HWE vs. VLM - Whats the opinions here?

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

Ive had exp. with both. Been successful with both....but Im wondering what you guys think are the pros and cons of each and ultimately which one you chose and why. This is not a thread to start a flame war, just conversation and sharing...thanks.

 

[Zee]

How about a voting option for both?

Most professionals on here heard it all, discussed it all and beat it to death, buried it, exhumed it and beat it again. And they pretty much use both all the time.

Thread over.

 

[FredC]

How about a voting option for both?

Most professionals on here heard it all, discussed it all and beat it to death, buried it, exhumed it and beat it again. And they pretty much use both all the time.

Thread over.

but what is your favorite prespray?

 

[Zee]

but what is your favorite prespray?

Now that's something we need to vote on and discuss... since all fabrics are the same, all soil is always the same and all spills and accidents are always the same. Therefore, there can be only ONE!!

 

[Desk Jockey]

I believe we are proficient at both and sometimes we will use both methods on some jobs. In general we HWE residential and low moisture for commercial.

We have 50,000 sq/ft of commercial carpet combine with several projects in the next few days to low moisture clean.

For us the volume and profit is in commercial but we still clean residential carpets everyday too.

 

[hogjowl]

VLM sucks!

But I use it sometimes.

Your poll choices suck too.

 

[encapman]

I expect I'll get bombed for this

 

[hogjowl]

For maintaining commercial carpet

 

[Desk Jockey]

Although I will say in cubes we are under 1000 sq/ft.an hour.

 

[Jack Zipper Zerkie]

Sorry Rick I just can't do vlm. I purchased a orbot from you a few years back and maybe used it 6 times. After 35 yrs of hwe and a truckmount I love the results with it. Maybe a very few times where their was wicking but the best results for me are with hwe and the truckmount. My famous slogan is dirty white carpets are my specialty and I know that's only with hwe. I would love to get the same results with vlm but I never learned how to get the same results.You can't teach a old dog age 74 new tricks but still willing to learn. jz.

 

[Cleanworks]

Hwe sucks, Vlm absorbs.

 

[hogjowl]

You're as old as Vawter?

 

[encapman]

Jack I respect that you gave low moisture a try.

For me, I never found that HWE worked as well for our commercial glue down accounts. Low moisture methods served me better. I guess it's a case of "your mileage may vary". For me encap changed the parameters in our carpet cleaning business. It made a night and day improvement in our ability to service our commercial accounts. A lot of what we were dealing with was high volume output commercial work. It needed to be turned around FAST! Wicking was always a problem for us with HWE. Encap enabled us to make a profit, solve the wicking problem, and deliver more consistent results. But I can see where you're comfortable with HWE, and that it fits your business profile. From that standpoint, it makes good sense to keep on rolling with it. "If it ain't broke..."

 

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

How about a voting option for both?

Most professionals on here heard it all, discussed it all and beat it to death, buried it, exhumed it and beat it again. And they pretty much use both all the time.

Thread over.

Done

 

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

I expect I'll get bombed for this

View attachment 19564

Thats a cool infographic Rick.

 

[Robert Webb]

I added VLM about 3 months ago and love it. I had some commercial jobs that I always hated doing because they were such a pain and produced less then great results. Now I use VLM on them and all headaches are gone. I will probably be purchasing a 2nd OP very soon so we can run 2 OPs instead of an OP and TM on large jobs. I am always amazed how good VLM jobs look a day or two after cleaning.

 

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

I added VLM about 3 months ago and love it. I had some commercial jobs that I always hated doing because they were such a pain and produced less then great results. Now I use VLM on them and all headaches are gone. I will probably be purchasing a 2nd OP very soon so we can run 2 OPs instead of an OP and TM on large jobs. I am always amazed how good VLM jobs look a day or two after cleaning.

I agree, we use the heck out of VLM in commercial...Dries super fast, huge production per hour too. From what I can tell you can just about use VLM on any CGD with the exception of certain food service establishments and a few manufacturing industries where you pretty much have to have HWE. We have also used the combo approach.

 

[encapman]

I agree with you Matt. We've seen that it is perfect for pretty much all CGD. In my business, I read the E-Myth many years ago, and tried to build a systemized business. That was pretty near impossible before I discovered the encap system. There were too many variables. It's hard to produce duplicatable results when each CGD jobs produces differing results. That's what I love most about the encap system - it provides duplicatable results. It's "turn key". A tech can go out and do a couple jobs in an evening and the results will be the same straight across the board.

 

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

Yep, we have been known to be able to knock out 3 jobs in one night on CGD. Its def got its place in commercial.

 

[Rick J]

I like and do VLM as wall as HWE. But do not get near the production rates as advertized. Whether commercial or resid.
but, I use an older OP machine. and always absorbant bonnets.

I want my "I voted today" sticker!!!

 

[ProSteamCarpetCare]

I like and do VLM as wall as HWE. But do not get near the production rates as advertized. Whether commercial or resid.
but, I use an older OP machine. and always absorbant bonnets.

I want my "I voted today" sticker!!!

Here is your sticker....

 

[Zee]

Yep, we have been known to be able to knock out 3 jobs in one night on CGD. Its def got its place in commercial.

We can do four....

Or one...

Or one half of a job...

Saying "3 jobs a night " means nothing without context.
Sometimes we do one job, all day with 3-4 Cimexes and Orbots and can barely finish before supper is upon us.
So...

 

[Mikey P]

anyhow, we love VLM, I asked my guys if they wanted the Zipper SS that Erik is donating and they said "No, we Encap just about all our gluedown..."


After what I saw at the restaurant last week, I'm still blown away and now realize the power of a few extra Pixies..

 

[Shane Deubell]

Love encap for offices, wouldn't use it for anything else.

Too much of PIA.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Loaded for Bear.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Loaded for Bear.

This must be a really big job!

 

[Cleanworks]

That's just for mowing the lawn.

 

[ruff]

Which machine is better, #4 or #5?
The truth now.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Its not that big but we want get done early Friday.
20,000 sq/ft

#4 is a smidge better than #5.

 

[ruff]

Do you retire the number of your all star machines?