it was soaked for days

[Joel D]

this is something customers bring up to me alot about the last cleaner

many had truckmounts

so what exactly goes wrong with the blower or whatever else to cause this and why is it so common?
Ive heard people say the blower is bad but what does that mean? How do two chunks of steel go bad? seals? bearings?

 

[DRScrivner]

1) Splash-N-Dash
2) No Dry Strokes
3) No Glide
4) No Fans Used

I am a porty guy and I have cleaned up after a couple of local companies that their truckmounts were working fine. They just cared about time- nothing else.

AND- I will be the first to admit that they probably made more per hour screwing it up, then I did fixing it. BUT- They are now my clients and not theirs and they become GREAT cheerleaders making client aquisition costs much lower and easier.

 

[Fred Homan]

Maybe they had there drain valve half way open...... :shock:

 

[-JB-]

1) What were the conditions of the day on the other cleanings?
hot, cold, dry, humid, summer, winter ?

b.) What were the conditions of the carpet prior to the other cleaners service?
lightly soiled or trashed

III.) Did the last cleaners apply a protector application?

cuatro.) Was is the same carpet or the "old one"


Basically, be careful about what you hear from clients, it's nice to have cheerleaders, but don't be too hasty to side w/the client, "yeah, the last co. left it soaked for days"

You never really know the "whole" story.

Guess what?

Now your the last cleaner. :shock:

 

[hogjowl]

Consider the possibility of the customer exagerating. Back in my early days, I ran a 33 unit with terrible internal plumbing and a live vacuum reel with 200 ft. of hose on it. I also ran a stock 1-1/2" wand with no dry strokes. Even with all that, my drying times were 8 to 12 hours.

 

[rotovacguy]

I'd have to agree with JB.



Different types of carpet each take different amounts of time to dry. Just like being in two different climates will produce two different dry times, even on the same type of carpet.




I've had a lot of custys bitch about how long it took for the last cleaners' work to dry, and ask me how long mine will take. I always tell them that in my own home, it takes about 4 hours, and that's on the areas that are hard for air to reach. My main areas and walkpaths dry in less than 2 hours. But, I always turn my furnace fan on, set it at 72, and put my ceiling fans on, too. I always tell the custy to make sure to keep the windows open if possible, turn on any ceiling fans to push DOWN the warm air up top, and perhaps put some area fans on to help aid the drying process. They all look me right in the eyes when I say that, and they nod their heads, but I know not all of them are really LISTENING. They HEAR me, but they're not LISTENING. Big difference.



For example, I had a lady call me up a few weeks ago and said her carpet wasn't completely dry 4 hours after I left her house. I asked her if she put her furnace fan on, set it at 72, or higher if she'd like, and also put on her ceiling fans (she had 3). She said "NO, I wasn't aware I had to". DUH!! Funny how she remembers me telling her that my house dries in 4 hours, hence the reason she called me, but she couldn't remember me telling her to make sure the air kept moving until dry.


As much as I like to hear that she was less than satisfied with her last cleaner, it made me wonder 2 things. One, will she be calling me next time, or will she hold her own negligence against me? Two, if she doesn't call me, what kind of crap will she be talking about me to the next cleaner.


When you've been doing something long enough, you get to know who will be your "keepers", and who will be the one time deal. I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I'd say this lady will be a one timer. Good riddance.

 

[Sticky]

make sure that all your filters are clean...clogged or dirty filters cause longer dry times...

 

[Dolly Llama]

LOL

it must be the custy's fault

after all, it's just a fluke that Chem-Lie and the spray wipe rag spinners can make a living.. :roll:



there's lots of reasons why CCers over wet, Joel
Poor wand technique is one of the biggest reasons.
Too much PSI with many wand designs too
Rotary extractors like the Rotovac and RX 20 are soakers as well.
I really feel bad for the newbie that bought a porty and the salesman sold him a Rotovac to go with it.
Cause the newbie doesn't have a clue.


Then if the hack (and he probably doesn't know he's a hack) is good at sales, he gets to dump more H2O on the rug in the form of water based protectants.

and yes, there are "some" problem drying circumstances.

