For manual carpet cleaning or spot cleaning, it is recommended to use a high-foaming product that creates a “dry” foam to prevent the carpet from soaking. To delay re-soiling, the cleaner should dry without leaving a sticky residue.   

Machine cleaning of floors, e.g. using scrubber dryers or spray extraction cleaners for carpets, requires the foam volume to be as low as possible. Thus, special low-foaming surfactants are used.

Hydrotropic surfactants improve the solubility of low-foaming nonionic surfactants in formulations such as alkaline floor cleaners or spray extraction cleaners for carpets.

Depending on product type, dosage system and application, the viscosity of a cleaner must be in the “right” range and therefore needs to be either decreased or increased.

Degreasing means effectively removing hydrophobic dirt (e.g. oils and fats). In floor cleaners, nonionic surfactants are used since they possess a high fat-dissolving power.

The wetting of dirt and surfaces is the first and critical step in the cleaning process. Fast wetting speeds up the cleaning of floors. In floor cleaning, the use of special wetting agents is necessary, especially if hydrophobic, polymer-based surfaces are to be cleaned.

Emulsifiers not only play an important role in emulsifying greasy soil in cleaning solutions, but also help to incorporate a hydrophobic solvent to enhance the cleaning effect.

Static charges on carpets and floors can cause electric shocks that may damage electronic devices. Furthermore, static charges may accelerate the re-soiling of carpets. Surfactants with antistatic properties prevent static charges on floors and carpets.