Just how aware are you in a tactile sense?

Mikey P

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Sam's "Pretty Sure" comment about the porcelain tile got me thinking about our industry and how we as CARPET CLEANERS can be so "un-Tactile when it comes to other flooring surfaces.

I bet a guy like Sam, who has been at this longer than I, can spot a poly from a nylon from a mile away. But he can't be 100% positive on what should be as obvious as the fact that Marty's dad was hanging out with his sister and aunts a bit too much at the hootenannies.


Many if not most carpet cleaners are just like Sam, I get photos of floors sent to me often with questions to their origin far too often that just leave me shaking my bucket...




How are you ID skills?
 

Mikey P

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tac·tile
/ˈtaktl,ˈtakˌtīl/
Learn to pronounce
adjective

  1. of or connected with the sense of touch.
    "vocal and visual signals become less important as tactile signals intensify"
    • perceptible by touch or apparently so; tangible.
      "she had a distinct, almost tactile memory"
    • designed to be perceived by touch.
      "tactile exhibitions help blind people enjoy the magic of sculpture"
 

Jim Pemberton

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I can't speak for Sam, but as someone who grew up mostly dealing with textiles, the hard surface world was one I didn't get a good "feel for" (literally and figuratively) for a good while.

The differences between carpet, rugs, and upholstery are insignificant compared to the difference between those textile constructions and hard surfaces.

I had to change my entire way of looking at pH and what is "bad" and "good". It took me a while to understand that you don't need as much water on a hard surface than a carpet. I needed to learn to look for the differences between made made patterns and the random ones only seen in natural stone. Learning about floor finishes and grout sealers was different than anything I had understood about textile treatments.

The list goes on and on.

In some ways, it was like trying to learn French after I learned Spanish. There were things that I THOUGHT were the same, or similar, but absolutely weren't. I had to "tune out" my past learning to really absorb the new language.

I'm still not as good as I wish I was, but I'm getting there.
 

Cleanworks

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Ron Marriott
I can't speak for Sam, but as someone who grew up mostly dealing with textiles, the hard surface world was one I didn't get a good "feel for" (literally and figuratively) for a good while.

The differences between carpet, rugs, and upholstery are insignificant compared to the difference between those textile constructions and hard surfaces.

I had to change my entire way of looking at pH and what is "bad" and "good". It took me a while to understand that you don't need as much water on a hard surface than a carpet. I needed to learn to look for the differences between made made patterns and the random ones only seen in natural stone. Learning about floor finishes and grout sealers was different than anything I had understood about textile treatments.

The list goes on and on.

In some ways, it was like trying to learn French after I learned Spanish. There were things that I THOUGHT were the same, or similar, but absolutely weren't. I had to "tune out" my past learning to really absorb the new language.

I'm still not as good as I wish I was, but I'm getting there.
Don't worry, you'll be a skilled tradesman one day.
 
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Steve Lawrence
All of my senses have diminished (70yo). I miss my good hearing the most, although I don't have to buy expensive audiophile equipment anymore--doesn't turn me on--happy with earbuds and youtube. I even buy dollar store glasses! (always had perfect vision so this bums me out a little.). I have ceramic floors in 1 bathroom and am happy to have learned that diluted bleach is a great product for cleaning and deodorizing stuff in a BR. Sure beats using OSR when you don't need to. Tactile on ceramic? Hmmm.
 
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