Seattle’s best-known landmark and most popular tourist attraction is due for a bath. Kärcher is pleased to announce that the Space Needle is expected to be squeaky clean by July, assuming Seattle’s weather cooperates.

Following up on our successful cleaning of Mount Rushmore in 2005, we are now donating our services in the “green cleaning” of the Space Needle, which was built in 1962 and receives 1.5 million visitors per year. Kärcher's first high-profile cleaning project was the Statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro in 1980. In 1985, Kärcher made its initial foray into the U.S., working with the restoration team at the Statue of Liberty to clean the granite base of the statue with high-pressure washers.

The ecologically friendly cleaning method Kärcher developed for Mount Rushmore will also be used at the Space Needle. The process is one-hundred percent green and is accomplished with very hot water and high-pressure washers, replacing the need for harsh chemicals and ensuring that the Space Needle will be restored to its shining glory when we’re done.

One team of three highly qualified rappelling professionals descends from the top of the Space Needle, cleaning only with very hot water shot from high-pressure washers as they go. A rope-access safety supervisor mans the ropes and rappelling equipment from above. Kärcher contracted the rappelling team from Skala, Inc, based in Reno, Nevada.

Cleaning via the rope-access technique was refined when Kärcher cleaned Mount Rushmore and avoids having to erect costly scaffolding around the Space Needle, as was done when the landmark was painted. The cleaning is to take place at night, from eleven p.m. to six a.m. daily, so that the Space Needle can remain open to the public for the duration of the cleaning.

Supervising the entire cleaning project is Kärcher’s Thorsten Möwes, an expert who knows a lot about dirt! Möwes rappels down behind the team and inspects the cleaned surfaces, thus guaranteeing consistent results for the 605-foot structure. Assisting Möwes in the care of the machines during the cleaning are two Kärcher USA colleagues based in Camas, Washington, near the Oregon border.

The challenges the Kärcher team faced in their advance planning, testing and analysis included the unusual shape of the Space Needle, the dense cityscape and the proximity of important buildings nearby, particularly the Experience Music Project museum designed by Frank Gehry. Since there are no harmful particles in the waste water, and disposing of the water is in complete compliance with local, state and federal regulations, there is no need to process the waste water; it will flow into the city’s regular drainage system. High-pressure washers actually use less water than an ordinary garden hose, because although the spray looks like it contains a lot of water, the reduced diameter of the nozzle actually disperses less water but with much more force (PSI).

Kärcher is using virtually pure water, so it will drain just fine, even with the dirt it carries away. The surface grime on the Space Needle is comprised of grease from the Space Needle’s SkyCity restaurant, pollution from carbon emissions, bird droppings and plain old dirt. Another big challenge, is cleaning in the dark, the first time the Kärcher team has ever done that. Seeing the difference between the cleaned and yet-to-be-cleaned surfaces requires additional light in the form of headlamps. The risk of rappelling in the dark is minimized by using a redundant system of gear in place for all cleaning professionals.

Kärcher was founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1935 by the entrepreneurial engineer Alfred Kärcher remains family-owned today. The company first produced electric heaters and specialized in industrial heating equipment. With the development of a submersible heating element, the company’s future was sealed, and by 1950 Kärcher had designed and patented his first hot-water high-pressure cleaner. The company, which has maintained its headquarters in Winnenden, near Stuttgart, since 1939, has 6,591 employees and a sales volume of 1.38 billion Euros per year.

Coincidentally, Seattle’s Space Needle was also first conceived in Stuttgart. In 1959, inspired by Stuttgart’s tall TV tower, the first ever of its kind, the World’s Fair Commission chairman made a sketch that was brought to fruition by the time the 1962 World’s Fair opened in March of that year.

Kärcher decided early on to donate its services in the cleaning of monuments and landmarks both as a goodwill gesture and for the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from workers, officials and scientists involved in the cleaning process. This feedback in turn enhances Kärcher’s research, development and manufacture of new products, their primary business.

In addition to Mount Rushmore and now the Space Needle, Kärcher has donated its services to the cleaning of some 80 historical monuments, including the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (1990), the Colonnades of St. Peter’s Square in Rome (1998), the National Library in Athens (2004), and the more than 3,300-year-old Colossi of Memnon in Luxor, Upper Egypt (2002).

Tackle your own monumental cleaning project with the same technology we use to clean the world's most famous landmarks:

	Kärcher Residential Pressure Washers
	Kärcher Commercial Pressure Washers
	Kärcher Commercial Floor Care

 

	Download Official Press Release
	Read about other monuments cleaned by Kärcher
	Visit the Space Needle website