Does encap work or not?

[John G]

First off the removing of soil in straight encap is done by the product, NOT the machine, the machine can only prepare the carpet to be cleaned.
For example, we all know 79% of soil is particulate that is vacuumed up, the rest is stuck to the fibers.
So what can LM do to remove that soil?
We use the encap solution along with extreme agitation to strip the stickies and soils from the carpet.
Then because we have "sloshed" this product at super high speed through all the fibers and stripped them, now we let it dry.
Once dried, the fibers are coated as to insure no wickbacks, plus the soils and stickies are not coated with a polymer, a good polymer will
now dry, crystalized and then the stickies and soil have also become "particulate" soils, again, easily removed by vacuuming.

Another debate is Deep pile carpet, if you knew how much moisture was moving at incredible rates of "sloshing" for lack of a better word through the fibers, you will understand we don't so much spray the carpet as much as we do keep enough moisture in the pad itself. You can NOT miss stripping the fibers when using this much agitation and moisture together. That is another reason many will tell you, either encap works or it doesn't the idea of it only working on commercial carpets is a misnomer of not understanding what is happening under the machine when it is over the carpet. You don't move anymore water through the carpet with HWE than you do with LM, the difference is, with LM you have the added agitation PLUS that moisture is sloshing side to side at high speed whipping through all the carpet fibers. The carpet dries in an hour or less because we keep the moisture MOVING along with the pad.

There is not that much difference (excluding the agitation) to what is going on between the wand and the carpet as there is between the pad and the carpet. One does suck the moisture the other depends on leaving it behind.

 

[hogjowl]

Ya'll just wait.

We'll have Howard and his buddies here next month.

When things get slow for them too.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Careful he might bring his fog horn.

 

[steve_64]

it makes me money thats what really matters.that and customers like it.

 

[rwcarpet]

I'm a believer. Encapping, by way of Cimex, has given me some new freedom this year to clean some upper floor offices, which would have been a time consuming by way of extraction. I just priced out an 8000 sf job today, of which is practically impossible to extract because of the nature of the businesses located in this building. It will pay close to extraction prices, but I won't have to haul hoses, find a water source, or deal with workers tripping over my hoses....plus security of the building. Now....I got to get with John to get my old Conqueror back up and running. The key is finding the correct encap juice without having to experiment with all the product and sales pitches that are out there.

 

[Jimmy L]

With the small amount of polymer in a RTU solution and spread out over the 200-400 sq ft of area it is IMPOSSIBLE to encapsulate any soil.

All it does is leave a NON-SOIL attracting dry RESIDUE.

All a big marketing SCAM by internet shampoo makers.

 

[Jeff Madsen]

It's sad to see the self-loathing Jimmy! Come out of the closet. Embrace the shampoo-rainbow! You know you're an encapper who's heart throbs for all things encapoo! Be yourself - don't be afraid!

 

[Jimmy L]

Jeff I use the chemistry for bonnet cleaning and I KNOW WHAT IT REALLY IS.

All it does is leave a DRY residue.

 

[David VB]

Chemspec 161 was leaving a dry residue years and years ago as I suppose many others did also.

I doubt any of us are chemists so we're just repeating what we've been told. I'll add what I was told by a very well known and respected formulator.

It's not the function of the polymer to encapsulate the soil. As I learned in my first class, the detergent molecules surround the soil and their electrical charges are what separates the soil from the fiber. The function of the polymer is to cause these soil containing molecules to clump together in bigger clusters and extend the time before they break down and release the soil. It doesn't take a lot of polymer to do this. Also, the chemical doesn't have to surround all the soil. It just has to break down and hold he oily binders that prevent the soil from being swept out. Makes sense to me.

The only thing I know first hand is that I've maintained a lot of office buildings (straight encap, no bonnets) without using hot water extraction for many years.

 

[Goomer]

All it does is leave a NON-SOIL attracting dry RESIDUE.

All a big marketing SCAM by internet shampoo makers.

If it leaves a non-soil attracting dry residue on the carpet fibers, then doesn't it leave the same non-soil attracting residue on the soil.......thus encapsulating it????

 

[steve frasier]

I can take a very soiled carpet and rinse it clean but it can still appear dirty

I can clean the same carpet with op or cimex and have it look better then hwe but stll be dirty

I have never vacuumed out any dried encap that had soil attached to it

I have cimex cleaned a hallway before and while it was still damp, several people walked across it on to off white tile. The tile had all kinds of dirty shoe prints on it after they walked across it.

I have and use all 3 methods

 

[hogjowl]

I maintain several commercial properties using encap almost exclusively. Several of my accounts have gone years without hot water extraction; however, I have a few that have people who walk around in sock feet on occasion (two churches and a country club) and I used to get dirty sock complaints. So, I had to encorporate quarterly HWE on those accounts.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Could you have used a OP on those or is that what you were doing?

A lot depends on the account but if it is soiled to any degree we would HWE to flush it out and from then on maintain using a Cimex. If it needs more we use the Orbot in replacement of HWE until it needs it again. Possibly several years.

 

[juniorc82]

It has been said that perception is reality. And when I put the cimex to commercial carpet my customers perception is a clean carpet, and the reality is a check arrives usualy a month later in my mail box end of story.

 

[ruff]

I maintain several commercial properties using encap almost exclusively. Several of my accounts have gone years without hot water extraction; however, I have a few that have people who walk around in sock feet on occasion (two churches and a country club) and I used to get dirty sock complaints. So, I had to encorporate quarterly HWE on those accounts.

Wouldn't it be much simpler to provide them with black or salt & pepper socks, on the house ?

You'd be able to maintain that encapping is totally great soil removing cleaning with your self esteem/integrity partially intact and they'll be so very happy about the free socks.
It would have been a win/win .

 

[Shorty]

You don't move anymore water through the carpet with HWE than you do with LM,

John, I must be missing something here in that sentence.

Are you saying that when a carpet is low moisture cleaned, such as encapping or bonnet cleaning, etc; be it with any of the current orbital/rotary machines we use, that we use the same amount of water that one would use when HWE; carpet ??

If that is right, then I'm doing something wrong because I definitely use a lot less water.

Shorty.


PS:: Anyone want to buy a (hardly used for several years) truckmount??

 

[John G]

No, not at all Shorty, I am saying "under the pad" there is a LOT of moisture beating through all the fibers of the carpet, totally soaking them, however as we move the pad we are moving some that moisture along with us.
A split second of a wand spraying and sucking isn't much different than a pad over an area for seconds that is full of moisture and beating side to side aggressively.