Wool rug, I don't stand a chance.

foosballnerd

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Nov 15, 2016
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Iowa
Name
Rick
Getting ready to clean my gf extremely tight wool rug. After seeing pics of Springer's shop on this forum (props to the Huxley dude and Mr. Hugh), chance of success is against me. Wish I could figure out how to post pics. In one of the pics I seen at springers, was that a wringer like they use to use with laundry? Here's my game plan: prespray with solution at ph 9, agiate with my groomer (yes it does have a wooden handle), water extract (no chemicals), then rinse (acetic acid, ok yes I'm gonna use vinegar), throw in a ton of dry strokes, and my carpet fan. So I'm thinking this should dry by turkey day, gf leaves me, and I will be on match.com looking for my future X. I'm thinking it's really good that I have a normal job outside CC, that way when I screw someone's carpet up, at least I can threaten them with a payment plan.
 

cleanking

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Jordan King
Start by vacuuming both sides, back first then front, very slowly to remove as much loose soil as possible. Lower your pH of your pre-spray to 7-8 to be safe and use an acid rinse in your chemical injection. Keep your heat off and pressure under 500psi. Be sure to groom the pile with the nap after extraction to help remove the wand marks and set the nap in the correct direction. Check for dryness with a moisture probe. When dry, vacuum again. You should get out of this unscathed.
 
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foosballnerd

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Nov 15, 2016
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Iowa
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Rick
Never thought to vac both sides, killer idea. 500 psi, I got a porty. Heat, I'm using tap water out of the sink. I used my upholstery tool to clean because the $3 utube super duper wand glide I made wasn't cured yet (and when it is cured, I'm betting it comes detached easily). The rug does look better. When I drained the water, it looked like I sucked my cat up in the machine. After I read your reply, I did run down stairs and make sure I had the nap going like you said. Thank you, advice is cheap, good advice comes with experience and is priceless.
 

foosballnerd

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Iowa
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Rick
Hello Jimmy L,
The glide I made did work better than not having one: the wand didn't bounce around on the back stroke like it did without it on the berber in my basement (and to my shock, the darn thing was still securely attached). I'm just trying to learn, and you and others are helping. Every 1 thing I learn, seems to make me realize there's 2 things I don't have a clue about. So how come I don't need a glide/slide for a porty? It seemed the previous 2 times I cleaned the same berber (yes, I have been practicing), I had to press down on the back strokes/dry runs to keep the thing on the carpet. Never mind the glide thing. Chemicals, where to buy, a sales rep perhaps with a bigger brain than mine (which isn't going to be hard). Here's the CC market I'm looking at: residential (people I know, friend, coworkers, none of us rich), people that probably will not call a professional fulltime cleaner ever, have faith in me (I honestly have been CCing before). I'm tired of typing, throwing my resume out, cyber stalking HWE, PH, rinse, mfgers, equipment, PSI, CFM. airlift, wands, powerwands, hose size (does this 1.5 inch I'm using...never mind I was a bad joke:), and chemicals. Throw me in the right direction with the chemicals. When I say throw, I mean, hook me up with some place with good chemicals. I pay my bills, I know I pay before I even use them. Did anyone miss the part about "help?" And "rugfaggy," what is that? I'm still waiting for you all to jump on me about the foosball thing, it's a game with...forget it.
 

BIG WOOD

MLPW
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Feb 4, 2016
Messages
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Georgia
Name
Matt w.
Getting ready to clean my gf extremely tight wool rug. After seeing pics of Springer's shop on this forum (props to the Huxley dude and Mr. Hugh), chance of success is against me. Wish I could figure out how to post pics. In one of the pics I seen at springers, was that a wringer like they use to use with laundry? Here's my game plan: prespray with solution at ph 9, agiate with my groomer (yes it does have a wooden handle), water extract (no chemicals), then rinse (acetic acid, ok yes I'm gonna use vinegar), throw in a ton of dry strokes, and my carpet fan. So I'm thinking this should dry by turkey day, gf leaves me, and I will be on match.com looking for my future X. I'm thinking it's really good that I have a normal job outside CC, that way when I screw someone's carpet up, at least I can threaten them with a payment plan.
Can someone enlighten me on what an extremely tight wool rug is? Since you said this is your girlfriend's extremely tight wool rug, my immature sense of humor went down the wrong path.
 

