What’s changed with VLM to have changed my mind?

[Hack Attack]

Have you seen my helmet in a hat?

It’s somewhere on here in a thread

Im just venting slightly, 4th apartment today with a porty sheesh

 

[Rob Grady]

If you asked my long list of jealous ex virtual lovers, they would say “Because TOPS is paying you!”

and I would retort, “KMA and wipe it with a microfiber bonnet!”
God only knows how many times I would argue in the early days on the WWW with John Guerkink using the poopy fingers analogy to make my point on why hot water extraction is better than pad cleaning..

(don’t worry, I still wash my hands after going potty)

Now in the new age of multi method cleaning professionals, when it comes to carpet cleaning, the microfiber bonnets and the new wave of machines that spin, jiggle and wiggle them, I have dramatically changed my outlook on how I, and a whole slew of old HWE diehards, clean carpeting these days.

A few of you will remember when the low moisture guys on the forums would post pics of a 3 foot stack of filthy (100%) cotton pads on the doorstep of a home or business in much the same way as Hot Water guys show the filthy water draining out of their waste tanks. It was a badge of honor to show off how much soil was removed by bragging about how many pads you used on that one job. The thing was back in those days, those pads would load up with gunk in just a few twirls on a visibly soiled carpet. In as little as a square yard the cotton was no longer able to hold any more soil, especially when you consider that you had to essentially cover up 50% of the pad with a thin plastic disc of sorts in order to enable you to move the “wheels up” rattle trap of a jackhammer machine back then…

Just like a whole generation of HWE guys who have never cleaned without a Teflon glide on their wands, this new generation of cleaners have never experienced the joy of using the old machines that numbed your hands in no time and would only move TO THE LEFT! (If you wanted to go right you had to face the other direction…)

I tried to adapt on four or five occasions to that style of cleaning over the years when different manufactures would give me machines to test, I could never last more than a room or two…

The Cimex played a big part in my company for 15 years or more because it was so easy to use, and the dirt stayed hidden for so long. My techs and I happily hoped and prayed that the encapsulated soil would vacuum away in the proceeding weeks as we sunk the soil deeper and deeper with every visit.

But deep down, we knew it didn’t.


View attachment 114457
It feels like it was much longer ago, but it was just 2019 at a Mikey’s Fest in Las Vegas, that the fine folks at TOPS awarded me with a shiny new wheels down OP machine as a thank you for what I do for the RMHC. You can watch my progression of adapting to this newish way of extracting soil from carpet with these magical highly absorbent pads on my You Tube channel and my online forum.

The ”Bucket Test” is what really converted me, and I suggest you take the test as well. Go clean 500 SF of dirty carpet and put the blue microfiber pad in a 5 gallon buck of hot water, and let it sit for a few minutes, then stir the water with a pole and watch that water turn as dark and nasty as what comes out of your truckmount’s waste tank…

If you don’t understand after that display of gravity defying logic, than perhaps you might want to consider a career change to window or rain gutter washing.
Better yet, go visit that job a month later and let your mind soak in how great the carpet STILL LOOKS.
No wicking, no dirty dish rag stench for weeks after cleaning, far less resoiling…

With emission restrictions coming soon to our gasoline powered extractors and the vehicles that carry them, VLM will need be a much bigger part of your cleaning toolbox, whether you like it or not.

And yes, I still steam clean most residential carpet, albeit with a cheap Chinese $200 wand these days but that’s a story for another day.

Now, imagine if you were to use a few more, say 10 maybe, on that 500 sq.ft. and immerse them in an equal amount of five gallon buckets, then maybe you could claim for the carpet to be as clean as a guy using 50 gallons of water to clean an area the same footage.
I can't buy into cleaning 500 sq.ft. with one pad. It doesn't take any more effort to swap pads every 100 feet or so.
Pad cleaner since 1978.

 

[FredC]

The ”Bucket Test” is what really converted me, and I suggest you take the test as well. Go clean 500 SF of dirty carpet and put the blue microfiber pad in a 5 gallon buck of hot water, and let it sit for a few minutes, then stir the water with a pole and watch that water turn as dark and nasty as what comes out of your truckmount’s waste tank…

This is the "logic" that sells bissells.....

 

[encapman]

I just finished reading E myth why small business don't succeed...I figure it has to do with being insistent on being a technician rather getting off truck. This biz is way to hard to get off the truck. You want freedom, might have to consider starting a new biz where you are just the CEO..

Not really a need to start a new business / just adjust the one you now have... Like you, I read the E-Myth over 20 years ago. Learning what that book taught was a big part of what enabled me to simplify my commercial carpet cleaning business with SYSTEMS that would enable me to not be the "technician". Good systems are what got me off the truck. I then had the freedom to work on the business rather than just working in the business. The Cimex/Releasit system grew out of that search for more practical ways to clean carpet. Having a business based on efficient "systems" has been at the core of what we tried to accomplish in our cleaning business, and what we're doing now at Excellent Supply.

I appreciate the thoughts Mike conveyed above. Mikey's on it here with a simplified way of cleaning. A purely truckmount cleaning operation can make it difficult to run with simple systems. On the other hand, his more VLM oriented approach can make that more doable.

