Am I wasting my time vacuuming????

[renegade_cowboy]

90% of my customers carpets are in great shape when I show up....they have house cleaners a few times a week and their house is always in great shape.

So after vacuuming the whole house I dont even get a quarter of my canister full of dry soil. I spend anywhere from 20-45 minutes vacuuming and I just think I am wasting my time.

I pride myself in doing the job the way the various institutions recommend as posted on my website, but its cutting into my profits. I am wondering if I should raise my prices or cut that corner with some jobs?

 

[Brian R]

Time is money....if the end result is the same either way...then yes you are wasting your time.

If it "needs" vacuuming, vacuum it....If it doesn't, don't.


Edit: Oh and charge for it.

 

[Goomer]

Time is money....if the end result is the same either way...then yes you are wasting your time.

If it "needs" vacuuming, vacuum it....If it doesn't, don't.


Edit: Oh and charge for it.

What tool do you use to determine if it "needs" to be vacuumed or not?

I hope you don't just rely on its visual appearance.

 

[Dolly Llama]

90% of my customers carpets are in great shape when I show up....they have house cleaners a few times a week and their house is always in great shape.

a "few" times a week??

no chit??

So after vacuuming the whole house I dont even get a quarter of my canister full of dry soil. I spend anywhere from 20-45 minutes vacuuming

maybe your vac sucks..(or doesn't rather) make sure the the attachment hose is connected ..

It's the rare homeowner (or housekeeping staff) that actually vacs well..
certainly nowhere near your "90%" figure.

I pride myself in doing the job the way the various institutions recommend as posted on my website, but its cutting into my profits. I am wondering if I should raise my prices or cut that corner with some jobs?

if you're only getting a "1/4 canister" out of a whole house on "90%" of your jobs, I wouldn't bother vaccing 90% of them...UNLESS...it part of a dog and pony show to justify hi-roller prices


..L.T.A.

 

[Jim Martin]

figure what is in that canister...is less crap that will be clogging your filters and causing you to loose some of your vacuum......once your vacuum starts dropping then your dry times start getting longer......figure most truck mounts out there are not running really large blowers....so it does not take to much to start bogging one down.....

there are 2 things that the average client will look at.....how good of a job you did and how long it will take to dry....and in some cases it don't matter how well it looks...if it is taking forever to dry...........you decide....

and yes..time is money....but good referrals..are more money........

 

[renegade_cowboy]

90% of my customers carpets are in great shape when I show up....they have house cleaners a few times a week and their house is always in great shape.

a "few" times a week??

no chit??
sure seems like it...a lot of these people use live in nannies....I do this one house 5 times this year and have never met the homeowner.

So after vacuuming the whole house I dont even get a quarter of my canister full of dry soil. I spend anywhere from 20-45 minutes vacuuming

maybe your vac sucks..(or doesn't rather) make sure the the attachment hose is connected ..

It's the rare homeowner (or housekeeping staff) that actually vacs well..
certainly nowhere near your "90%" figure.
You mean thats suppose to be connected...shoot. I agree that home owners or maids focus on soil removal isnt there but wheres the soil?

[quote:1a7l4xg8]I pride myself in doing the job the way the various institutions recommend as posted on my website, but its cutting into my profits. I am wondering if I should raise my prices or cut that corner with some jobs?

if you're only getting a "1/4 canister" out of a whole house on "90%" of your jobs, I wouldn't bother vaccing 90% of them...UNLESS...it part of a dog and pony show to justify hi-roller prices
Sometimes I vac just cause its part of the dog and pony show, but for most of these jobs it seems like a waste of time. I have had customers use me because the previous company didnt prevac. Its one of those catch 22's. With my prices I think I am average to above average.


..L.T.A.[/quote:1a7l4xg8]

 

[Brian R]

Time is money....if the end result is the same either way...then yes you are wasting your time.

If it "needs" vacuuming, vacuum it....If it doesn't, don't.


Edit: Oh and charge for it.

What tool do you use to determine if it "needs" to be vacuumed or not?

I hope you don't just rely on its visual appearance.

My eyes are the only tool I need. What tool do you use at the end of the job to make sure everthing came out? Or better yet what tool does your customer use?

 

[Goomer]

I was refering to your statement of............

If it "needs" vacuuming, vacuum it....If it doesn't, don't.

How exactly do you determine if a carpet needs vacuuming?
As far as I am concerned, the only way to truly know if a carpet needs to be vacuumed, is to start vacuuming!!

I walk into every job expecting to vacuum. Within the first couple of minutes of vacuuming, I can tell by looking at my canister how much time needs to be dedicated to vacuuming the rest of the carpet. If I am barely getting anything out, by all means I will speed up the vacuum process, while maintaining the dog and pony show. I have to say most of the jobs I initially think won't need a long time vacuuming, are the ones that can surprise the most with the amount of shit that can come out. Based on that, I have less and less confidence in what my eyes tell me about the carpet soil load.
So again, the only way to know if a carpet needs to be vacuumed thoroughly, is to start vacuuming and monitor the initial results.