foosballnerd

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Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
19
Location
Iowa
Name
Rick
Thread count/knot count, extremely thick. I'm pretty sure you knew what I meant. And did the carpet match the backing (oops, I'm meant drapes)? Nope. The gf is really happy with the rug though, and I wasn't, and will stay away from those jobs. Guess why I'm here bothering you fine folks. Wait for it...here comes the punch line...it's information. Or if you like, my lack of knowledge, in CC. So Mr. Wood, do you know a good chemical supplier, or are we going to just copy and paste my first post and reply in regards to my gf? Why is it so hard for someone to say "hey bonehead, call these people, they got good product, knowledgeable reps, and so on and on?" Do I need to throw my full resume out? Join? I'm not going to embarrass the industry, compete with anyone, or say a bad word about another CC in my area. I already have my small little niche, which none, not a one, is going to call a professional carpet cleaning company, ever. I'm cleaning for friends, friends of friends, coworkers, nothing commercial, and because it interest me (it's in my blood, sorry, let me enlighten you, my Father was a vac saleman). So if you are renting out carpet extractors, selling chemical, and your clients are cleaning carpets themselves, I am going to compete with you (extractor rental is $30, chemicals are $20, upholstery tool $15, deposit ?, and they have to do the work themselves, and the machine is not a TM or even a good grade porty). I hope I do 1 carpet a week, for honest work and fair pay. Throw in some (not a bunch, I do have a full time job outside of this industry) upholstery, vehicles, and that's it folks. Chemicals, please throw some leads at me. Wow, I wrote another novel, sorry.
 

Cleanworks

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Ron Marriott
Yep, I joined. Don't everybody rush out and welcome me, just try to get my not so funny jokes, and point me in the right direction.
Rick, there are some many chemical and equipment suppliers out there it is hard to know where to start. You will learn what you need through personal experience. If you are doing hwe, (steam cleaning) try your local Prochem dealer. They will have everything you need and the products are good. All of the other top suppliers are just as good and it comes down to a personal preference. You have to put in your time and make your judgements. Keep up the jokes. They may get funnier with experience, who knows. Welcome to Mikey's Board by the way.
 

Bob Pruitt

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May 22, 2016
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earth
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Robert Pruitt
Welcome @foosballnerd to the MikeyBoard! You were able to keep your girl friend and soak a rug. You are qualified to be here...
Just drag a picture from your desk top and once it shows up on your post click Full Size.
 
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BIG WOOD

MLPW
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Feb 4, 2016
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Georgia
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Matt w.
Thread count/knot count, extremely thick. I'm pretty sure you knew what I meant. And did the carpet match the backing (oops, I'm meant drapes)? Nope. The gf is really happy with the rug though, and I wasn't, and will stay away from those jobs. Guess why I'm here bothering you fine folks. Wait for it...here comes the punch line...it's information. Or if you like, my lack of knowledge, in CC. So Mr. Wood, do you know a good chemical supplier, or are we going to just copy and paste my first post and reply in regards to my gf? Why is it so hard for someone to say "hey bonehead, call these people, they got good product, knowledgeable reps, and so on and on?" Do I need to throw my full resume out? Join? I'm not going to embarrass the industry, compete with anyone, or say a bad word about another CC in my area. I already have my small little niche, which none, not a one, is going to call a professional carpet cleaning company, ever. I'm cleaning for friends, friends of friends, coworkers, nothing commercial, and because it interest me (it's in my blood, sorry, let me enlighten you, my Father was a vac saleman). So if you are renting out carpet extractors, selling chemical, and your clients are cleaning carpets themselves, I am going to compete with you (extractor rental is $30, chemicals are $20, upholstery tool $15, deposit ?, and they have to do the work themselves, and the machine is not a TM or even a good grade porty). I hope I do 1 carpet a week, for honest work and fair pay. Throw in some (not a bunch, I do have a full time job outside of this industry) upholstery, vehicles, and that's it folks. Chemicals, please throw some leads at me. Wow, I wrote another novel, sorry.
Hey bro, I'm just having fun with you. Stay around for a while, and you'll be entertained with our dry humor.

