The right cleaning equipment can help keep the carpet in your facility or home looking its best. What vacuuming and spot cleaning miss, extraction cleaning should fix. To identify superior performing cleaning equipment, CRI has developed the Seal of Approval (SOA) program for extractors. The SOA program was launched in 2004 to test cleaning solutions and other carpet cleaning equipment. CRI uses scientifically developed cleaning methods to identify which extractors work best.
The SOA program tests the following types of extractors:
- Box and Wand
- Self-contained
- Truck Mount
The SOA program tests extractors for the following applications:
- Commercial Carpet Use
- Residential Carpet Use
To earn the Seal of Approval certification, extractors are tested on the following criteria:
- Cleaning Effectiveness – ensures that the equipment meets SOA criteria for removing soil
- Surface Appearance Change – ensures that the equipment meets SOA criteria for surface appearance verifying that carpet is not damaged from the use of the extractor
- Residual Moisture – ensures that the equipment meets SOA criteria for removing water to protect your carpet
SOA Innovative Soil Removal Testing
CRI worked with an independent laboratory to develop a testing method that uses NASA-enhanced x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology to measure the precise amount of soil removed from the carpet. To test for soil removal performance, the method uses five compounds that have properties similar to soil found in carpet across the United States. X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is used to detect elements of each compound used to soil a control carpet, then to determine their concentrations after cleaning.