wool carpet cleaning for...

[greenclean]

A customer called me today to clean grease from a wool saxony carpet....A contractor that was working in the home dragged a trash can accross the floor and got grease all over the carpet....I told her it had to be cleaned in a specific way because it is a natural fiber...she agreed and I set up an appointment to clean it...she called me later that day and asked If I can do any better with my price because another guy said he would clean the 20'x30' area of carpet for $79.99!...I gave her some more info about the cleaning process and armed her with some info so when the $79.99 guy shows up he doesn't make a big mess. I priced the job at $1.00 sf so $600.00 and made no promises...
Am I off base here?...Any helpful hints on pricing or procedure would be helpful...I dont clean many wool carpets...small rugs yes but not large areas like this. Thx in advance!!

 

[The Great Oz]

There's really no reason to charge more than your normal pricing to clean wool carpet. If your chosen cleaning product meets the specs for cleaning current generation Teflon coated nylon (no buffered high pH, optical brighteners or oxidizers) it will be safe for wool. Wool will take longer to dry than plastic, so either set airmovers or be more careful about water removal.

Your pricing probably did scare this customer, highend companies would charge about half what you did. Outside of being a bait and switch operation, the biggest concern for this customer when using a cheap guy is their preference for using the cheapest product available, which may do long term damage to her expensive carpeting.

 

[sweendogg]

1.00 sqft is pretty steep for wool wall to wall. But it depends on your level of experience with wool and what your usual pricing is as well.

I clean wool often enough that unless there are extenuating circumstances, I don't find the need to increase/decrease my prices. You do need to let Mrs. P know that if you use the wrong chemistries, the wrong heat, and overwet, she'll have a lot bigger mess. Wool carpet is not difficult to clean but its very easy to screw up by joe blow carpet sucker.

 

[colin fitch]

This is how we clean [domestic]wool wall to wall carpeting in [u.k] most days of the week.

Vacuum[with upright or tub vac]
Pre-spray[with one-step fine line p.h 6.8 woolsafe approved]
Aggitate[with host fitted with softest gold brushes]
Rinse [with clear water].

We would remove grease with a light mist of dilimonene/aggitate and rinse.

There's really no reason to charge more than your normal pricing to clean wool carpet[Agree]

highend companies would charge about half what you did [Also agree]

the wrong chemistries, the wrong heat, and overwet, she'll have a lot bigger mess. [Agree]

colin

 

[rhino1]

This will be very expensive to replace, price accordingly. Just had a wool stretch on me, hope it will shrink a bit overnight, we will see. I wouldn't touch it for less than $250 to $300, 6 bills seems a bit much but if you can get it, get it!

If the other guy will do it for 10cents/ft, good luck to him and her. He probably doesn't know anything about wool or have insurance.

You will kill 2 birds, he'll be out of business and she'll never use anyone but you again.

 

[greenclean]

I agree with everything posted here...I charge more for wool carpet so i can make sure that I have the time to do it right, keep air movers until the carpet is 100% dry, etc i dont need to price it cheap, do the work, and then have a headache a day or so later because something bad happened.

I like the idea that the other guy will mess up loose the custy and go out of business.

thank you all for your input. I will advise when she calls me to do the job after he either messes up or doesn't have the right answers for her. :mrgreen:

 

[Jack May]

Good grief!! Listen to Bryan or search for 'wool' in the mine.

Jack

 

[Harry Myers]

I think you priced it just fine.

 

[Able 1]

I don't charge any more for wool then I do normally. The only wool I see around here is berber, and what a rip off, pos that carpet is... total waste of money IMO. I don't use any fans just extract a little slower.

 

[Jack May]

viewforum.php?f=110

 

[Larry Cobb]

Steve;

You do need to charge a higher price for wool carpeting .....

I would ALWAYS use a reducing agent for wool to brighten up the white areas and colored areas.

Wool naturally yellows, and a professional will reverse the discoloration.

It should add about 25%-40% or so to your normal steam cleaning prices for additional chemicals & time required for restoring the original colors to the rug.