If I understand your post correctly, you have a rental setup that you supply to the public? If so, how's that business doing? Do you need tips to give to your customers on how to get the best results out of those setups?

Because if you do rent out those machines...technically those are our main competitors, and we try every day to make sure our customers know that our services are more valuable than rentals. But if that's all you want to do, then after we dry humor hump you for a bit, we'll have some great conversation. All I ask, is that you return the dry humor to keep us laughing with you

Welcome bro
 

Mikey P

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Do you how your portable around in a trailer or does it get first class treatment in a (real) van?



Real meaning not your wife's soccer wagon..
 

foosballnerd

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Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
19
Location
Iowa
Name
Rick
Prochem it is, thank you. No I'm renting anything to the public or anyone else. Still have the gf, although I keep wondering why she hasn't came to her senses and left. The vehicle is my daily driver, a jeep, which the porty EDIC fits in nicely. Putting it in out of the jeep, 80 pounds is a blast. Thanks guys, I'll keep you updated, promise.
 
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foosballnerd

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Nov 15, 2016
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Iowa
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Rick
I bought the Ultrapac Traffic lane Mint, Liquid Slurry, All Fiber Rinse, XL333, and Oxy Plus (this one I'm going to gently try on my carpets). I didn't get any defoamer, the person who answered the phone couldn't tell me how to use it. She did call someone, and that person recommended I not buy Ultrapac TL and Liquid Slurry, and just buy XL333. The rinse part to neutralize the traffic lane and cleaner (if I'm understanding this correctly), means I got to clean the same carpet twice, is that correct? And...someone slap a profile pic on me, is that a girl? How come I can't make the pic big enough to read what it says. Well, at least the foosball table is a Tornado.
 

foosballnerd

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
19
Location
Iowa
Name
Rick
I bought the Ultrapac Traffic lane Mint, Liquid Slurry, All Fiber Rinse, XL333, and Oxy Plus (this one I'm going to gently try on my carpets). I didn't get any defoamer, the person who answered the phone couldn't tell me how to use it. She did call someone, and that person recommended I not buy Ultrapac TL and Liquid Slurry, and just buy XL333. The rinse part to neutralize the traffic lane and cleaner (if I'm understanding this correctly), means I got to clean the same carpet twice, is that correct? And...someone slap a profile pic on me, is that a girl? How come I can't make the pic big enough to read what it says. Well, at least the foosball table is a Tornado.
 

Cleanworks

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You won't need the all fibre rinse yet. You prespray with the ultrapak and rinse with the liquid slurry. Some people will tell you that you need to acid rinse but they are wrong. Pay close attention to the mixing instructions. More is not better. When something doesn't clean up the first time, do it again. Stick to synthetic carpets at first, do not do area rugs with these products.
 

Larry Cobb

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Dallas, Texas USA
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Larry Cobb
Rick;

Don't worry about your initial cleaning abilities.

Most carpet cleaners started out the same way.

The trick is to keep progressing in this trade . . .
 
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J Scott W

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Oct 16, 2006
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Shelbyville TN
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Jeffrey Scott Warrington
There are many variations in construction of wool rugs. Type of dyes, foundation yarns, weaving methods and so forth. Many more factors to consider than cleaning an installed carpet.

