Industrial floor cleaning company Karcher is disputing the claims of its rival Tennant that its ec-H2O technology cleans better than detergents by electrically converting water into an effective cleaning solution.
Karcher has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority, saying that Tennant’s claims are untrue. Tennant in turn, is vigorously refuting Karcher’s claims.
Tennant says its ec-H2O harnesses electrolysis for use in cleaning applications by combining it with microbubbles of oxygen to create a revolutionary cleaning agent, all while using up to 70 per cent less water than traditional automatic scrubbers.
Karcher challenges this. Spokesperson Frank Schad said: “Ionisation does take place in the device… but by the time it reaches the surface to be cleaned it is just plain water.”
Karcher says that its tests of the ec-H2O found treated water performed the same as untreated water. The firm also said that water often performs better than detergent depending on the stain, and that on certain grease stains, detergents performed better than the ec-H2O.
Tennant says that “Karcher’s attacks are unwarranted and flawed” and maintains that Karcher’s claims are based on flawed tests from one laboratory, and that the tests were applied to unrealistic soil samples and failed to control for certain key variables.
“We strongly condemn any attempt to discredit our reputation,” said Tennant’s chief executive and president, Chris Killingstad. “We are vigorously defending our company, technology and advertising against these baseless claims.”