain very little floor space covered with carpets, and in buildings of this character the cleaning of bare floors is of the greatest importance. In such cases the efficiency of the carpet renovator can be sacrificed to a more efficient and economical operation of bare floor renovators.

In a building where carpet cleaning is an important function of the cleaning system, the selection of the carpet renovator is most important. Of all the various types of carpet renovators discussed in