OP guys...?

[Mikey P]

Care to to tell us the most amount of pads you've used in one average sized room to get it looking clean?

What's the record for most pads used in one room and one home and one business location?

The silly term "padcapping" creates an illusion that one swipe is enough. "Let the customer remove the dirt with future vacuumiings"

Do you scrub and run or keep swapping pads till they dont pick up mud anymore?


Tell the truth or I'll send Brumite after ya.

 

[Jeremy]

I've had areas (in a restaurant) so impacted with grease that I had to soak it with hell gel & scrape it out before I could even get a towel into the pile... It looked like a big gum spot. Went through 46 towels in 1100 sq ft. (15 of them were in a 2'x4' traffic area. Came out nice though.

In another diner we do we went through 60 towels in 1300 sq ft... Pretty evenly nasty. Made a cheerleader out of them too. For grease pits I generally use my juice at just shy of 1/2 of the spotter dilution on the first couple of services & that seems to break it up pretty well & we use plenty of towels to get up as much as possible. They don't come back "clean" but they aren't "black" either... Of course on the return trips our production doubles & our pad usage drops by about 60-70%.... So I'd have to say that the chems work as advertised.

Anyway you can't encapsulate grease but you can emulsify & absorb it... For that you'll need more towels & more chemical action. Vacuuming/pile lifting prior to and after the fact play a role as well.

The thing is no matter what method you use the carpet is never 100% clean... But sometimes, you're better off with one method or another. Heavy build up in the situations above would have been faster with steam but we got it done without it. Of course even if I did have the heat I'd still be padding afterwards.

 

[Jimmy L]

To me that is just being inefficent and a waste of time to use a method that is so time consuming. If I had to tackle jobs like that with an OP machine I would surely pass on them.

But if you only have an OP machine and lots of time or are broke give it a shot.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

How many wash-loads is 60 of them towels?

 

[Dolly Llama]

vEEgs, you'll need to lower your standards if'n you want to OP clean profitably.

We don't do a lot of OPeeing.
but the most pads I've used on one room (appx 300sf of low loop olie) was 6 cotton pads.
If I wasn't so lazy about bending over and flipping/changing pads, I probably could of went thru 8 or 10

with synthetic pads, like many of the bonnetcRappers are now using, you can stretch them farther, cause they don't clean for squat anyway.
It's more a matter of getting a nice even over all "smear" of the soil.
similar to the the scrub 'n run sCampoo gEEkz


..L.T.A.

 

[Lyman]

Sorry to get off topic, but how do you get those cotton ones clean.

 

[Jeremy]

How many wash-loads is 60 of them towels?

2 loads washed 3 times each.... About 65 gallons of water total (including the carpet cleaning solution).

Sorry to get off topic, but how do you get those cotton ones clean.

I use gladiators (& a few old combo pads) but:

1 hot wash cycle just laundry soap
1 hot wash cycle with 20oz of Cobbs Powermax (let them soak & skip the rinse cycle)
1 hot wash & rinse cycle no detergent.


That said, I could have done about 1/2 as much at either place & the still would have been more than pleased with the results & happier than with their previous steam cleaner. OP "can do it" ... Some times steam is faster though.

 

[handdi]

got a new hire worked 6 years for chem-dry told me went thru 26 on a job and had to go to the laundry and wash them and come back.

 

[Greenie]

... Some times steam is faster though.

Time is money.

 

[Jimmy L]

Jeremy how long did it take to clean those places?

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Time is money.

Greenie's right.
O.P.'s biggest potential advantage over a HWE TM is speed. You lose that, and you're no better off than a POG.

 

[Clark]

I had a 10 by 10 electronic room last year with very heavy soil and food. It cleaned up with 8 pads. I would have use HWE but we could not raise the moisture in the room. It cleaned up nice. I through the pads away. If you saw the big political event Wednesday afternoon we cleaned that Ballroom Sunday. We used 15 pads to dry it up and to remove more soil. People were on it 2 hours after we left. We had good help from the Secret Service.

 

[Jeremy]

Jeremy how long did it take to clean those places?

1300 sq ft 9 man hours including vacuuming pile lifting furniture moving cleaning & 40 minute riund trip drive time.

1100 sq ft 10.5 man hours including the above but it was 1.25 drive time round trip.

Return trip? Most people wouldn't go back but I'm a gluton for punishment.. Both are well under 5 man hours...

 

[Brian R]

... Some times steam is faster though.

Time is money.

Glad to see what I said is catching on. :mrgreen:

 

[Jeremy]

Time is money? I always thought $ was $... I can't seem to get many TV's just for hanging out at BestBuy....

Why spend $10k-$90k to save 5 man hours on the initial service? :wink: There are times when it would be more efficient but over all the OP out shines the TM in production & dare I say it... CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. I get comments & compliments all the time from customers telling me what a wonderful job we do & how they like how it looks & fast it dries, etc. I mean come on... There is more than one way to skin a cat... Let the situation dictate the method.

 

[steve frasier]

The thing is no matter what method you use the carpet is never 100% clean...

generally spealking or in that situation

Came out nice though

I am sure it did but were the pads still coming out dirty as you were padding?

But sometimes, you're better off with one method or another

can't disagree with that

Sorry to get off topic, but how do you get those cotton ones clean.

you can't no matter what anyone tells you

There is more than one way to skin a cat... Let the situation dictate the method.
Time is money? I always thought $ was $... I can't seem to get many TV's just for hanging out at BestBuy....

