KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR MACHINE

[floorguy]

hummm well that seems to limit what you could do then...because I am sure they want THEIR piece of that pie..


dont ask me though...cuz i am stuck in the middle of my own damn dilema..

great cleaner but i suck at the marketing side of things, know what i like once i see it, but i cant come up with the intial stuff...

 

[Mikey P]

If a clean water rinse ain't working for you then use more of a better prespray and more water to rinse it out with.


Simple.

 

[Guest]

Well know i'm totally amazed at why the various TM manufacturers even bother putting the chem draw in their machines.....i KNOW that Modernistic here in Troy Mi use emulsifier in all their trucks...that makes me curious as to whether Ken Snow runs it through his machines or not...i think he does tho....

What about YOUR machine Mikey do YOU use plain water through it....or a chem draw???

 

[Rex Tyus]

If a clean water rinse ain't working for you then use more of a better prespray and more water to rinse it out with.

Yea O K :roll: .

We ain't talking Cali street dust here. We are talking dirt :shock:

Reminds me of a joke:

There was this retired couple sitting on a porch rocking
The lady looked at the man and with disgust slapped him in the face.
The man said "what the hell was that for"?
The lady said "for being such a lousy lover all these years."
The man started back rocking
Moments later he reached over and slapped his wife out of her chair.
The wife said "what the hell was that for?"


The man replied " That is for knowing the damn difference"

 

[Greenie]

"BTW, fresh water rinsing does work, but not as well as a good rinse agent."

I see Fon did the same as me, turn it off half way through, and realize you have to re-clean the first half to sleep well tonight.

Can't shake a stick at what works.

btw: you guys with side barn doors on your van, you ever use a "Fon Bar" ask him and he just might clue you in on ANOTHER useful tip.

ps: use a quality powdered emulsifier like Clean-It by BobVawter...er I mean GeniCare.

 

[Guest]

Greenie..clean-it is for stain-resistant..if you wanna knock down the trees go wit the Geni-Care DeLuxe Super Clean...Ph 10.8.....

 

[shag's other half]

we some times use an emulsifier when carpet is extremely soiled ,but most of the time we use our last step chemical injection for acid rinse to prepare for scotchgard, if carpet is not extremely soiled and custy. doesnt want scotchgard we use a good prespray and rinse with a very cheap chemical called water ,leaving nothing but clean carpet Clint Denton

 

[truckmount girl]

In my 18 years of cleaning before GreenGlides I tried all the above methods. As chems evolved over the years, so did my methods.

Like Gary, I (before Greenie came in and screwed it all up...;-) ) had a huge arsenal of chems on the truck. What I used was custom mixed for each job depending on the variables involved. Not only fiber, level and type of soiling, but customer needs were also taken into account.

Way back in the early days, when I was cleaning with a cold water portable...I used Formula 90 for everything...it really was the best in the day. But back then I was cleaning empty repos with no hot water (only water and electric were turned on) there were no HydraForces then, or if there were I didn't know about them. I presprayed with the wand, "air-wanding" two rooms ahead of myself, then cleaned with more Formula 90 through the porty...and considering I was using cold water and a porty on TRASHED repos, it worked pretty well, but I'm sure residues were horrible. You don't go back to check repos...or usually ever see them again.

But as my business changed from repos to residential and I acquired a TM my methods evolved. I began to pre-spray with emulsifiers more often than actual pre-sprays and ran clear water through the machine. This worked well for me on most jobs. I learned how to properly boost and pre-treat spots/stains, rather than nuking the whole job. One thing I NEVER subscribed to was the pre-aggitation thing...I firmly believe that brushes of any kind (even on vacuums) cause cumulative damage to the carpet fibers. it may be fine for a gluedown commercial olefin loop, but I won't put a brush to anything else.

I learned to be a better "chemist", better at spot chemistry and had cleaner carpet with less residue....which meant they were cleaner next month, not just next day.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Mikey P]

You and Harley..

Admit it, you're both too lazy to bring in a 175 or CRB.


What causes more wear to the fiber? The one time scrubbing or all the sticky soils you're leaving behind?

 

[truckmount girl]

My ROTOVAC with no brushes did a hell of a lot better job of GENTLE agitation. No sticky soils left behind.

There is more than one way to agitate, and some are easier on the fibers.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Mikey P]

I think it's a hoot that you two have not used all these cool toys you make.


Rotovac..lol


You have no idea what you're missing.

 

[Greenie]

The cold water form 90 air wand porty and POS wand is just plain a good story... were they really clean?
At least with the TM she had a ROTOVAC, and man did Lisa tear through some water, those carpets were floating with her 36 blower and 15' of 1.5" hose and RotoSoaker, but they were clean, wet for 2 days, but clean, and she was super anal, worked slow and steady. Amazing they didn't wick, but they absolutely didn't.

I still argue that even plain ol hard water leaves a residue, but it wasn't a soil attracting residue, cause those jobs looked good a year later.

Then....we decided we would like to make a profit instead of a hobby doing people favors, enter the strong prespray, and emulsifier rinse, and Titanium wand.

