Mikey P
Administrator
Both the President and Chairman of the Board love the idea and I'm waiting on a estimate to build the app from @Hoody
I'll go to the 19 person Shareholder committee to ask for help in compiling the "Cheat Sheets" and I would love to have anyone from here help as well via Zoom meetings.
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We all have experience with cleaning techs that can do a great job at cleaning yet suffer from poor communication skills. Whether it’s shyness, lack of confidence or the gift of gab, poor training, ESL or are just new and lack a total understanding of how the technical side of how carpet cleaning works, all of the above can lead to a frustrating experience for everyone involved, the customer, the business owner, phone staff and the cleaner themselves.
So rather than your tech saying “sorry Mrs Piftleton, that’s permanent” or “I tried real hard but could not get it out”, this app will explain in official (and certified) “IICRC Standards language” what is (most likely) really going on.
This app would be made available at no charge to all Certified Firms as well as individuals to help give more value to being a registrant. It’s no secret that many registrants feel that after they get certified that it’s hard to find value to justify the annual dues. I think this app is a very positive and valuable move in doing just that.
These shareable “Cheat Sheets” can be shared with husbands or wives that are not home at the time of cleaning and can help prevent those negative moments of truth when they come home and find that the offending stain is still there or the carpet “looks worse after cleaning”. They can also be shared with real estate agents, new home buyers, tenants etc
Each “hand out” or subject could also include suggestions on how to prevent the same issue from happening again as well as some simple spot cleaning guidance.
For example, Yellow stains that appear after a dark spot has been rinsed, would read something like this:
“It is a common occurrence that when spot removers that contain “Oxy” or Hydrogen Peroxide are used by the home owner and are not fully rinsed and neutralized, that an ongoing oxidization (or bleaching) takes place. This can be a slow process and can happen during the same rate of time that the cleaning agent residue as well as the original spill residue attracts dirt over time. The bleaching effect was actually happening UNDER the layer of soil that accumulated and only became apparent when your cleaning technician removed the soil with the normal process”
or
Reappearing spots/stains after cleaning: It is impossible for the technician to know just how deep every spot/spill is on most carpets. Some spills, especially those that were previously worked on by other carpet cleaners or ambitious homeowners, may have been pushed into the carpet’s backing or pad below (and in some occurrences, even the subfloor). Exceptionally large spills can do this naturally just with gravity alone to blame. When the carpet cleaning technician performs the normal process only soil in the face fibers are removed. If the technician was not made aware of the fact that spill was cleaned up without extraction or to the extent of the size of the liquid spill, the remaining soil and associated residues can “wick” to the surface as the carpet dries. Some oily type spills can also not be completely rinsed out in the normal process if a specified solvent is not used to break the bond. Over time the oily residue will start attracting soil again. If the spot is in a heavy traffic this can happen quickly. Additional cleaning attempts will need to be made with specialty equipment and cleaning solutions to attempt to remove all the residues without harming the glue in the backing or the subfloor below.
( these are not the final version, something I just through together quickly, but you get the point)
Subjects to include:
DYS Oxy product discoloration
Carpet ripples
Brown out
Shrinkage
Remaining doggy dander or urine odors
Urine stains still showing under UV inspection
Urine in general, sub-floor damage
Off gassing discoloration
Carbon filtration lines
Delamination
Ticking discoloration
Stained grout
Topical failure
MDF baseboards
Sealers or protectors not beading
Acid etching on stone
Travertine dulling
Cracked/damaged grout
shading/pooling
Premature wear
Tufted rug off-gassing
Upholstery Texture Distortion
Wicking
Resoiling
Latent Intruders
Color Bleeding Upholstery
Color Bleeding Area Rug
Browning Area Rug
Browning Upholstery
Skunk Odor
Curry Odor
Vomit Stains
Acrylic Floor Finish on Tile & Grout, Hardwood, Stone
Smoke Odor (Fire)
Smoke Odor (Tobacco)
Tear Gas
The last professional dufus stripped half the floor wax off, still looks like hell
Car Interior Odor, especially milk and dead body
Ink on Upholstery
Wine on any Textile
Coffee on any Textile
etc etc..
and of course sections for Upholstery, Tile, Stone, Grout, Wood, LVP etc
I'll go to the 19 person Shareholder committee to ask for help in compiling the "Cheat Sheets" and I would love to have anyone from here help as well via Zoom meetings.
