Using facebook to warn about crappy carpet

[KevinL]

What do you guys think of the idea to warn people on facebook about the perils of using cheap polyester carpet in high traffic areas and near garage doors. I'm tired of scrubbing cheap carpet to try and make it look decent. I had to break out the rotovac today to make some frieze look good. Man, can that 360i do some cleaning!

 

[Contemporary Carpet Clean]

Facebook is a great place to "help" and guide people. People may or may not use the info, but at least you have it there. If you give info(fiber type recommendations, spotting techniques etc.) you are not "pushing" or promoting your business. You are just helping out. When people need you they know where to find you. This gets into the heads of potential customers and they view your company as giving some great "FREE" advice and knows what they are talking about...custy says "I will be sure to call them and recommend them to my friends".

I always write down what carpets I suggest to people. 100% nylon, or a smaller looped berber(unless they have animals that dig/scratch). Get best padding. Do not get frizee or polyester unless selling the house and or trying to save money. Those couple extra minutes mean that you will have better carpet to clean in the future for that custy (custy gets longer life, and better wear)....and lets face it better carpet makes us carpet cleaners look better too!

 

[Dmreed4311]

It is a lost cause, Customers are at the mercy of the carpet sales people and they swear by polyester carpet. Recently I purchased new carpet for my upstairs and the sales guy pushed polyester like it was the best thing since sliced bread. I told him i wanted nylon and he said Nylon is not stain resistant like polyester when i asked him about the crushing effect that polyester suffers from he knew nothing of it, then when i asked him about how oil and grease bond with polyester he knew nothing of that as well.

The reason they push polyester so hard is that polyester cost a lot less to make than nylon yet they sell it at a premium price. The salesmen get a bigger commision so they push the poly. I work for many apartment complexes and their carpet installers are pushing polyester hard. I had a face to face with the Sherman Williams rep and infront of the regional manager he stated that the polyester carpet will clean up like new with water over 140 degrees, I laughed and told him "I have a TM outside that produces 200 degree plus water, would you please give me a demo" He declined and tried to imply that any good carpet cleaner should love polyester because it makes their life so much easier.
This particular regional fell for the reps BS and behind my back hired stanley steamer to clean a bad polyester, they failed and now they have switched back to Nylon carpet.

 

[sam miller]

I understand a cheap poly in a rental it makes sense! Olefin ya its garbage but so are most renters alot of citrus and it cleans good the crushing part is a different ballgame.

 

[Fred H]

I had thought of taking photos of cheap poly carpets to post on facebook and my website to illustrate that they don't hold up to foot traffic, I always show clients that there is an eighth to a quarter inch between tufts, you can part the fibers and see the back of the carpet. The fibers lay over on their sides and unravel. Looks 'worn' after only a few months. These are things I cannot correct, no one can. I almost always use the rotovac 360 on these types carpets. another thing I do is run the grandigroomer shag rake over the traffic areas prior to prevacuuming, it stands the fibers up and makes vacuuming more effective. It impresses the homeowner, carry an extra rake to sell to them.

 

[idreadnought]

You know who sells a lot of cheap poly? Home depot! I have a friend that installs for them. He had worked for me so he knows the difference. He says he installs 90% cheap polyester carpet. I even tell him not to refer the customers to me because I don't want to clean that crap.

 

[ACE]

Poly is often sold as green because it’s made from recycled plastic. I don’t know how green it is if you have to replace it every 5-7 years. Quality nylon will easily last 20 years if it’s well maintained. I do see the logic in using cheep carpet if you know it’s going to get abused anyway. In most rentals abuse is a given and today’s hectic lifestyle doesn’t allow much time for proper housekeeping in allot of the nicer home I work In. Cheep carpet defiantly detracts from a since of satisfaction after a carpet cleaning job. I’m always quick to point out that traffic patterns will not be fully restored by cleaning due to the fiber type on pre-inspection. Allot of homeowners are so disgusted with the cheep carpet they install hard surface flooring, only to cover that with imported, cheap, musty smelling, tufted area rugs :roll: .