 

[truckmount girl]

"Then....we decided we would like to make a profit instead of a hobby doing people favors, enter the strong prespray, and emulsifier rinse"

:roll:

Yeah right. Remember you were very much the Greenhorn in those days. The tales I could tell.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[truckmount girl]

"Rotovac..lol


You have no idea what you're missing."

If I moved into your area and started cleaning...you know you'd be worried Mike.

:wink:

With a few design changes to help them dry better, the old RV would be the king of clean, hands down.

It is still my firm belief that no tool cleans better than a RV. Sure lots of tools are faster, lots are drier...but NOTHING outcleans it.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I was going to offer some opinions until I saw the three way battle begin between Jeff, Lisa, and Mikey..........

I've learned my lesson about getting in the middle of those three!!!

I'm off to do something safer.......

Like rock climb using rattlesnakes for hand holds.......
Swimming in my hiking boots........
Starting my grill with gasoline.....

 

[Mikey P]

I had breakfast at the Silver Spur a few weeks ago.

The area Lisa wanded back in January was still a bit damp.


Rotovacs and Berber....There is a combination made in hell.

Guaranteed to wick our your money back.

 

[truckmount girl]

My own carpet is olefin berber...cleaned with the RV for YEARS (I've got the marks on the baseboards to prove it! :? ) Never a wickback. RV is great on berber.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[B&BGaryC]

Now I've started to agitate with a rake on most jobs.... If it is thoroughly trashed or they want to pay extra (depending on the person) I use an adsorbent bonnet to agitate, but just the traffic pattern (Unless they're watching, then I have to agitate the whole room, or a spend an equal amount of time telling them why I don't need to do it...)

I have always liked the RX-20 w/the HI-DRY head. Most carpets dry in less than 3 hours even with a pretty lame TM, and just amazing results, with how it lifts up the pile of the carpet again.

The head is a pain to clean though, kills my back to carry it up the stairs, and about once every 3 months you take a chunk out of something with that "600 cleaning passes a minute" power that tha thing has. Not to mention, when the seals go out in it you have motor oil on the carpets, and whenever you disconnect the RX-20 from the suction, you have to put a towel under it, or the nasty water drips down onto the carpet causing a wick back. Also, if you start using it for every job, and you can start gaining some weight really easy. I like the cardio aspect of the wand better, plus it is much better for pre and post spotting.

Overall, I am a big fan of the glided wand.

 

[Ron Lippold]

Just get off the fence. either way you go it is better than doing nothing.

 

[Steve in Omaha]

My own carpet is olefin berber

How could any self respecting carpet cleaner own that stuff in their own home???

 

[Greenie]

oh shit Steve....here it comes...lol

Mikey, what makes ya think we don't use our own toys, or do you mean daily out on jobs etc...?
Had two Everest, and one AT clean here last month, house is looking good for 14 yr old light gray Ole' berber.

 

[truckmount girl]

"How could any self respecting carpet cleaner own that stuff in their own home???"

Any self-respecting carpet cleaner with four active (read unruly) kids, 2 foster kids, dogs, cats, assorted exotic pets, and lots of spills and accidents, that's who.

Nothing beats a quality olefin berber for an active household with kids and pets. It's 14 years old and just now starting to crush in the middle of the hall...why? because the pad beneath is gone....worn to nothing. Other than that, when it's cleaned it looks new.

It was also subjected to my kids haphazard vacuuming....funny how it takes me about an hour to thoroughly vacuum the house, but only takes them 3 minutes...hmmm.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[steve g]

Jamie..you've spiked my curiosity...aren't most machines built with some kinna chemical metering system....built right in?

uhh yeah, but I chose to turn my feed valve off in most cases, i used all fiber rinse for years, but have found thanks to mike pee, and a few people on here that know what the hell they are talking about that, clear soft water gives better results, carpets stay cleaner longer, I feel its a better job, and that is what I give my customer, if the home has excessive animal piss in the carpet, then adding in acid rinse is as easy as turning a valve, oh yeah did I mention that steam genie sizzlers are junk??

PS I thought "AIR WANDING" and a carpet rake was an accetable stand alone method for lightly soiled rentals

 

[Guest]

Lisa is right. There is no better tool than the roto vac. It is slower but is still best. I've used them all.

Dave

 

[Steve in Omaha]

Any self-respecting carpet cleaner with four active (read unruly) kids, 2 foster kids, dogs, cats, assorted exotic pets, and lots of spills and accidents, that's who.

I stand corrected,


However the stuff still creeps me out!

 

[B&BGaryC]

Just get off the fence. either way you go it is better than doing nothing.

Simmer down now!

I have probably changed my method and approach at least 4 times in 3 months. I am trying to work myself into a comfortable groove. I have never had this much freedom before. The owner of the company just wants me to do it "my way". I don't know what my way is yet, I always worked within somebody else's "my way."

 

[Ron Lippold]

easy bud

Just do it

the way you want


It's not that hard

Just grow some balls and make a move


you wont die

 

[Greenie]

As a follow up...The Berber in our house is a really good berber, not the average cheap crap you see regularly that crushes after one year.

 

[B&BGaryC]

I want to do it the best way, it takes time to figure out what that is.
I get new tricks from Gurus on this board, Gurus in my town, Gurus in
magazines and carpet manuals... Trial and error. I will figure it out though.