I prepped a residential carpet. I wish i could tell you what kind. I do know that its loop.
The carpet was so dirty that the soil was caked on top the carpet fibers burying the fibers. If you scratch through the soil into the fibers with finger you'll find soft fibers of the original color beneath the soil.

This caked up soil i imagine, was oily soil that attracted soil day after day after day and was walked on continuously, cause this area was smooth and flat. At any rate i punched it with 12oz.. Scrubbed it in with Cimex. Man its amazing how it looked aferwards. (I'll try to post photos)

However when i inspected the fibers closely after allowing to dry, i found that there was that sticky stuff clinging to the belly (As it were) of the fibers. In other words the soil was just below surface.

Anyway i figure, go back tommorrow ,thouroughly vacuum encapped soil, check its presence, then punch and scrubb again if needed.

House is empty getting ready for rent. They were gonna by all new carpet til i said i can restore it. Theres speckles of water-base paint all over as well. Any input????

Thanks
Your Servant Alex

It sounds like the soil level needed to be HWE. I find it best to do a small free test cleaning for the customer and then tell them what you think you can do based on the test cleaning. Let them decide if it is ok to finish or they may want to replace the carpet. I think it is best to never tell a customer that you can save the carpet before you try to clean it.
I love encap but it is not the method for every job.
Jamie

That carpet needs to be extracted, S.D. would be a good choice here.

I avoid working for apartments (most of the time) as they are generally bottom feeders- looking for the lowest price possible (most of the time).

However, this "Cheapness" has lead to a great discovery for me. Apartments also have many trashed carpets that MAY have to be replaced (or so they think). 1 Bedroom units run them about $750 and 2 bedrooms about $1000.

So I have a deal with a few apartment communities that they call me and give me a shot as I have a reputation with them as being the "Hail Mary" cleaner that can save anything.

Honestly, I am no better then any other QUALITY carpet cleaner with some education, training, experience, and tools. The fact is that for their standard cleaning of $29.99 and $39.99 they get horrible results and many, many callbacks of their carpet cleaner (gee, I wonder why????).

So back to the deal: If they have a carpet they think they will have to replace they call me. I do a FREE carpet audit and determine what it will take to THOROUGHLY and PROPERLY clean the carpet. If I can do an excellent job at anywhere under 60-75% of replacement cost they happily pay me.

They do this for 2 reasons: 1) Less down town waiting for their cut rate installer to come in and install. 2) It still saves them money...

Think about the deal for you though:
1 Bedroom carpet replacement costs about $750.
If I can clean and resurrect the carpet I can make actually get paid as much as $562.50 for cleaning a 1 bedroom apartment!!!! (75% of replacement cost). Usually I keep it around 60%/$450 (or even under) at some point they will just say the heck with it it's worth the $250 (or whatever) difference to replace it.

So you have the right attitude. Here is the kicker: If I try and cannot get it done, all my work and expenses are on me- no charge/RISK FREE for the apartment manager. For me that generally means maybe up to 3-5 hours of work plus chemicals for specialized spotting.

Not many cleaners can honestly claim that they make $450 for cleaning a one bedroom apartment.

You will definately need HWE capabilities though for this to work right.

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

I agree guys,thanks for the input. It is my aim to acquire an extractor of top quality. At this point i have non. But there is a guy who has a Windsor-escort for sale. I'm guessing thats a couple of years old cause i looked it up on iternet and no mention of it. HE wants a couple of hundred. I figure i can use it for spotting traffic areas.

The owner saw the pre-scrub, i told them i haven't shampooed yet, and they were amazed. I won't get 75% but i'll get 50%. I figure thats great for a few hours at my own pace. And as Jamie said they themselves chose that they want to go with it. Thanks again.
Del I feel you, and thats good stuff, but in this case i rather get a for-sure 50% rather than letting the carpet INSTALLER get 100%. This way Everybody's happy except the INSTALLER. (smile)

Thanks
Your Servant Alex