So if your not doing this, what are you basing your decision on regarding if you should vacuum or not?

 

[Brian R]

That makes sense.

I was refering to the visible stuff that might not make it through the lips of a wand.

Other than that, you should be able to remove most of the soil with your TM...I say "most" because you'll never remove it all.

But I get what you're saying.

 

[Jim Nazarian]

How exactly do you determine if a carpet needs vacuuming?
As far as I am concerned, the only way to truly know if a carpet needs to be vacuumed, is to start vacuuming!!

I walk into every job expecting to vacuum. Within the first couple of minutes of vacuuming, I can tell by looking at my canister how much time needs to be dedicated to vacuuming the rest of the carpet. If I am barely getting anything out, by all means I will speed up the vacuum process, while maintaining the dog and pony show. I have to say most of the jobs I initially think won't need a long time vacuuming, are the ones that can surprise the most with the amount of shit that can come out. Based on that, I have less and less confidence in what my eyes tell me about the carpet soil load.
So again, the only way to know if a carpet needs to be vacuumed thoroughly, is to start vacuuming and monitor the initial results.

So if your not doing this, what are you basing your decision on regarding if you should vacuum or not?

Totally agree!

90% of my homes visually don't require vacuuming but somehow the dust cup is usually full.

 

[Brian R]

Yes but so would the waste tank and filters.

The wasting time vacuuming question to me is whether you "have" to vacuum or can you still get the carpet clean without doing it.

Of course there was another 100 page thread about this somewhere.

 

[idreadnought]

I vacuum because I preach how important it is. I only vacuum residential houses. People in most cases don't know how good of a job you did or didn't do. They notice the effort you put out much more than the results. If you want good money then show the customer you do much more than the other guy. I do several steps that may or may not be necessary but compared to the guy that sprays and sucks, who do you think the high quality customers will go with?

 

[dealtimeman]

we always vacuum on both residential and commercial, as i considerate an extra value step for the customer and insurance for me. the job ALWAYS turns out better whe i vacuum. ( i know there is no way of telling if we would have the same results without vacuuming and i like it that way)

 

[Ron Werner]

There are some jobs where it visually looks like it needs vacuuming, and I don't really pull up that much.
There are even more that look "clean" on the surface, or were just prevacuumed by the owner, and I get a significant amount of soil. Not just the light lint or carpet fibre, but fine dust and dirt.

Its a fallacy that the TM will pull all the soil or even most of it.
I was cleaning today and thinking of Ddays post about pulling up soil with a CRB. So as I was pulling a lot of fine soil out of the carpet I had the simple thought:
Yes, his method will make it work, but its not the "best" way.

And Brian, you're not pulling anything with an OP. You, of all cleaners, should be vacuuming.

If I'm not getting much, I speed up the vacuuming. If there is no need for turtle cleaning, why do it?
Its never a dog and pony show. If it didn't have a purpose I wouldn't do it.

 

[Art Kelley]

the job ALWAYS turns out better whe i vacuum. ( i know there is no way of telling if we would have the same results without vacuuming and i like it that way)

Some day we can drive a stake through the heart of this myth. Until that day arrives just let all the prevacuumers continue to waste their time and do what you think is most appropriate for the task at hand. Certainly prevac if your wand can't remove the visable debris, especially if you use a holed glide. I have never ever, not once, in all the jobs I've ever done, really needed the additional vacuum provided by the little vacuum cleaner when my TM vacuum, or my portable vacuum, was going to be used anyway. The job always turns out great, stays clean for long periods of time, and the customer is always satisfied with the work.

 

[Brian R]

Hey Ron,
When I'm padding, I always vacuum. I even said in my padcapping thread that I will be vacuuming "Ron Werner Style".

I won't be using any kind of TM to clean so I need to vacuum up as much as possible before and after the job because padding won't pick up the solids.

I think vacuuming is very important in getting a carpet clean.

That's why if you have a $15,000.00 vacuum sitting in your truck, there is no need for $200.00 upright.

!gotcha!

 

[Ron Werner]

the $200 machine is specialized to remove the dry loose soil/particulates

The $15000 machine is specialized to remove that which the $200 machine won't or can't, the oils and other particulates stuck to the fibres by the oils, among other benefits of washing the fibres.

you should be able to remove most of the soil with your TM...I say "most" because you'll never remove it all.

Yes, the TM will remove a good portion of the soil and will make the carpet look clean, but why not try to remove the MOST soil possible. A TM by itself is ok, a TM with prevacuuming is better.

 

[Brian R]

Don't they have a wand with a beaterbrush upright -esc type thing so we can just put this whole mess to rest?

I will just have to say..to each his/her own.

 

[Goomer]

Don't they have a wand with a beaterbrush upright -esc type thing so we can just put this whole mess to rest?

Wetting the soil first increases cohesive and adhesive intermolecular forces.

(ok, I copied that)

The point is to remove the fine dirt when it is DRY.

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 947AAd5PBL

http://www.ehow.com/list_5993892_physic ... -sand.html

 

[renegade_cowboy]

After some thought I am just going to raise my prices and improve my image to go with it.