I'm really pretty much over the hwe folks who say they clean for "clean" rather than appearance.

Does anyone know of a method of testing or current results of some test that determines the effectiveness of encapsulation vs. hwe?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

David Edwards
Carpets To Go
New Bern, NC

Not so much encap, but, I'll go behind anyone with HWE and using new pads show the dirt they left behind.

For encap, after they are done, spray, scrub, and vac with either a new bag or empty dust cup. After it drys, vac up what they left behind.

Yep, I'll put encap up against anyone else any day of the week. But you know how it is - some guys will say it's inaccurate and you're "just moving the dirt around." I'm looking for something that can be utilized when these guys tell others that encap is just for appearance. You know?

I can explain encapsulation and why and how it works - and I can do demos and cut a path through a truckmount all day long, but what I'm looking for is some industry or third-party documentation as to the effectiveness of soil removal through low-moisture encap.

David Edwards
Carpets To Go
New Bern, NC

Until the IICRC and CRI somehow become unbiased and technically competent there won't be anything anyone will accept.


You could go down the 70% of all dirt is dry and vacuumed up road and remind the HWE folks they don't really clean the carpet either.

Yeah, bro, I have. Pointed all of the following:

1. Nearly 80% of all dry soils is removed by vacuuming, and I always pre-vac with a two-motor commercial vacuum. They never do vac before applying moisture.

2. If fibers APPEAR cleaner after I clean them, please explain how they ARE cleaner after they clean them. Too, they can't clean any deeper than I do since it's not as though they roll the carpet back to clean the backing and pad. Mine goes to the very base of the fiber just as theirs does.

3. If they clean it and I do it only for appearance, please explain why mine STILL APPEARS CLEANER 60 and 90 days later. And on CGD - unless the carpet is now floating on a layer of dirt or unless the dirt has been pushed into a wall or under the concrete slab, then how did I just push it around? Gee... MAYBE it was REMOVED.

4. If I've been cleaning carpet for 17 years and carried current certification for many of those years (which only means that I know at least a little of professional cleaning) and if my cleanings look, smell and feel cleaner and if my clients are happy both short and long term - then how is it that I'm only providing "appearances?"

You know all of this, George. And I would imagine you understand the frustration. I just want a tech paper that I can shove in their mouths when they open them.

Another thing I'm tired of is these so-called "professionals" saying that encap should cost less than hwe. Personally, my results are better and at LEAST as valuable as any of theirs.

Sorry - maybe I just wanted to vent a little.

David Edwards
Carpets To Go
New Bern, NC

There are no documents, other than those that a manufacturer may provide, but no scientific studies have taken place. When I was on the Board of IICRC some years back we almost got it done, but politics won out in the end---never happened.
If you beleive that Encap is better than HWE so be it. We do all types of cleaning, but I would never encap a residential job, and conversly I would encap more commercial jobs than I would HWE It would be nice to have such findings to put an end to some of the claims some people make.

This business is still about satisfied customers and if you are doing that than why worry about it!!!!

I demoed a spot at my physical therapist's office. After I was done (in out under 15 minutes dry when I was done OP rules) the director told me I was either the 5th or 6th attempt to remove the stain. It was gone when I left. The director is sold. He wants me to do his house. I'm working on a proposal with quarterly/semi-annual/annual pricing for me to clean the whole 50 branch chain.

Ask me if I care about some HWE only cleaner saying I just swirl dirt.

I did a church today. Hasn't been done in 7 years. The carpet (even between the pews) and upholstery on 22 15-20ft pews. Straight encap on the pews, padcapped the carpet. Pre-vac, post-vac, cleaned 2000 sq ft, and about 400 lineal feet of pew upholstery (seat and back). Took me a bit over 7 hours. Only worth about $1358. Oh, and the Pastor was surprised I managed to remove stains, restore "worn out" sections, and managed to do between the pews and the upholstery by myself in that time span. Oh, and the dry carpet was a great bonus to him. I'll be doing this one at least every year now. He's the number 2 man in his district. Only about 15 other churches within 2hrs drive.

Ask me if I care about some HWE only cleaner saying I just swirl dirt.

One of the workers at a gunshop I clean the carpet 2 times a year asked me to try to restore his living room or his wife wants it T&G'd. He's seem small miracles in the shop.

Ask me if I care about some HWE only cleaner saying I just swirl dirt.

I haven't used my RV360 in 2 or 3 months. Looking to get a 20" OP and a 20" sprayer setup OP. Selling some HWE stuff to fund them.

David, I understand where you're coming from. And I can appreciate you frustration dealing with some of the knuckleheads out there who still have their heads buried in the sand.

To my knowledge there's no laboratory data within the industry that explains how and why encap technology does such an admirable job of keeping commercial carpets looking better, longer, than HWE. Producing a test protocol that can quantifiably measure soil removal has been more problematic than anyone might have expected.

For example the CRI made big news when they began using their NASA X-ray Flourescence analyzer gun to try to measure soil removal. And we see how the voices are rising up in the industry questioning the science behind the X-ray Flourescence gun. So is there a way to truly measure soil removal with ANY method? The answer is - attempting to accurately measure soil removal from carpet fiber is still questionable at best.

So we fall back on measuring what we see (i.e. the results). And I think you've brilliantly summed that up in your comments above. Encapsulation produces results that put smiles onto your customers faces. And their smiles last longer too as their carpets continue to stay clean longer. No one can argue with that.

At the end of the day it really just comes down to these two bottom line questions?
1. Is the customer happy? 2. Were you able to produce a profit for your company?
Encapsulation cleaning technology addresses these two questions in the affirmative - 7 days a week all over the planet.

So my thought is... Don't worry so much about the naysayers! Continue to provide quality service that brings genuine benefits to your customer and your company. Because at the end of the day that's the real reason we're all in business.





Rick Gelinas

Our government has the ability to quantifiably measure jobs that were not lost; surely measuring soil removal should be no problem.