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Prochem (Professional Chemicals) With his extensive background in chemicals, Jim Roden opened the doors to Professional Chemicals in 1968 after working with ServiceMaster to formulate products. “We started with shampoo, spotters, furniture cleaning chemicals, deodorizers, etc., and a line of disaster clean-up products, and in 1973, we got involved with dry cleaning furniture. We found we needed to develop equipment to meet the need.” Shortly after, between 1973 and 1974, Prochem became aware of portable steam cleaning equipment. “We weren’t manufacturing at the time, but were reselling equipment. We always attempted to innovate and find the best solution for our...

Summer is here, and the time is right for the recommended oil. It is always a good idea to use the oil and filters recommended by the manufacturer of your equipment/engine. It is even more critical in the summer heat. Why? In air-cooled engines, oil not only lubricates all of the moving parts in your engine, but it also cools the engine. So the wrong viscosity, type oil or a filter that restricts oil flow can damage your engine. The engineers who designed your equipment have taken the time to spec the right oil. I, for one, don’t have the...

Steam Way was one of the first companies to manufacture and sell a portable hot water extraction machine in 1968. While their portable Steam Way 400 was the “bread and butter” of the company well into the mid-1970’s it had become obvious that the truckmounts already in the marketplace from Bane-Clene and HydraMaster, and those soon to be introduced by Prochem were gaining a significant marketshare. Together, Mr Bloss and Mr. Seabloom, along with their right hand “MacGyver” machinist – Larry Hawkins, and a long time customer of Steam Way’s, Ralph Greco designed and introduced into the marketplace in 1974...

In 1969 Michael C. Palmer was a carpet cleaner. After seeing a crude homemade truckmount put together by a cleaner, Mike told himself that he could do it better. Starting in his garage, he set out to do just that. His training as a jet engine mechanic in the military and natural born talent were his only assets to begin with. His first machine was so good, a friend asked him to build one for him. After a while, Mike had so many people wanting machines that he started hiring his neighbors to help and thus HydraMaster began in 1971....

Bill Bane of Bane-Clene was certainly one of the first to introduce an extractor mounted in a truck. Here is what he said in his 50th Anniversary reflections. “I started thinking about the possibility of truck-mounted carpet cleaning equipment in the mid ‘60s. Pumps were available that could move the cleaning solution from the truck to the cleaning head, but recovering the dirty water with fan-vacs remained a problem. That little sewage pump introduced by Bill Wisdom was the missing piece of the puzzle. A larger model of that pump would make it possible to create enough vacuum for water recovery...