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However, most building service contractors (BSCs) eventually find they need one and, often quite surprisingly, find they use it more frequently than originally believed.
Powr-Flite, manufacturer of wet/dry vacuum cleaners as well as other professional cleaning equipment, recently conducted an online survey to find out how cleaning professionals use wet/dry vacs, what features they look for, as well as their likes and dislikes.
Participants were asked “when are you most likely to use a wet/dry vacuum?” Of the different choices, “refinishing floors” was the choice of 60 percent of the respondents; 14 percent indicated for cleaning up spills; another 14 percent said they use the equipment in carpet cleaning, with the remainder indicating they use wet/vacs for general vacuuming.
The use of wet/dry vacuums was most common in office buildings (43 percent), followed by schools (29 percent) park and recreational facilities (15 percent), with the rest in industrial-type locations.
Other findings included:
- Asked how important the power of the machine is, 67 percent noted it was very important.
- Another majority (73 percent) reported the feature they most appreciate on wet/dry vacuums is a 360-degree swivel hose connector.
- When asked to select the two biggest problems they have had with wet/dry vacuums in the past, the top answers were “hard to maneuver” (36 percent); the equipment is too loud (15 percent) inadequate tools (15 percent) and “not powerful enough” (11 percent)
- Finally, the respondents were asked what is their primary source of information on wet/dry vacuums. Forty percent selected their “jansan distributor” with the remainder answering trade publications or their peers.
“Like many [jansan] manufacturers, we listen to our customers and try to develop equipment that best meets their needs,” says Rob Godlewski, vice president of marketing for Powr-Flite. “This survey actually tells us a lot about how our end customers use these machines and what they are looking for.”
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Methodology: invitations to take the online survey were included in an e-newsletter distributed to end customers of Powr-Flite. The invitation was also posted on various social media web sites. As of Feb 15, 2009, nearly 100 people took the survey.