But there is a big reason we get asked a lot "how long will it take to dry"
That's cause a lot of CCers don't know what they're doing.


..L.T.A.

 

[Ron Lippold]

I clean up after those hacks all the time they rush in and out so fast its a wonder if there is any difference at all. Most of the time it is worse than when they got there. I love those guys .

 

[Raedan]

The first thing that most customers ask me is what method. The next question is how long does it take to dry.
To many people have been soaked by CCers Who don't know what there doing Like Larry said and the CCers who just pump out as much as they can as cheap as they can. (Big Franchises)


Joe

 

[Greenie]

I call it the STEEMER syndrome, in addition to everything above, a speed hack is a speed hack.....there is ONE important detail I've learned from a yellow bus franchise after talking to multiple techs. I will point out, it's not only the yellow bus, but they are the poster child for the syndrome, and responsible for launching many tecnicians into their own business to spread the syndrome.

Tiny jets and 1000psi.

The standard 14" Steemer wand has 6 jets smaller than an 01, they are .67 as in 2/3 the size of an 01 jet.

When you handicap a Tech with a mist of spray, they have only one option to meet time and production quotas, TURN UP THE PRESSURE.

tiny jets at high pressure equal good penetration of the carpet backing, with only so so flushing of suspended soils. Add to that, the fact very few pre-spray, and dry passes are optional, and you have the breeding ground that launched a very successful Dry Cleaning company 25 years ago.

 

[joey895]

I've always thought wand technique, as in the wand either being locked down on the carpet with no air movement through the lips or the complete opposite, the wand angled too much to make it easier to push. Of course I may not know what I'm talking about because I only cleaned one house without a glide before I said to heck with that and I think glides probably eliminate the issue.

 

[steve r]

jbs right on the money.

i find basements with commercial glue down takes the longst to dry especially on a rainy day.
i got an airpath to help rectify that problem.

 

[Ron Werner]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUerGFm5dEA&feature=relatedbe:2zs8hhas]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUerGFm5dEA[/youtube:2zs8hhas]
watch the first minute

 

[XTREME1]

anyone leaving a carpet wet is also leaving a carpet dirty

 

[Greenie]

In the ChemDry series that Ron posted, look at video #1 of 15, at second 54, what wand is that? Tell me that is not a franchise tool?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUerGFm5dEA&feature=relatedbe:2m4vgh95]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUerGFm5dEA[/youtube:2m4vgh95]
watch the first minute

 

[Larry B]

Lets not forget the guys that hose down the carpet with the HF like its on fire.

 

[XTREME1]

you can blanket with a hydroforce as long as you suck it out. Just don't wet the backing

 

[Chris A]

This is why I've gone back to using air movers on every job.

 

[TimP]

I had been trying to figure out why someone running a TM would over wet carpet for the longest time myself.

Reasons I've found are as follows.

1. don't clean filters
2. too high psi
3. jets angled straight down with high psi
4. too much vac hose tangled up
5. no dry strokes
6. too small of jets to get production times required on filthy carpets...goes hand in hand with too much psi and non angled jets.


I think those pretty much cover it. Glides aren't a reason, if you don't have a glide it still shouldn't take days to dry.

 

[-JB-]

Joel, the real question is....


were any of them my old clients? :shock: :roll:

 

[Guest]

I agree with jeff.

 

[Chris A]

also jets on a 10 year old POS wand that are original. Just flow-thru holes really.

 

[Joel D]

lol JB no none

one lady did say she caught you cleaning in her closet with her underwear on your head though kidding
i said oh thats just part of his process

 

[-JB-]

 

[Joel D]

rofl well i didnt expect that :shock:

 

[-JB-]

OKAY! JUST FOR THE RECORD THAT IS NOT ME!

 

[Ron Werner]

welcome to Mikely's Board where anything is possible!!

 

[B&BGaryC]

Do I need to post another boner picture?

 

[-JB-]

no were good, thanx for askin' tho.