For best results, I suggest you take it to a rug cleaning expert. They often will give a discounted price to other cleaners.

If you do decide to clean it yourself, email me for my introductory training manual on wool rug cleaning. I will send you a free copy. Actually email me assistant - nstoker@interlinksupply.com

Key points -
  • Therei s likely a lot of dry soil in the rug. Shake, beat vibrate, vacuum etc. to remove as much soil in a dry state as possible before adding any moisture.
  • Use the minimum amount of moisture. Extract as much moisture as possible. Dry quickly with aid of air movement and possibly heat.
  • Bridgepoint and Masterblend are two manufacturers who have products specifically made for wool rugs. Here is a link to our line-up - https://interlinksupply.com/index.php?search_val=wool
 

foosballnerd

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Nov 15, 2016
Messages
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Iowa
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Rick
Hi. Did my first carpet yesterday for a buddy. Man was that carpet thrashed. The first thing I did was max out his water heater temp. Had to vacuum for a while, then vac traffic areas again just to be safe. Did the oxy boost with prespray, then scrubbed with my (this kind of embarrassing) carpet rake. Extracted with cleaning solution. I could not believe the result, and neither could my buddy. They looked great. I did the job for nothing, the guy is like a brother to me. He did give me his Kirby G7 that he wasn't interested in, he'd rather use one of them Wally World vacs. I was looking to buy a vac (not anymore, plus the gf told me I wasn't going to take the $212 Royal I bought at the vac dealer up the street out of the house, and to be honest I agree with her, it's mostly plastic) and probably an Oreck Orbitor for agitation. I figure I could use the Kirby with a attachment (rug rejuv brush, or shampoo brush), it would have to work better than the Groom rake. And before I get slammed for being great after 1 job, I use to clean carpets for myself, by my self, for a guy that had over 450 units, over 20 years ago. It was hard work and very low pay, plus you had to show up when they called. I never ever seen results CC like I did yesterday, with me cleaning them. He even left some steel plates for lifting on his carpet that rusted, I told him those probably will not come out, they came out, how? The "CHAT" thing, let the chems do the work, agitate, I'm gonna get a bucket heater (that's embarrassing too)... I would like to thank you guys for sharing your knowledge. Prochem rocks! The wool rug cleaning, I will recommend they call a professional specialized in that. And by the way, I still know I suck at this, but man was I proud yesterday. Oh, I got me a new foosball table yesterday, well, new to me.
 
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Cleanworks

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You are starting to get it. Keep is simple starting off. Pre vacuuming can be the most important part of the job. Those Oreck Orbitors will work for agitation. You don't want to play with the customers hot water heater. Bucket heater takes a while to heat but helps if you need to refill your machine. I used to fill my machine, then fill a 5 gallon bucket and put a bucket heater in it. When it was time to refill, the water was at least hotter than tap water. You may want to look at an inline heater. I use a EDIC 2000w. inline heater with a 3-4 flow wand and it is an improvement over tap water alone. It will not keep up with a steady flow, so I will start in the middle of a room and clean to the wall, dry stroke back to center, then clean to the other side, dry stroking back to the middle. The heat recovers somewhat when you are dry stroking. Pay attention to the dilution rates on your chems and remember, sometime, less is more. Too much chemical will cause foaming and loss of air flow in your wand and hoses.
 

Nomad74

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Redding
Yup, you gotta be careful with Wool carpets. I had a lady yesterday that wanted me to clean her wool rug. I normally bring them back to my "shop" and work on them in a controlled environment. She was trying to get me to clean them on the spot, in her house, on her wood floors. She said the last cleaner was able to do it on the spot. I got down on my knees and pointed out to her where the rug had bled. She was shocked and had never noticed the bleed before. I took pictures to cover myself.
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Cleanworks

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You never know, she may have noticed if you had cleaned on site and would have blamed you for that. I now take pictures of any damage on rugs before I clean them.
 
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