 

[Mikey P]

This is the "logic" that sells bissells.....

I could do a better job with a bissell than Larry and his Mytee.

 

[Mikey P]

Now, imagine if you were to use a few more, say 10 maybe, on that 500 sq.ft. and immerse them in an equal amount of five gallon buckets, then maybe you could claim for the carpet to be as clean as a guy using 50 gallons of water to clean an area the same footage.
I can't buy into cleaning 500 sq.ft. with one pad. It doesn't take any more effort to swap pads every 100 feet or so.
Pad cleaner since 1978.

If and when I do the OP process on residential I sell them go longer than 100 ft per side on the microfibers.

With ironically enough when I do it in residential the carpet is nearly spotless and doesn't even come close to the soil load that the commercial carpet I'm cleaning at 500 ft will have..

 

[Mikey P]

Heres a fun fact that you wont hear much about .

On your next large commercial project, intentionally clean 500 feet with just water and the blue microfiber pad. Go back the next day and then a month later and try and find those 500 ft.

now THAT will sell you in the magic of Microfiber.

 

[ImperialCC]

If and when I do the OP process on residential I sell them go longer than 100 ft per side on the microfibers.

With ironically enough when I do it in residential the carpet is nearly spotless and doesn't even come close to the soil load that the commercial carpet I'm cleaning at 500 ft will have..

One needs to remember also that the chemical is doing a portion of the work. You are using agitation to release the soil into the encapsulation solution. You are not necessarily “extracting” but creating a soil encapsulation matrix that will dry and be removed later. The microfiber is acting more like a spoon in a pot.

 

[FredC]

now THAT will sell you in the magic of Microfiber.

This blue microfiber?



?



You used the wrong pad
You used the wrong juice
You should have made more passes
You didn't pre vacuum enough
It would have all came out in the post vacuum
Your heart was just not into it
You just don't understand



What else will those lying dopes say?




Hate to tell you this Todd but if you had run an RE over it it would have looked even better.


But thanks for that great, truthful and morally wonderful video!!



~God on Mikey's PC.

 

[Mikey P]

You used the wrong wand
You used the wrong juice
You should have made more passes
You didn't pre vacuum enough
It would have all came out in the dry stroke
Your heart was just not into it
You just don't understand

 

[Kenny Hayes]

I did my mega church yesterday. All the dirt went into my vacuum and crb with renovators, then I just polished the carpet with my orbital I understand

 

[Mikey P]

I did my mega church yesterday. All the dirt went into my vacuum and crb with renovators, then I just polished the carpet with my orbital I understand

My orbital is better.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Notice I didn’t mention mine by name. I didn’t want you to shame me Also, the person who
writes my check told Diana how good it looked
and gave me a big smile and acknowledgement
as she walked away

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Good gosh, what’s it coming to? Now it’s a pissing contest whose got the best giggly

 

[Willy P]

Butthole surfers now that is good music.
I dance in my garage listening to that while smoking a cheap swisher sweet.

MUCH BETTER THAT THAT SCREAMING LESBIAN GRETA VAN FLEET! DON'T EVER PLAY THAT AGAIN MIKEY OR YOU WILL........DIE!

 

[Dolly Llama]

I didn’t want you to shame me

Good gosh, what’s it coming to? Now it’s a pissing contest whose got the best giggly

"coming to"??
you been around Mike long enough...

from vortex to kotex
It's the best
this week



..L.T.A.

 

[Shorty]

Heres a fun fact that you wont hear much about .

On your next large commercial project, intentionally clean 500 feet with just water and the blue microfiber pad. Go back the next day and then a month later and try and find those 500 ft.

now THAT will sell you in the magic of Microfiber.

I'm going slightly off track here, but Mikey started it with water.

I have a large Health department job that I've been doing for a number of years.

Their lunch room has synthetic carpet tiles which no other carpet cleaner could get clean.

I wet down the tiles with WATER, the janitors had already left plenty of detergent on the tiles.

I then went over it with my CRB ........ Perfection.

That won the job for me.

These are the tiles, dunno why two printed.

View attachment 114498

 

[Shorty]

I'm going slightly off track here, but Mikey started it with water.

I have a large Health department job that I've been doing for a number of years.

Their lunch room has synthetic carpet tiles which no other carpet cleaner could get clean.

I wet down the tiles with WATER, the janitors had already left plenty of detergent on the tiles.

I then went over it with my CRB ........ Perfection.

That won the job for me.

These are the tiles, dunno why two printed.

View attachment 114498

View attachment 114497

Forget the bit about two, just the one photo of two tiles show in the post.

 

[Mikey P]

Forget the bit about two, just the one photo of two tiles show in the post.

Congrats on your retirement buddy.


Can you call my wife and sing to her one last time?


831 588 9063

 

[Shorty]

Congrats on your retirement buddy.


Can you call my wife and sing to her one last time?


831 588 9063

Ta Mikey.

Fecebook has banned me from singing.

Except to Marty, drives his sows wild.

 

[Cleanworks]

Ta Mikey.

