Lately i've been seeing a lot of smaller wool rugs at customers homes that they want cleaned. I did one the other day with cimex/releasit and fiberplus beige pads. Looked great, but I'm not sure if this is the right way to do it. I dont want to damage anything!!

Thanks...

Joe

Not a problem. Works like a champ.



Rick Gelinas
encapman

You sure can clean wool rugs this way.

The Mex; does a brilliant job, including the edges and fringe.

Even the light (synthetic)rugs, that normaly you would need someone to stand on if you were extracting, come up well. Although some of the very thin, extremely light ones, (cotton), can be difficult, and I pass on these.

After using the Mex; on a wool rug, you would think that it had been made for that reason.

I did a wool rug last week that this old bloke was going to throw away. I tell you mate, it came up magic. He was rapt.

Even those tiny car mats, that are even smaller than the diameter of the Mex; are a piece of cake to do.

Cheers,

Shorty.

rick, are the fiberplus ok, or should i switch over to brushes?

Joe,

The 4807 brushes are more gentle. So on a wool rug you'll need to be discerning. If you see a need for a softer brush then you'd want to use the soft brushes. For instance, a delicate oriental rug would require the brushes. However a sturdy wool rug that's been recently made should do just fine with the pads. But if you're in doubt though, go with the brushes.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

soft brushes with releasit is good. What should I be charging per sqft to encap these rugs?

Thanks again!
Joe

$.50 per square foot minimum. Vacuum both sides, cimex both sides, don't touch the fringes if they show any sign of browning (test)[unless the fringes have already browned out and the customer gives the go ahead]. Clean off the customer's back deck rails and hang them to dry in the sun.

Cleaning throw rugs "on location" is full of compromises. Nothing compares to having them cleaned at a professional rug plant (like Lisa's - ICS Board) but encaping them properly is a good "interim" method.

Mark
Carpet Cleaner's Garage Sale

Mark's pricing sounds good to me. Keep in mind guys, my company only does commercial work, so we don't run into too many wool rugs. We'll occasionally run into a wool rug in a store or office and we've had success cleaning them with the Cimex and Releasit. For instance we clean the carpet in a bridal boutique in a large building downtown. The 2nd floor is entirely carpeted and downstairs has hardwood flooring with oriental rugs scattered throughout. To go along with Shorty's comment, we can clean even the smallest rugs (2x3) right on the wood and the rugs won't spin or get gathered up on account of the planetary action of the Cimex. On these rugs we use the FiberPlus pads and they turn out fine.

Keep in mind that wool is a staple fiber. Whereas synthetic fibers are continuous fibers. A sheep grows one inch hairs. On the other hand, synthetic fiber extrusion goes on all day without a break. Therefore wool rugs and wool carpet will naturally release some of its fibers (its hairs ) during cleaning due to their short length. Any agitation including vacuuming will continually remove a certain amount of staple fiber, this is natural and should be expected. It will be natural to see a measure of fuzz from the fiber with any method of cleaning (even HWE). As cleaners we just need to use care in order to keep this natural occurence to a minimum.



Rick Gelinas
encapman

we get $2.00 to $3.00 sq ft to do Orential rugs for inplant cleaning.

IF it is just a plain wool rug that I feel can be safely done in the clients home then $1.00 sq ft.

We get $2.00 to $5.00 to clean rugs. We ONLY clean them at our shop. In my opinion it is impossible to remove all the soil from a rug at the customers location.

Kevin Pearson

Joe, I think you'd do better to ignore the 'square foot' price for small rugs.

Reason/example.

Compare two different locations = one a hotel with 60,000 square feet and the other, a lady with a 12 X 8.333 foot rug. (I know, but it makes it exactly 100 square feet, which is easier to use for comparison sake) The hotel has 60 times more carpet. Will you do her place 60 times cheaper?

15 cents per foot for the hotel = $900.

15 cents per foot for area rug = $15.