The History of Carpet Cleaning

The connections between the bull’s-Gall and Vacuum cleaners
In the Recent History of Carpet cleaning.

Carpet, rugs, upholstery, and draperies are probably among your most important possessions. The aim of this article is to describe the history of carpet cleaning and the science in its background, in order to help the reader to better understand the importance and reason behind carpet cleaning.

The first evidence for carpet cleaning procedures are dated to the 19th century, when the outcomes of the industrial revolution started to affect the cleanliness state of houses in major European and North American cities. Up until those years, it was fashionable to protect the carpets by covering the problematic areas with druggets- heavy woolen goods spread under tables and other areas of heavy wear, to protect carpets from spills and runout.
Moreover, the wealthiest classes in Europe used to cover all the surfaces of the house carpets during major, in-house events or long absence, with canvas clothing.

Due to the industrial revolution and the lack of proper ventilation infrastructure, houses of that age were filled with dust and soot, which strengthen the need for diligent ways to clean up houses and later on offices and businesses, who started to adorn themselves with carpets, representing prestigiousness.>The common technique, to clean carpet those days was to beet them with corn brooms in order to get rid of the sand, dust and soot, but this technique was ineffective for stain removing of course.

In Journals of house maintenance from the 1830’s,creative housewives and expert house holders gave advices regarding the removal of ink, oil and grease stains using lemon juice and a hot loaf of crusted white bread, followed with a good rinse of fresh water, then leaving the carpet to dry outdoors if the weather is good.

Cleaning techniques improved with time, tea leaves in the brooms, which stained the carpets, were replaced with straw brooms that helped reserving the original colors of the carpets. Later on, Advices regarding the frequency of the cleaning were published and about the way carpets were to be broomed, in order to prevent their runout and ripping. More sophisticated Advices were published during the 1880’s regarding the washing and maintenance of the carpets, advising to mix water and bull’s gall in a ratio of 3:1 and scrub it to the carpet with flannel cloth, then rinsing the carpet with fresh water.

The bull’s gall contain oxalic salts that in the stomach or in the mix with water, form oxalic acid, an acid that the body produces for the metabolism of fatty acids and proteins, described with the formula H2C2O4, a relatively strong organic acid, being about 10,000 times stronger than acetic acid. The Oxalic Acid is produced at present time from plants, or by a chemical reaction of sucrose oxidation, and is used in procedures like furniture restoration, surfaces cleaning and rust removal.

Towards the end of the century, people started using oil refinement products and especially Naphtha, both for cleaning stains out of carpets and as a pesticide, but still the common technique was mechanical beating of carpets. Later on, newer techniques for restoration of carpets were re-painting of the carpet, but often they caused the shrinking of the carpets. other recommended the use of clay paste (mixed with water) left on the carpets for few hours or overnight to dry and then removed and swept off, in order to remove stains and soil. If the use of to much acids caused the fading of the colors, it was recommended to use chloroform, an organic solvent, which is used for extraction of compounds from plants and tissues, but has a paralyzing effect on the central nervous system, there for it is dangerous for use.

The next great leap in the history of carpet cleaning began in the 1870’s when the first manual vacuum cleaner was innovated, with the advances in science, it was electrically powered and made our life, a lot easier. The first manually-powered cleaner using vacuum principles was the "Whirlwind", invented in Chicago in 1868 by Ives W. McGaffey. The machine was lightweight and compact, but was difficult to operate because of the need to turn a hand crank at the same time as pushing it across the floor. McGaffey was but one of many 19th-century inventors in the United States and Europe who devised manual vacuum cleaners.

The first patent for an electrically driven "carpet sweeper and dust gatherer" was granted to Corinne Dufour of Savannah, Georgia in December 1900. The first powered cleaner employing a vacuum was patented and produced by Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901. He noticed a device used in trains that blew dust off the chairs, and thought it would be much more useful to have one that sucked dust. He tested the idea by laying a handkerchief on the seat of a dinner chair, putting his mouth to the handkerchief, and then trying to suck up as much dust as he could onto the handkerchief. Upon seeing the dust and dirt collected on the underside of the handkerchief he realized the idea could work. Booth created a large device, known as Puffing Billy, driven first by an oil engine, and later by an electric motor. It was drawn by horses and parked outside the building to be cleaned.

In 1910 P.A. Fisker patents a vacuum cleaner named - Nilfisk. It is the first electric vacuum cleaner in Europe. His design weighs just 17.5 kg and can be operated by a single person. In 1905 "Griffith's Improved Vacuum Apparatus for Removing Dust from Carpets" was another manually operated cleaner, patented by Walter Griffiths Manufacturer, Birmingham, England. It was portable, easy to store, and powered by "any one person (such as the ordinary domestic servant)", who would have the task of compressing a bellows-like contraption to suck up dust through a removable, flexible pipe, to which a variety of shaped nozzles could be attached. This was arguably the first domestic vacuum-cleaning device to resemble the modern vacuum cleaner.

In 1907, James Murray Spangler, a janitor in Canton, Ohio invented an electric vacuum cleaner from a fan, a box, and a pillowcase. In addition to suction, Spangler's design incorporated a rotating brush to loosen debris, which has added during the 1960's. His vacuum sold under the name 'Model O' with a price of about $60. Spangler patented his rotating-brush design in 1908, and eventually sold the idea to his cousin's husband's "Hoover Harness and Leather Goods Factory." Their first produced vacuum was the hand built 'Model O'. The Basic model behind all Vacuum cleaner is the vacuum's suction, caused by a difference in air pressure. A pump reduces the pressure inside the tube. Atmospheric pressure then pushes the air through the carpet and into the tube, and so the dust is literally pushed into the bag.

In the 1920s-30s, no cleaning method was given for carpets, which had fallen from style, but rugs were to be well vacuumed before shampooed, using “an ample supply of soap jelly, a large bowl, an egg beater, a soft scrub brush, 2 pails of clean water, and a number of clean cloths”.“If the work is to be done in the house, the floor beneath should also be cleaned.  The rug can be shampooed lying on the floor, but there is greater convenience in having a small table over which it can be drawn section by section, with care to work over the edge of the first to prevent the leaving of an unwashed streak. When cleaned, the rug should be hung outdoors in the shade to dry.  Should this not be possible, it should be supported on chair backs, and all windows opened to admit plenty of air.  When dry, the nap should be brushed in one direction with a stiff broom”.

During the world wars, The research direction took a more medical direction, but the uses of chemicals found and invented, brought on what is known as the modern time of carpet cleaning, and the same basic principles used after world war II are still at use today, only improved and more efficiently used.
Remember, Professional cleaning of a carpet on a regular basis will extend its life expectancy considerably, in addition to keeping it hygienic and looking good. Not cleaning the carpet correctly, or even not cleaning it at all, will reduce its life expectancy significantly.

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