How many wicking and brown outs..

ruff

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Ofer Kolton
I would differentiate between wicking that is the cleaner fault and wicking that is a result of the home owner negligence.
If a keg of beer was spilled on the carpet, you bet your .... that I would give the client two choices: Either pay in advance for a return visit and if I don't have to come back, good for me. Or pay only if I have to return. Given that choice they always seem to prefer the second. And I do my best that it does not happen.

It is not the cleaner's fault that the pad was saturated with beer, urine, or the client used a gallon of resolve, folex and oxy clean to boot, creating a highway to the pad. As far as I am concerned it is not part of normal cleaning. The only challenge is to spot the issue before starting and putting it in writing in advance. Afterwards it is just an excuse.

If the fault is mine I will correct for free and with a smile.
 

GeeeAus

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or you clean a lot of earth tone carpet and no one is the wiser.
The poly I cleaned two weeks ago until the sight tube ran clear looked brown and yellow, tons of iron oxide from the previous owners boots (he worked at the steel works) everywhere. Changed colour when I cleaned it. Water looked as bad as the first time.

This custy is onto things. We drank tea, ate biscuits. I've cleaned all her tile. She says we will just increase cleaning frequency until it comes under control.

They do exist people.
 

EDS

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I guess another reason to give them a free spotter bottle with some encap juice...should give mini bonnets away too...
 
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GeeeAus

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I guarantee no returning spots or the area is re-cleaned at no charge.

I have flat out had customers say they are happy, a spot came back but they'd rather not have me come back for it. I guess it's a fair disruption for them. But I always make sure at time of quote they know the service guarantee is there.
 

SamIam

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We go back no questions asked,
Like Mike said usually pet for us.

I've seen pet stains reappear after cleaning with a fan down.

Usually retreat and subsurface, or Cobbs brightner
 
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Jimmy L

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Oh the things we always talk about over the years. And another reason I no longer go to events or local dist BBq's.
Just boring conversations.........go one time and never go again.......I doubt Marty will ever go again..............next time there will be an influx of newbies going................then they will never go again...........the cycle goes on and on.

ZzZzZZzZzZzz
 
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Cleanworks

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Oh the things we always talk about over the years. And another reason I no longer go to events or local dist BBq's.
Just boring conversations.........go one time and never go again.......I doubt Marty will ever go again..............next time there will be an influx of newbies going................then they will never go again...........the cycle goes on and on.

ZzZzZZzZzZzz
Says the guy who lives in Nebraska.
 
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steve_64

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Oh the things we always talk about over the years. And another reason I no longer go to events or local dist BBq's.
Just boring conversations.........go one time and never go again.......I doubt Marty will ever go again..............next time there will be an influx of newbies going................then they will never go again...........the cycle goes on and on.

ZzZzZZzZzZzz
Tax deductible vacations if you do it right.
 
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SamIam

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Bogus Larry, with all due respect. More, or less oxidizer isn't a magic bullet.

Ya it may help eliminate a stain in the first place, and we use Cobbs as brightner as a post spotter on pet stains.

But like a wand leaving a water stain or a wick problem it's not always a bullet proof answer.
 

PrimaDonna

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.and how many times wicking would be eliminated if the big timer professional carpet cleaners would just freaking vacuum properly??

And how would that remove all the crap the homeowner glugged on a spot to remove it themselves? Or how would that get up the can of Sprite that got dumped and saturated the backing and padding. We can clean it out of the carpet, but if they decline a water claw to reach the rest, then it will likely wick back up. If they want that cleaned again, then there is a charge.

You gotta be kidding us.. they hired you to professionally clean their carpet. And your solution was to have a smile and a sweet endearing attitude and hand over a cute pamphlet explaining that you need to be paid twice to do your job. (in case you didn't luck out the first time)
Especially with your proudly proclaimed prices here....I don't get it.
Sorry Meg, again it's not you and John - it's the procedure and the whole concept that I'm trying to understand.

We did professionally clean the carpet....but not the backing and the padding. If they had issues there from some of the things I described above and the spots then wick...it's not our issue - it's a pre-existing condition. They have the option to have us get more aggressive or water claw, but if they decline, we provide them with the pamphlet, show them how to spot clean themselves and use towels and counter weight to try to remove - along with the correct products so they don't have continued issues (like from using Resolve). However, for those that don't have the time or patience, or just don't want to work at it themselves, we can come back and clean the area again....for a charge. This "procedure" is for those areas where the homeowner has admitted they thew everything under the kitchen sink or called us out for their spots that keep coming back. Or that the last cleaner got out, but they came back....and they were never told that it could happen or what wicking was by that cleaner, so they are upset. If they know it can happen and understand how/why, then it makes sense to them and they know it's no fault of the cleaner.

I would differentiate between wicking that is the cleaner fault and wicking that is a result of the home owner negligence.

This is what I meant, Ofer. But then again how would the home owner know if it's them or the cleaner? And this is why we go over it so in depth with our clients.