Be a professional for rug cleaning . . .
and charge for your EXPERTISE.

Larry

 

[Art Kelley]

I think you priced it just fine.

Indeed. You can be proud of your $300 price for that room. Of course you didn't do the job and you lost "your customer" to this other guy. But you will get support here and on the ICS board. I do jobs like that for $80 every day of the week, but that's just me. I like to work and make money, not brag about my prices. Wool is a very sturdy fabric and cleans easily and beautifully with a low pH prespray a quick shampoo and a thorough steam cleaning. If the grease spots remain a little solvent on a towel will wipe it off.

 

[rhino1]

[quote="Harry Myers":1579yeck]I think you priced it just fine.

Indeed. You can be proud of your $300 price for that room. Of course you didn't do the job and you lost "your customer" to this other guy. But you will get support here and on the ICS board. I do jobs like that for $80 every day of the week, but that's just me. I like to work and make money, not brag about my prices. Wool is a very sturdy fabric and cleans easily and beautifully with a low pH prespray a quick shampoo and a thorough steam cleaning. If the grease spots remain a little solvent on a towel will wipe it off.[/quote:1579yeck]

Art:

You do 600 sf of wool for $80? So that's .13/ft for residential....

Pre shampoo and steam clean, i wouldn't brag about that.

I thought I was low.... 35 years and counting huh?

 

[Art Kelley]

What's it take to do that room? 45 to 55 minutes? $300 sounds about right.

 

[rhino1]

If you can get setup, move furniture, deal with the grease spot, pretreat, shampoo, steam clean 600 sf, not to mention any furniture moving, put down fans (I hope) put away all your stuff, and collect check in 45 to 55 minutes then I am either impressed by your efficiency or baffled by your bullshit.

 

[Art Kelley]

If you can get setup, move furniture, deal with the grease spot, pretreat, shampoo, steam clean 600 sf, not to mention any furniture moving, put down fans (I hope) put away all your stuff, and collect check in 45 to 55 minutes then I am either impressed by your efficiency or baffled by your bullshit.

How long does it take you to clean 600 sf? And what kind of a soaker do you run that necessitates the use of fans to dry a carpet? Sorry just I reread GreenCleans original post and he wanted $600 to clean the room not $300. That should keep him busy. On the boards.

 

[rhino1]

If you can get setup, move furniture, deal with the grease spot, pretreat, shampoo, steam clean 600 sf, not to mention any furniture moving, put down fans (I hope) put away all your stuff, and collect check in 45 to 55 minutes then I am either impressed by your efficiency or baffled by your bullshit.

How long does it take you to clean 600 sf? And what kind of a soaker do you run that necessitates the use of fans to dry a carpet? Sorry just I reread GreenCleans original post and he wanted $600 to clean the room not $300. That should keep him busy. On the boards.

Art

Yesterday I got $80 to VACuum 600 s.f. of wool carpet, the price to clean it was $300. I can do this all day. You would pre-vac that hair rug, right? Seein' as you wouldn't bother to dry it, probably not. Each to his own.

 

[leesenter]

Wool carpets do have different protocols for cleaning, depending on what care recommendations they want you to use.
Woolsafe and Wools of New Zealand both don't want vacuums with beater bars used on loop pile wool broadloom. This is a huge issue for some carpeting.
I also have to address Larry Cobb's suggestion to add some reducing agent to the carpet to brighten it up. I would suggest that that is a pretty broad suggestion and that there are many off white carpets that can be damaged by such a move as well as other colours of wool.

 

[amazingcleansc]

Wool carpets do have different protocols for cleaning, depending on what care recommendations they want you to use.
Woolsafe and Wools of New Zealand both don't want vacuums with beater bars used on loop pile wool broadloom. This is a huge issue for some carpeting.
I also have to address Larry Cobb's suggestion to add some reducing agent to the carpet to brighten it up. I would suggest that that is a pretty broad suggestion and that there are many off white carpets that can be damaged by such a move as well as other colours of wool.

How are you supposed to get the dry soil all the way out?