Did my first Encap job and the results were not good. What did I do wrong? Here's a little background. Got a sample of Encap DS and purchased a case of beige 17" pads from Excellent-Supply. I'm using a dual speed rotary machine. Per responses I received from a question I posted back on Sept. 21st this will work fine. I mixed solution with 2 gallons of hot water in a pump sprayer. The carpet I was cleaning was commercial grade. Total carpet approx. 200 sq ft. This included a high traffic aisleway and 8 office cubes. Only did small areas at a time approx. 4 x 4. Then scrubbed using a combo of lo and hi speeds. Left carpet to dry for 24hrs then went back in this morning to vacuum. The carpet was still dirty and the worst part was swirl marks from the rotary machine were left on the carpet even after I vacuumed several times. The carpet is fairly new. Approx. 2 years old, been HWE'd one time. The area is close to the entrance were sand from snowplows is tracked in daily. I've owned a cleaning company for about 3 years have done this facility (16,000sq ft) approx 2 years.Half carpet half VCT. No carpet experience. The owner has been asking me to try the carpets for awhile. Tell you the truth I've been afraid because I no nothing about carpet cleaning. But I found this site and seen all the positive things being said about Encap and thought I'd give it a try. Now I'm afraid of what the owner is going to say come Monday morning. Will the swirl marks disappear over time? Is Encap only used for maintenence after carpets have been HWE'd? What about bonnents instead of pads? Sorry for such a long post. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

The swirls will come out however in the future carry a grandi groomer brush, (not nylon) and brush them out as you go I do a little then brush them out it you let it dry you have to wait until they work out.
As far as the poor results did you do a wet pass then several dry passes over the same area? The dirtier the area is the more dry passes are needed. Also I'm assuming you did a good pre vac this is VERY IMPORTANT and the post vac should be done by the customers routine schedule. When I use releasit I see immediate results and make my sales by bringing the customer over during cleaning and showing them the line between where I cleaned and where I stopped it. It's always impressive. If you want you can call me at 770-598-7463.

I think you tried what you read as being the right thing,
I myself tried encapping with just a pump sprayer with no really good success. Everyone on these boards were saying how good it was, even Jim Pemberton talked about it to me, thats when I tried it with my scrubber and a pump aprayer along with a beige 3M pad. I was not happy with the outcome.

So what did I do?

I watched the video Rick has about the Cimex,
So I went and got one, it does work, if you can not get one right away, put a tank on your scrubber, you need to be able to feed the solution to the pad. It does take practice to get it right, a few minutes.

I have some janitorial accounts where I was always cleaning the carpet every few weeks with a bonnet, and truck mounting it twice a year. I went 7-8 weeks before I touch it again from the last time I did it with the Cimex,
(a really updated modern office with the machine shop right outside the door.)
It takes alot less time.

I can't wait to use the Cimex to strip a luchroom floor, I hear it will work better and faster then a 175rpm scrubber.

Good Luck

Depends opn what kinda of carpet it was.....

The majority of the carpet i clean at my theater is very low cut....almost no pile heighth at all. Now, there are two small areas the has a little heighth, and yes, I had swirl marks. I do not worry about these what-so-ever, because, it indeed shows that it was cleaned and is not in the major areas of traffic. You mentioned that you have NO carpt experience though, and that may be your problem. When I started, I worked for a local company for 4 months using a 175 and ripping people off. I was unaware of the fact that It was all smoke and mirrors, and that our "extractor", a shopvac with attachment was'nt effective what-so-ever. After realizing all of this, and doing some homework, I went to the HWE side of cleaning and considered anything else as a scam. Well, I gave it a try and had great results...the same as I got with the HWE, but in half the time. I guess the moral of this story is that without any experience, you cannot expect good results with any method. The forat job I did, was that of my insurance agents office and like you, was not happy with the results. Although my cutomer was thrilled, I went back in and corerected it. Through experinece, your results improve. I went from a porty, to a butler...does it make ME a better cleaner, absolutely not! Does it make the work easier and more convenient? You bet! Experience and practice makes the difference...not necessarily the method. Once you understand how and what you are cleaning and back that up with high standards, THEN you will excel. Heres a little story of what happened to me today:

I was cleaning a livingroom and 4 area rugs for my mechanic. After completing this work, I noticed that he had a horribly soiled remnant in his garage. I asked him if he was in a hurry and he said "nah". Well, that "rug" was taunting me....I mean, really beeging me to give it my best shot! I told 'em that I was gonna hit it because I was bugging me....Told em that I wanted to try my stuff on it and compare between my residential set-up (Chemspec pre-klen, and acid rinse) and my commercial set-up (enz-all, and formula 90). I did half and half and actually noticed no difference. Oh, I forgot to mention that this rug was used for motor storage and was blackened by anti-freeze, grease, oil, rust, and god know's what else. Well, i came out good, but of course had stains remaning. Practice, practice, practice is what i'm saying. If you are not happy with work, don't be afraid to go back and correct it....even if the customer thinks its great. Sorry so long, but the booze is starting to work on me, and felt obligated to help someone out who is where I was in the past.....


Dont give up, practice, keep a positive attitude, and push on....YOU WILL SUCCEED!1

Aaron

Takes alot of prespray doing it that way. Like was said above,add a tank, or use a cimex.
I've done it both ways in testing the releaseit and testing the cimex(borrowed one).


Greg Loe
Chico,Ca
www.gregs-ucs.com

I had the same results the first time I tried this method. The big mistake Rick told me is prespraying first. You need to get a solution takin and use that to dispense the solution as you clean. The problem is not the rotary, it is prespraying. Try again with a solution and you will see better results. Take your first pass while letting out the solution and then take a couple of passes just agitating the carpet. Work the machine in a circular motion over the area a few times. Use the prespray only on seriously soiled areas.

I would guess that you didn't put down enough spray, or you didn't do enough passes.
Did you get a white swirl under your machine when you scrubbed? If you didn't that would indicate not enough spray. Mounds of sudsing would indicate too much spray.
Two or three extra passes are usually needed. One pass is usually not enough. That's where practice comes in.
I would suggest that you purchase a gallon of DS Releasit and do the job again. Maybe practice on your own carpet.

Wow! You guys gave such excellent responses, I have nothing to add. You're all hired

As stated above: You really need a tank to get the best results. A solution tank gives you more even control of the detergent flow. And as mentioned above, pre-vacuum well before you start cleaning. And take your time scrubbing, especially on a more soiled carpet. Avoid over-wetting the carpet, you just want to see a light whitening of the surface. That should do it. A little practice and you'll be a regular encappin fool!




Rick Gelinas
encapman

Thanks ALL for taking the time and helping me out. The owner was not to upset once I told him the swirls left in the carpet will eventually work themselves out.(I'm hoping) Actually I talked him into trying another section of the building. So I guess I'm going to get a solution tank for my machine.

One other question I had was will I be able to see the dried crystals in the carpet the following day?
Also Rick, Is it possible to buy just a gallon of the Encap? From what I see on your site you only sell cases.

Thanks again!

Aaron thanks for taking the time and responding. Couple of questions. Are you now using a rotary machine with beige pads like I used? Do you use a pump sprayer or a tank? You say you had a HWE unit do you still use it? Thanks!

Dave,

Fear not; the swirls will walk out of the carpet. Get yourself a tank and you're good to go. You can call the office at 1-800-330-1888 and we'll get you taken care of.




Rick Gelinas
encapman