It is not the cleaner's fault that the pad was saturated with beer, urine, or the client used a gallon of resolve, folex and oxy clean to boot, creating a highway to the pad. As far as I am concerned it is not part of normal cleaning. The only challenge is to spot the issue before starting and putting it in writing in advance. Afterwards it is just an excuse.
If the fault is mine I will correct for free and with a smile.

Couldn't have said it better.....Does this clear things up for you @Zee ?
 
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Larry Cobb

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Coffee is the "perfect storm" for reappearing spots:

I had a huge coffee stain on an olefin direct-glue-down carpet, that would reappear after thorough TM extraction in our office.

The next time we extracted it, I was determined to annihilate that stain.

I got the TM up to 230, and got a hand tool that delivered plenty of hot water.
I scrubbed the stain in four different directions to make sure it was gone.

The next day no trace of the stain remained . . . and I was smug.

Several days later, I noticed the stain coming back.

Like most commercial 9 to 5 operations, the AC was shut down at night and humidity increased in the evening. The humidity cycling was enough to cause wicking of the coffee stain.

On the next extraction, I dosed the stain with Brightener (peroxide), and it never returned.

Oxidizers will solve the "stain wickback" issue if done properly.
 
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SamIam

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Coffee is the "perfect storm" for reappearing spots:

I had a huge coffee stain on an olefin direct-glue-down carpet, that would reappear after thorough TM extraction in our office.

The next time we extracted it, I was determined to annihilate that stain.

I got the TM up to 230, and got a hand tool that delivered plenty of hot water.
I scrubbed the stain in four different directions to make sure it was gone.

The next day no trace of the stain remained . . . and I was smug.

Several days later, I noticed the stain coming back.

Like most commercial 9 to 5 operations, the AC was shut down at night and humidity increased in the evening. The humidity cycling was enough to cause wicking of the coffee stain.

On the next extraction, I dosed the stain with Brightener (peroxide), and it never returned.

Oxidizers will solve the "stain wickback" issue if done properly.

Meta bisulfite for coffee brother love.
 

Cleanworks

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Coffee is the "perfect storm" for reappearing spots:

I had a huge coffee stain on an olefin direct-glue-down carpet, that would reappear after thorough TM extraction in our office.

The next time we extracted it, I was determined to annihilate that stain.

I got the TM up to 230, and got a hand tool that delivered plenty of hot water.
I scrubbed the stain in four different directions to make sure it was gone.

The next day no trace of the stain remained . . . and I was smug.

Several days later, I noticed the stain coming back.

Like most commercial 9 to 5 operations, the AC was shut down at night and humidity increased in the evening. The humidity cycling was enough to cause wicking of the coffee stain.

On the next extraction, I dosed the stain with Brightener (peroxide), and it never returned.

Oxidizers will solve the "stain wickback" issue if done properly.
This was the original intent of the 2 part stain removers. The original vanish said on the bottle for coffee stains. Luckily, we found it removes other stains as well. On the coffee stain that Larry describes, we would have started with a tannin stain remover, rinsed and dried as thoroughly as possible and then, even we can't see the stain, we would treat it with the 2 part product as insurance that it won't come back. Ever since I have been using the ammonia/peroxide products, we have almost eliminated call backs due to wicking. I don't use peroxide in my presprays but there are many that do and I am sure it helps.
 

Zee

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.
Couldn't have said it better.....Does this clear things up for you @Zee ?



Yeah, clear as a professional master cleaned carpet that missed some of the basic IICRC described steps.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

Don't get worked up.... :lol:

I'm just a guy...talking....and no Olson, I don't know them and I sure as hell am not jealous of anything. I wouldn't even know what I'm supposed to be jealous about.
 
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Larry Cobb

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Just left more carpets looking pristine . . .

without re-wicking stains .

Did a lot of commercial wool carpet . . .

and used reducing agents on those,

to brighten the colors & eliminate wicking.
 
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Jimmy L

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I suppose most of us lose customers because they don't understand once you clean and leave...... their fukin dog will start to piss every where.......again.
 

Cleanworks

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I suppose most of us lose customers because they don't understand once you clean and leave...... their fukin dog will start to piss every where.......again.
Come on Jimmy. You know that you don't guarantee odor removal unless you can shoot the dog. That's the problem with most carpet cleaners, they shoot the bull instead.
 
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PrimaDonna

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I suppose most of us lose customers because they don't understand once you clean and leave...... their fukin dog will start to piss every where.......again.

Which is why we include that in our disclaimer as well.

It's amazing that people think if we remove the urine, the pet won't do it again. We often have to explain it's a behavioral thing and we are not responsible for their dogs behavior. We can only take responsibility for the cleaning we do...that they should talk to their vet or an animal behaviorist. And even with a water claw, the contaminant may have reached the sub floor. If the carpet and padding aren't pulled back and the sub floor seal with Kilz, there could still be contaminant that draws the animal back to that spot.

No joke, we have had people call and ask us to come back....and expected us to clean the area again, for free, after they told us the dog went there again. New spot....new charge. Which is why we now say we don't guarantee anything since a pet/animal remains in the home and may re-mark the areas. SMH
 
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