What is the best way for cust. to maint. color seal?

[daniel@procarpet]

I have been telling customers to vacuum the floor several times a week. Then to clean it use a neutral cleaner with a damp terry cloth and swiffer stick.

Would a floor mate be better? What would you reccomend I tell my customers?

 

[Jim Martin]

IMO.....swifter is the worst thing that you can tell them to use....on all tile the grout line is lower then the tile itself.....the swifter is a straight edge and all it does is push everything into the grout lines and the texture (if any) of the tile...

I tell everyone that I clean tile for to use a cotton string mop .....the strands fall into the grout line and rake the dirt out....a good cotton mop can also be taken off and thrown in the washer and drier so it is CLEAN for the next time they mop.....

Neutral cleaner is fine..but if it is colored sealed then hot water should do the trick..........

 

[sweendogg]

Jim I had several customers against our recommendations do just that! It made work for me as I had to go and clean the tile and grout, it was sealed so it came right out with a good rinsing with the spinner. But their nice white grout againsta beige porcelain tile was almost black because they had their vacuum store guys sell them the new bona microfiber spray and mop for ceramic, touting it as the next great thing for Ceramic.. and it did just as you described, pushed all of the oils and dirt right into the grout lines.

So I layed out in writing again our recommend cleaning instructions. What can you do sometimes!? :?

 

[daniel@procarpet]

So using a white terry cloth dipped in nuetral cleaner is not a good option? I tell the customer to just use the swiffer stick to push the cloth around. I want them to push on the grout to pick up any dirt AFTER DRY VACUUMING with a canister vac. Since the floor has color seal on it, would a floor mate with a cap of neutral cleaner do better than a damp cloth? I have never seen one up close.

 

[Jim Martin]

if we are just talking dry dirt then just have then use a Floor Duster........one with out a chemical in it would be the best choice.......then they would not have to waste there time dry vacuuming it .....kill 2 birds with one stone..............

 

[JDS87]

They should be doing a vacuuming or dusting it with a soft dusting pad. After removing
the dry soil they can damp mop if they wish.

I advise a maintenance cleaning once a year so we can make sure they aren't
damaging the color seal and protect our guarantee. This also adds to the bottom
line.

 

[TimP]

I tell my clients neutral cleaner, or 4 oz windex to a gallon of water. Sprayed on with a pump sprayer or trigger sprayer, scrub with a nylon brush where needed. Wipe it up with a mop or a towel.

 

[J Scott W]

I agree that a neutral cleaner should be used.

Windex has a lot of ammonia in it giving it a high pH. I would not use ammonia or most other off the shelf at WalMarttype cleaners.

Cleaning techs can get professional products made for home use and sell them to your clinets. For example Viper 7 or Spinergy Vivid.

 

[TimP]

I agree that a neutral cleaner should be used.

Windex has a lot of ammonia in it giving it a high pH. I would not use ammonia or most other off the shelf at WalMarttype cleaners.

Cleaning techs can get professional products made for home use and sell them to your clinets. For example Viper & or Spinergy Vivid.

I know what the product is, and the PH BS drama comes up again. Have you seen ammonia ever take paint off a wall? I've yet to see it do anything to color seal. 4 oz to a gallon of water is not much product for sure just enough to make it a light cleaning agent. In my humble opinion color seal is very tough stuff and windex diluted at this ratio isn't gonna harm it much if even does at all. I don't believe it's a color seal solvent. The great thing about the windex is that it wont leave a residue. BTW I have color sealed my tile shower in my personal home. I've put bleach and strong cleaners on it and guess what....that color seal is still on there.


Also just so you know if a client wants to go neutral, because I do say it's the best way to clean it, I do sell them a gallon of neutral cleaner. In fact on large color seal jobs I've been known to throw in a gallon. I have 4 gallons of Spinergy 7 sitting on the shelf ready to sell cause I don't use the stuff on the truck.