Dry Vapour cleaning

[Ron Werner]

A guy posted a comment about my cleaning video. Thought I would post it here to see what your opinions are about it.

My question is this: If much of the deep carpet soil is removed in? the vacuuming process, and now you just need to deal with the remaining Topical soil, couldn't you pretreat, work it in, Dry vapor steam it, then vacuum again to get what may be left behind?..leaving behind a dry carpet, where germs and bacteria were killed in the Dry vapor process..Just asking.

q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cX12YXs7rkq]

 

[renegade_cowboy]

A guy posted a comment about my cleaning video. Thought I would post it here to see what your opinions are about it.

My question is this: If much of the deep carpet soil is removed in? the vacuuming process, and now you just need to deal with the remaining Topical soil, couldn't you pretreat, work it in, Dry vapor steam it, then vacuum again to get what may be left behind?..leaving behind a dry carpet, where germs and bacteria were killed in the Dry vapor process..Just asking.

w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cX12YXs7rkw]

Just curious for that job what did you charge?

 

[dealtimeman]

i am curios as well, i try to vacuum good to but it only takes me 45 minutes (okay my helper about 45 minutes and we show the soil to the homeowner). i cant afford to vac for two hours and dont think 90 percent of my customers would pay for it.

 

[Brian R]

:shock: at how slow you are vacuuming.

Ok, how long are you on a typical $300.00 job.

 

[dealtimeman]

ron did you slow down on the vacuuming fo the video or do you actually vac every job this way. or is the speed you vac at, influenced by the amount of soil extracted?

 

[Eric Valentine]

That is how he really vacuums a carpet :shock:

 

[Ron Werner]

ron did you slow down on the vacuuming fo the video or do you actually vac every job this way. or is the speed you vac at, influenced by the amount of soil extracted?

Michael got it. It all depends on what's coming out of the carpet. That area of carpet, had it been "normal" would have maybe taken 30 min at most to vacuum. Its only when that canister starts filling up fast do I slow down like that.
One time on a thick carpet, I made "one" pass, about 5ft long, and put 4" of sand in the canister.


Back to topic, any opinions on the dry vapor idea?
I was thinking that there wouldn't be enough to flush the fibers of the soil from a vapor as compared to the flushing done by a greenhorn style wand.

 

[Eric Valentine]

Back to topic, any opinions on the dry vapor idea?
I was thinking that there wouldn't be enough to flush the fibers of the soil from a vapor as compared to the flushing done by a greenhorn style wand.

I agree that a good flushing will outdo vapor steam most of the time.

 

[Bill G. Martin]

We used the Amway Clear Tracks for years.....would buy them used, but my source went out of biZ....How much are you paying for one these days and are they hard to come by?? I think it has been close to 20 plus years since the were made......they were the first clear tube vac and Amway distributors sold them for $500 - $600??

Bill in central Florida

 

[Brett]

Seven seconds in one spot with a 1 inch diameter cleaning path for killing germs and bacteria on my daimer commercial steamer. Very slow to truly sanitize.

 

[Fletch]

The Process

All that effort, and no grooming at the end; I would feel cheated! :wink:

No doubt, the most thorough cleaning I have seen someone do! How much will someone pay for this? In four years, could they have neglected it and paid the same for new carpet?

Will you please do my whole house on a $99.00 Special?

 

[Brian R]

I only got to the vacuuming part. I will have to watch it when I have more time.
I guess I could keep pausing it when the phone rings.

 

[Ron Werner]

charged 0.60/sf, worked out to $300
had the old Big Red on the other end, still giving enough heat to puff steam

 

[Brian R]

:shock: at how slow you are vacuuming.

Ok, how long are you on a typical $300.00 job.

 

[harryhides]

A guy posted a comment about my cleaning video. Thought I would post it here to see what your opinions are about it.

My question is this: If much of the deep carpet soil is removed in? the vacuuming process, and now you just need to deal with the remaining Topical soil, couldn't you pretreat, work it in, Dry vapor steam it, then vacuum again to get what may be left behind?..leaving behind a dry carpet, where germs and bacteria were killed in the Dry vapor process..Just asking.

