I cleaned police station last night. 500 sq.ft. of carpett. Filthy McNasty!!
The rest of the carpet is even worst. I got intimidated it was so filthy. So i reached into my bag of tricks and pulled out 12 oz. of punch per gallon H2O.
I pre-saturated the traffic areas let sit while i pile lifted the other conference room (15 min). Came back ,cimexed it. The result- 80% better but can still tell the high traffic area from the rest of the carpet right off the bat. Where did i go wrong?

Your Servant

The answer you're looking for,lies within your statement.
Patrick

Carpet fibers may be scratched causing dingy traffic lanes. Might need to be flushed out via HWE or bonnet cleaned. You may have over wet the carpet and now have wicking.

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

And the carpets may be just so damm dirty that nothing you do is going to make them look like new..

Remember, if they allowed them to get that dirty in the first place, there is only so much you can do to restore them.

I have a job this Wed and this Dr has not had his rugs cleaned in 7 years, I am going in with the max pads, he has the nerve to ask me if they will be looking like new. I told him no guantee on this job.

Remember it is not your fault the rugs look the way they do, it is not your stain, it is not your fault if there is a traffic lane due to no runners or walk off matts..you did not inherit the problem. If you go in doing the best you can do, and give them 100 % thats all you can do. Don't loose sleep over it.

As far as the customer is concerned you do inherit the problem IF you do not pre-qualify and tell them BEFORE you clean what the results will be like. ANYTIME there are heavy traffic lanes I ALWAYS pre-explain to the customer about scratching fibers and permanent damage BEFORE I clean. I also put it in the "Notes" section of the estimate that they sign BEFORE I clean.

When they look 80% better the customer is thrilled.

If no pre-qualifying and they are not 100% better many customers think you are unskilled and ripped them off.

Take an IICRC ASAP they will teach you how to do all of this.

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

Del I agree with you i do the same thing. This way we're not building them up for the big let down. But the idea about putting it on paper i must add that on my to-do list as well.

Your Servant

Is bonnet cleaning a good method with the use of the cimex? I never hear anyone talk about bonnet/cimex, only talk bonnet/op & others.

Your Servant

Alex, i asked you this a day or 2 ago...do you have EncapClean? you've only mentioned using Punch, not EC.

if you don't yet have it, order EncapClean ASAP. it will do alot better run thru the Cimex than Punch will. mixing Punch with EC is OK to: 4 oz EC-DS per gallon water and boosted with 4-8 oz Punch per gallon.

if you are already using EC my next statement is in agreement with Patrick. never saturate the carpet. as is said often, beginners tend to always use TOO MUCH encap juice. you don't need a ton. i find less is better than more.

i've never pre-sprayed a carpet when i use my Cimex....that is what the sol tank is for.

hope this helps --- Derek.

Derek you were right i've been using up way too much EC. First i had to find out that it take about 20 seconds after pressing the trigger for the sol to hit the carpet. ITS Definately a technique to master. I think i'll try your suggestion punch in the tank. Thanks for the solution ratio. Tonight i think i did pretty good though. This was new carpet,soft loop,they paid a pretty penny for.never been cleaned.It scared me though when i saw fibers were ending up on top of the carpet.I guess thats normal i dunno. But did a post vac to pick it all up and it looked great. thanks Derek
Alex

Your Servant

Derek you were right i've been using up way too much EC. First i had to find out that it take about 20 seconds after pressing the trigger for the sol to hit the carpet. ITS Definately a technique to master. I think i'll try your suggestion punch in the tank. Thanks for the solution ratio. Tonight i think i did pretty good though. This was new carpet,soft loop,they paid a pretty penny for.never been cleaned.It scared me though when i saw fibers were ending up on top of the carpet.I guess thats normal i dunno. But did a post vac to pick it all up and it looked great. thanks Derek
Alex

Your Servant

P.S. Sorry this was a mistake

Rick sells Bonnet's for the Cimex (SKU: 0303Tuw-8) & Derek is one that I know of that uses them. If I had a Cimex I would use them if needed.

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

just to correct Richard , i use a brown striped bonnet, not the ones SKU'ed above. ask Rick if you can order some of them.

Sorry Derek, my mistake.

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

Del is correct you need to pre-qualify. I list all the problems on the pre inspection/proposal form.

np Richard! hey, i thought you had a Cimex? didn't you say somewhere today that you didn't? i thought you used a 15" on resi?? or am i mistaken?

thanx --- Derek.

Derek, I only wish that I had a Cimex. I have a couple of 17" rotaries that I use. I did find a place here local that I can rent a Cimex for $60.00 a day. I'll do that until I purchase one from Rick.

Richard Brooks
Hit The Spot
Exceeding Client Expectations

the strip, is it used to suck up more soil or what?
I will order some asap. I think it will help me to refine my skills in the solution feed. I probably could have fixed that police station carpet by bonneting after. whacha think?