------------------------------------------
We all have experience with cleaning techs that can do a great job at cleaning yet suffer from poor communication skills. Whether it’s shyness, lack of confidence or the gift of gab, poor training, ESL or are just new and lack a total understanding of how the technical side of how carpet cleaning works, all of the above can lead to a frustrating experience for everyone involved, the customer, the business owner, phone staff and the cleaner themselves.
So rather than your tech saying “sorry Mrs Piftleton, that’s permanent” or “I tried real hard but could not get it out”, this app will explain in official (and certified) “IICRC Standards language” what is (most likely) really going on.
This app would be made available at no charge to all Certified Firms as well as individuals to help give more value to being a registrant. It’s no secret that many registrants feel that after they get certified that it’s hard to find value to justify the annual dues. I think this app is a very positive and valuable move in doing just that.
These shareable “Cheat Sheets” can be shared with husbands or wives that are not home at the time of cleaning and can help prevent those negative moments of truth when they come home and find that the offending stain is still there or the carpet “looks worse after cleaning”. They can also be shared with real estate agents, new home buyers, tenants etc
Each “hand out” or subject could also include suggestions on how to prevent the same issue from happening again as well as some simple spot cleaning guidance.
For example, Yellow stains that appear after a dark spot has been rinsed, would read something like this:
“It is a common occurrence that when spot removers that contain “Oxy” or Hydrogen Peroxide are used by the home owner and are not fully rinsed and neutralized, that an ongoing oxidization (or bleaching) takes place. This can be a slow process and can happen during the same rate of time that the cleaning agent residue as well as the original spill residue attracts dirt over time. The bleaching effect was actually happening UNDER the layer of soil that accumulated and only became apparent when your cleaning technician removed the soil with the normal process”
or
Reappearing spots/stains after cleaning: It is impossible for the technician to know just how deep every spot/spill is on most carpets. Some spills, especially those that were previously worked on by other carpet cleaners or ambitious homeowners, may have been pushed into the carpet’s backing or pad below (and in some occurrences, even the subfloor). Exceptionally large spills can do this naturally just with gravity alone to blame. When the carpet cleaning technician performs the normal process only soil in the face fibers are removed. If the technician was not made aware of the fact that spill was cleaned up without extraction or to the extent of the size of the liquid spill, the remaining soil and associated residues can “wick” to the surface as the carpet dries. Some oily type spills can also not be completely rinsed out in the normal process if a specified solvent is not used to break the bond. Over time the oily residue will start attracting soil again. If the spot is in a heavy traffic this can happen quickly. Additional cleaning attempts will need to be made with specialty equipment and cleaning solutions to attempt to remove all the residues without harming the glue in the backing or the subfloor below.
( these are not the final version, something I just through together quickly, but you get the point)
Subjects to include:
DYS Oxy product discoloration
Carpet ripples
Brown out
Shrinkage
Remaining doggy dander or urine odors
Urine stains still showing under UV inspection
Urine in general, sub-floor damage
Off gassing discoloration
Carbon filtration lines
Delamination
Ticking discoloration
Stained grout
Topical failure
MDF baseboards
Sealers or protectors not beading
Acid etching on stone
Travertine dulling
Cracked/damaged grout
shading/pooling
Premature wear
Tufted rug off-gassing
Upholstery Texture Distortion
Wicking
Resoiling
Latent Intruders
Color Bleeding Upholstery
Color Bleeding Area Rug
Browning Area Rug
Browning Upholstery
Skunk Odor
Curry Odor
Vomit Stains
Acrylic Floor Finish on Tile & Grout, Hardwood, Stone
Smoke Odor (Fire)
Smoke Odor (Tobacco)
Tear Gas
The last professional dufus stripped half the floor wax off, still looks like hell
Car Interior Odor, especially milk and dead body
Ink on Upholstery
Wine on any Textile
Coffee on any Textile
etc etc..
and of course sections for Upholstery, Tile, Stone, Grout, Wood, LVP etc
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