Why spend $10k-$90k to save 5 man hours on the initial service? :wink: There are times when it would be more efficient but over all the OP out shines the TM in production & dare I say it... CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.

Only if you don't know what you are doing with a TM, if you bought one I am sure it would help you get over the hump, it is the one thing that has help me more then anything else to make more money and to legitimize who I am and what it is I am doing.

I get comments & compliments all the time from customers

that is because you have mastered the method and you can out perform the knuckle heads that are out there, but it works both ways.

we did twice as much in less then half the time the other night with a CRB and rinse

so what did you make per hour

 

[joey895]

It took you 9 man hours to OP 1300 sq ft ?

Holy crap thats a long time! :shock: Then you have to wash 6 loads of dirty pads.

I have an 1100sf restaurant I clean twice a month, takes me just over 2 hours counting drive time. Granted it's easy to clean because I do it so often but even the first time I did it ,when it was pretty dirty, it only took a little less than three hours.

Of course if you can get them to pay enough to make it worth it, then more power to you.

I hope they gave you keys to the place. :?

 

[XTREME1]

Why spend $10k-$90k to save 5 man hours on the initial service? There are times when it would be more efficient but over all the OP out shines the TM in production & dare I say it... CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. I get comments & compliments all the time from customers telling me what a wonderful job we do & how they like how it looks & fast it dries, etc. I mean come on... There is more than one way to skin a cat... Let the situation dictate the method.

5 man hrs on one job what about the other jobs. If each hr represents $90 it would take less than 40 clients to make up the difference and we all know we make about $135 plus on commercial and $95 res so that number would be lower. Unless you only have 1 client. I GUARANTEE my carpets and upholstery dry almost as fast and are like brand new when I am done and do not have to be cleaned as frequently. As I said before 1 in 5 ask me how I clean to make sure I am not a toilet paper spinner

 

[Blue Monarch]

Some of you guys should be spending most of your time on the ICS board.

 

[Brian R]

Jeremy,
I think what we mean is...what is your time worth while your workin?
Time is money..or lack there of.
Too much time wasted will kill the cash
Less time to do something is more oportunity to make more money.

But you already knew that.

My $15000 TM makes me more than that extra a year. It pays for itself and then some and my back aint broke at the end of the day...so I can do more jobs and make more money.

I ran a buffer for years and it wasn't worth the time and effort.

 

[bob vawter]

So do you idiots wash yor pads in with yor wifeys delicates.......like they do on that OTHER color board!

 

[XTREME1]

when I bought the brute an all the chems etc I had my shop ready with a washer and dryer

 

[Dolly Llama]

Sorry to get off topic, but how do you get those cotton ones clean.

the short answer is, you can't.
you launder them, but the staining can NOT be removed

we only clean loop pile in empty com or apts.
If I was in a home where Mrs Phiff could see in the bucket,
you HIDE the stained ones in the bucket and keep a few white CLEAN ones on top.

"no ma'am, I'm not cleaning with a dirty towel....


..L.T.A.

 

[alazo1]

Jeremy's examples may not be the best for op. But regarding time, light to medium soiled cgd and a brute. Ain't no way a tm can beat the time. And as far as customer satisfaction, I doubt tm is going to be any better. It's the agitation in op that makes the spots disappear / spread

If I was in a home where Mrs Phiff could see in the bucket,
you HIDE the stained ones in the bucket and keep a few white CLEAN ones on top.

Don't really use op in residential but I've done that many times on commercial. At the end you lay them out so the customer can see it. It'll look like you got more dirt out. The little bit of pads I have left look like they've cleaned 500 sft before I even start.

Albert

 

[joey895]

Jeremy's examples may not be the best for op. But regarding time, light to medium soiled cgd and a brute. Ain't no way a tm can beat the time.
Albert

Yep, I think those examples were worst case scenarios.

 

[Curtis Pennington]

Jeremy how long did it take to clean those places?

1300 sq ft 9 man hours including vacuuming pile lifting furniture moving cleaning & 40 minute riund trip drive time.

1100 sq ft 10.5 man hours including the above but it was 1.25 drive time round trip.

Return trip? Most people wouldn't go back but I'm a gluton for punishment.. Both are well under 5 man hours...

WOW that is alotta pads....you need to at lesat get a porty to increase production.

Hopefully your not a OMOG.

 

[Jeremy]

Jeremy's examples may not be the best for op. But regarding time, light to medium soiled cgd and a brute. Ain't no way a tm can beat the time. And as far as customer satisfaction, I doubt tm is going to be any better. It's the agitation in op that makes the spots disappear / spread

Yes these were worst case scenarios... I can bang out 1500 sq ft an hour per machine with out even trying o lightly soiled stuff. And the greasy restaurants I mentioned above were completely gross when I started & arenice & perty now.... Just beacuse I had 4-5 hours tied up in them (with a helper & 2 machines) including drive time on the first service (and still made a slim profit) does't mean a TM is a must have for me... It's a want & admittedly a nicety at times but not a a nessecity. At least not yet. For some reason I doubt that the $24k a year in contract work I have taken from steam cleaners with OP would support a TM... Maybe when I hit $75k in guaranteed work. For now I have the time & I'm making money...

Lower over head, reduced labor (through higher production) unless it's a nasty, reduce maintenance cost & about 1/10 or less of the purchase price. I've been considering a TM but I think I'm going to hold off for a while.... I don't need a TM to be considered "legitimate" in the eyes of customers... The hoses, steam popping from the jets & noise are more impressive but where OP shines isn't in presentation its in results & the longevity of the results.