Your Servant

Servant,
An explanation I have found useful with regard to traffic lanes, areas under office chairs where they didn't/don't use a chair mat, etc. Is to refer to clothing, many of us have worn sweatshirts of some type or t-shirts that "pill", also the area in the crotch of pants that gets worn and the fabric abraded. This is done on garments without the benefit of foot traffic, soil, etc. and washing? Carpet while it is a "heavier " fabric is still a textile subject to abrasion, to help avoid that we mat, vacuum, and clean. Inadeqaute maintenance, accelerates the condition. Let them know you can't put back the fibers that have worn off, nor correct the distortion. The light reflects differently once it has occured.

Alex, from the description of this job, I would have Cimexed with MaxPads to loosen the soil and then flushed it all out with the Steamin Demon and maybe followed with dry pads under a 17" Rotary at 320 rpm

no the brown strip doesn't extract soil, just adds some agitation to the softer surrounding synthetic material on the "Cimex Bonnets" that Rick sells.

those Cimex Bonnets that Richard SKU'ed up above will pull extra soil & moisture out after you've run the FP pads over the carpet. i've done that on some jobs.

thanx --- Derek.

We use the bonnets on our Cimexes and love them. I don't know how Rick make any money on them though. We bought our bonnets 2 years ago and they are still OK. We just use them then wash them and use them again. Personally, I have never used a bonnet at all until we bought these so I have no frame of reference on how they compare to other bonnets.

However, after you Cimex with the Releasit Encap Clean DS and fiber plus pads then go back over the carpet with the bonnets to remove some soil and to dry the carpet.

We also use them on oriental rugs. Alot of time we just run the solution through them. Some rugs the fiber plus pads are to aggressive.

Kevin Pearson

Almost everyone in their life has worn either prescription glasses or sunglasses. The most common material for lens between the two- plastic. Perfect for us, because MANY people have scratched their lenses and realize that it makes it hard for them to see as the light is now being reflected differently then it used to be.

This is no different then a carpet fiber (more then often a form of plastic, but it does not matter- they still get scratched and wear). From not enough vacuuming, lack of excellent matting, heavy foot traffic, not cleaning enough, etc., etc. the fibers become scratched and reflect light differently.

I have two pairs of sunglasses (thank you Dollar Store!). The right lens on each I left alone. The left lens on pair #1 I scratched lightly with very fine grit sandpaper. The left lens on pair #2, I scratched more aggressively with the same sandpaper. I let people try them on to see what I mean. Most go- "WOW, I had no idea".

If that doesn't work you can always try a Compact Disc or DVD explanation. By now all of us have had that favorite CD finally get scratched and have it skip. It is because the light is reflected improperly because the scratch interferes. The data is still there; just not properly visible to the laser lens to read it.

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

not a bad illlustation the dvd should do it.

Thanks
Alex

Your Servant

Almost everyone in their life has worn either prescription glasses or sunglasses. The most common material for lens between the two- plastic. Perfect for us, because MANY people have scratched their lenses and realize that it makes it hard for them to see as the light is now being reflected differently then it used to be.

This is no different then a carpet fiber (more then often a form of plastic, but it does not matter- they still get scratched and wear). From not enough vacuuming, lack of excellent matting, heavy foot traffic, not cleaning enough, etc., etc. the fibers become scratched and reflect light differently.

I have two pairs of sunglasses (thank you Dollar Store!). The right lens on each I left alone. The left lens on pair #1 I scratched lightly with very fine grit sandpaper. The left lens on pair #2, I scratched more aggressively with the same sandpaper. I let people try them on to see what I mean. Most go- "WOW, I had no idea".

If that doesn't work you can always try a Compact Disc or DVD explanation. By now all of us have had that favorite CD finally get scratched and have it skip. It is because the light is reflected improperly because the scratch interferes. The data is still there; just not properly visible to the laser lens to read it.

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

The best explanation(s) I heard were from our new resident Dr. Bob W. in an article he wrote quite some time ago in one of the trade maggs.I forgot the title,but litearlly a great disclaimer of sorts in regards to commercial carpet...Prequalifying commercial accounts or something close to that.Maybe he will post about it.
Patrick

Alex,

In your initial post you stated that you... "pre-saturated the traffic areas" with pre-spray.

Therein may lie the problem.

CGD (commercial glue down) does NOT favor using a lot of liquid. I would suggest keeping you wetness of the fiber to a minimum. And then accelerate drying. You can use fans to help dry the carpet. Bonneting, as mentioned above, can also help to pull some additional soil from your "McNasty" carpet.

Good analogies above about scratched fiber. The way Bob Wittkamp explained it to me a hundred years ago when he was my IICRC instructor went like this... If you had a shiny car with a glossy paint job. And then you took some fine sandpaper and scuffed up a spot. You could see the damaged/dull spot from clear across the parking lot. Same thing happens to fiber when it gets scratched. It will look dull and dingy!

My advice for trashed CGD is to get it clean and then get it dry super quick. Less is better when it comes to water and CGD.








Rick Gelinas
rick@excellent-supply.com

Well Patrick I have written over 140 articles for ICS and it may take a while for me to find the one you are speaking of, especially with my new duty of taking tech service calls for Rick (press 2 at the main menu) but I'll try to find it. Also,you know, the beach is calling.