Fecebook has banned me from singing.

Except to Marty, drives his sows wild.

So, your singing is like an aphrodisiac?

 

[Mike J]

windows are good money but like upholstery I avoid it when I can

I get it that upholstery is a buzz killer, and know a couple cleaners who decline the opportunity. I can't or I would lose good carpet customers. So now I bring fold up table to the job and what a difference it makes on getting the soiled corners the first time and cranking out the cushions. Before I even bring in the hoses, I have the couches flipped, clean the cob webs and spider eggs off the bottom. Then bring in the hoses and clean the frames. Then with the table on site crank out the cushions.

For years I used to not be so systematic, and just make a makeshift work place somewhere on the couch or floor. Done with that. Price is up too. Results stellar.

 

[SamIam]

If you asked my long list of jealous ex virtual lovers, they would say “Because TOPS is paying you!”

and I would retort, “KMA and wipe it with a microfiber bonnet!”
God only knows how many times I would argue in the early days on the WWW with John Guerkink using the poopy fingers analogy to make my point on why hot water extraction is better than pad cleaning..

(don’t worry, I still wash my hands after going potty)

Now in the new age of multi method cleaning professionals, when it comes to carpet cleaning, the microfiber bonnets and the new wave of machines that spin, jiggle and wiggle them, I have dramatically changed my outlook on how I, and a whole slew of old HWE diehards, clean carpeting these days.

A few of you will remember when the low moisture guys on the forums would post pics of a 3 foot stack of filthy (100%) cotton pads on the doorstep of a home or business in much the same way as Hot Water guys show the filthy water draining out of their waste tanks. It was a badge of honor to show off how much soil was removed by bragging about how many pads you used on that one job. The thing was back in those days, those pads would load up with gunk in just a few twirls on a visibly soiled carpet. In as little as a square yard the cotton was no longer able to hold any more soil, especially when you consider that you had to essentially cover up 50% of the pad with a thin plastic disc of sorts in order to enable you to move the “wheels up” rattle trap of a jackhammer machine back then…

Just like a whole generation of HWE guys who have never cleaned without a Teflon glide on their wands, this new generation of cleaners have never experienced the joy of using the old machines that numbed your hands in no time and would only move TO THE LEFT! (If you wanted to go right you had to face the other direction…)

I tried to adapt on four or five occasions to that style of cleaning over the years when different manufactures would give me machines to test, I could never last more than a room or two…

The Cimex played a big part in my company for 15 years or more because it was so easy to use, and the dirt stayed hidden for so long. My techs and I happily hoped and prayed that the encapsulated soil would vacuum away in the proceeding weeks as we sunk the soil deeper and deeper with every visit.

But deep down, we knew it didn’t.


View attachment 114457
It feels like it was much longer ago, but it was just 2019 at a Mikey’s Fest in Las Vegas, that the fine folks at TOPS awarded me with a shiny new wheels down OP machine as a thank you for what I do for the RMHC. You can watch my progression of adapting to this newish way of extracting soil from carpet with these magical highly absorbent pads on my You Tube channel and my online forum.

The ”Bucket Test” is what really converted me, and I suggest you take the test as well. Go clean 500 SF of dirty carpet and put the blue microfiber pad in a 5 gallon buck of hot water, and let it sit for a few minutes, then stir the water with a pole and watch that water turn as dark and nasty as what comes out of your truckmount’s waste tank…

If you don’t understand after that display of gravity defying logic, than perhaps you might want to consider a career change to window or rain gutter washing.
Better yet, go visit that job a month later and let your mind soak in how great the carpet STILL LOOKS.
No wicking, no dirty dish rag stench for weeks after cleaning, far less resoiling…

With emission restrictions coming soon to our gasoline powered extractors and the vehicles that carry them, VLM will need be a much bigger part of your cleaning toolbox, whether you like it or not.

And yes, I still steam clean most residential carpet, albeit with a cheap Chinese $200 wand these days but that’s a story for another day.

Great glad you wash your hands

 

[Hack Attack]

but where does the dirt go?

Into my soul..

 

[SamIam]

HWE is quicker in res?
That's why you still TM most res?

..L.T.A.

It's easier to carry hose a small crb and light vacuum.

Vlm in a residential space would require Werneresque vacuuming, prespray juice agitate juice, crb preferably.

Then pad extract with your shake and shine.


I would probably post crb for a kick ass groomed look.


And that is a lot of work.

 

[SamIam]

Ps in residential I would want at least a 15 crb with my oscillating machine too.

No oreck pad machine only hahahaha

 

[Living The Dream]

It's easier to carry hose a small crb and light vacuum.

Vlm in a residential space would require Werneresque vacuuming, prespray juice agitate juice, crb preferably.

Then pad extract with your shake and shine.


I would probably post crb for a kick ass groomed look.


And that is a lot of work.

 

[sassyotto]

so this guy took your method of cleaning to upholstery..... good job

 

[SamIam]

so this guy took your method of cleaning to upholstery..... good job

Sudsy ammonia and a terry towel will make it look 90% better

 

[SamIam]

Foam boy