The dry vapour steam process would not rinse out the pre-treatment.
As I understand it, the pre-treatment detergents are designed to remove oily soils that are stuck onto the carpet fibers and that will NOT be removed by dry vacuuming alone. Most if not all pre-treatments require copious flushing to prevent rapid re-soiling.
The basic premise of "Dry vapour steam-cleaning" is that the high heat "melts" much of the oily-based soils without the need for pre-treatments on the surface that the steam head comes into contact with. This is why it is so effective on fabrics that are relatively very thin but not so much on cleaning out oily soils a quarter to half an inch below a jungle of fiber as in a carpet.

Dry vapour steam ( temperature ) would of course activate any pre-treatment, making it even more effective ( as do both agitation and or time ) but the pre-treatment would still need to be rinsed out.

 

[sweendogg]

My question is this: If much of the deep carpet soil is removed in? the vacuuming process, and now you just need to deal with the remaining Topical soil, couldn't you pretreat, work it in, Dry vapor steam it, then vacuum again to get what may be left behind?..leaving behind a dry carpet, where germs and bacteria were killed in the Dry vapor process..Just asking.

This guy sounds like he has been up late watching the infomercials for the new Shark Steam mop or likewise steamer that is on the market for homeowners.

 

[Ron Werner]

Thanks Tony

:shock: at how slow you are vacuuming.

Ok, how long are you on a typical $300.00 job.

On normal maintenance cleaning I usually average about $100/hr, so about 3hrs on a $300 job. Tends to drop a little on restoratives.

 

[charlie brown]

To Each his own. Your stair cleaning video was equally as funny. CB

 

[Fletch]

Ron,

I noticed that you were going slow on the forward stroke with the vacuum. I tend to go slow on the back stroke, and much faster moving forward. Is there an advantage to going slow forward vs. backwards?

Thanks for allowing us to see your method!

 

[dealtimeman]

i think that rons process is fail proof and very thorough. 8)

 

[Ron Werner]

Having the clear canister helps. When I push forward I can feel the vacuum biting into the carpet more and I see more soil pouring into the canister on the forward stoke than on the 'pullback' stroke. Its seems logical to think that when you pull back the brush is opening the pile more and you would get more soil. I just do what works and I've always pulled more on the forward which I can see. If I had a bag vac, I'd probably be going slow on the back stroke too.

 

[Fletch]

Thanks Ron!

I don't have a way to view result unless I open up a sealed bag. I was just trying to wrap my head around the idea of "forward" being better. Going by the results I get going forward, I normally see less "missed" things on the carpet by going backwards. I will slow down and play a bit more with this one!

Thanks for sharing your years of experience with us!

 

[Brian R]

I would think on the back stroke, the carpet fibers would already be laying in that direction.
On the forward stroke the fibers would lay forward and when the beater bar hits them it would move the fiber and stir up more soil.

Am I right Ron? What do I win??

 

[Ron Werner]

Pretty much Brian. I always try to vac so that the brush lifts the pile. I usually explain that to the customer too so as to make the cleaning last longer.
Pushing forward then the vacuum digs in, sort of like a car squatting down when it takes off in a drag, then it pulls up the pile, opening it, and sucking up the soil. On the back stroke, the vac seems to ride more on the top. I know on some olefins the vac will skip, like a wand on berber, or like a grooming brush sometimes, unless I slow down and let it lift the pile.

I'll watch the action more closely tomorrow when I'm cleaning. Doing furniture today. I vacuum that too!!

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

My question is this: If much of the deep carpet soil is removed in? the vacuuming process, and now you just need to deal with the remaining Topical soil, couldn't you pretreat, work it in, Dry vapor steam it, then vacuum again to get what may be left behind?

Speaking on topic for a moment here... Tony W. alluded to a good point to which I agree. The primary problem to consideration of this method is the lack of existing pretreatments that would be compatible with trial of this method. Whether it could even be done would take research and development.

I suppose it is like asking whether or not one could use encapsulation to regenerate appearance of a dirty carpet, at a point in time before any encapsulate chemistry had been thoroughly developed. In theory, what might work, may indeed work, provided one was successful in the development of the system. We all are certainly aware, or I hope so, that many encapsulant products never worked worth a darn to fulfill their promise of actual soil removal with a single post-vacuum procedure following drying. Many still don't.