Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
The cleaning piePosted by mike_halliday (mike_halliday), 9 November 2003
rather than tag this onto the 'new machine' topic I thought I 'd start a new subject.
i hope we all know about the TACT OR CHAT thereoy but when we use the term 'pie' we are refering the the pie chart often used in maths, this implies that you need a set amount of ingrediants to make a whole pie, Eg:
25% heat
25% time
25% chemical
25% agitation
thus giving 100% ( a full pie) an idea often quoted by some people is that if you can increase one part of the pie you can subsequently reduce another part of the pie.
Eg; a bonnet cleaner will say he does'nt need the 25% heat because he will use agitation equal to 50% of the pie.
or a carpet cleaner will use a high PH pre-spray and let it dwell for longer so won't use the 25% agitation ( increasing the chemical part of the pie to 35% and the time part to 35% )
my question is how far can we take this, can I increase the heat so much that I will do away with the chemical & agitation , can I let the chemical dwell for an 30mins and not use heat,
mikePosted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 9 November 2003
Hi Mike,
In my oppinion the overall pie recipe should be adjusted not just to suite individual carpets but for diferent segments of any given carpet.
If, in the interest of brevity, we disregard the innitial preparation, (inspect, prevac, spot etc.) and concider just HWE we then make certain choices:
Pre-spray. Generally an enzyme pre-spay will require more dwell time and less agitation than most TLC's or One-step. (optimum heat of pre-spray varies also)
Extraction. The choice of extraction additive will determine the amount of heat - e.g. applying Liquid Woolsafe at >60c defeats the object of useing that product.
I could go on, but will mearly say that the pie composition is infinitely variable and that as an experienced cook may not weigh all ingredients, so experienced carpet cleaners will adjust 'on the fly'.
John.Posted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 9 November 2003
From the training I've received and real world experience gathered, the cleaning pie is divided into approximately 4 equal quarters. If you reduce one of the segments, then you still have to make "The full pie" by increasing the size of one or more of the other segments. For example, a lower pH chemical can be made more active by increasing it's temperature, or it can be made to work better by increaing the amount of agitation.
Try to liken it to a dirty pan after cooking. Use a more aggressive detergent and it cleans better. Use hotter water and it cleans better. Agitate more with a brush or pad and it cleans better. Give it a longer soak and it cleans better.Posted by mike_halliday (mike_halliday), 9 November 2003
ken, have'nt you just repeated what I said 
the question is when you clean that dirty pan if your water was really hot could you use no chemicals at all.
the reason I wanted to explore this line of thought is that I have a limitless amount of heat and I'd like to offer a zero chemical cleaning. So could I increase the other parts of the pie and exclude the 25% chemical. or even increase every thing else by 7% so would only need 4% chemical
If I just got a wet towel and rubbed it on the carpet this would remove some dirt so imagine if I used very hot water with a high flow rate would'nt this also remove most of the dirt.
mike Posted by martin_606 (martin_606), 9 November 2003
Wouldn't extreme heat damage the carpet?
i.e. shrinkage etc
Martin 
Posted by Derek (Derek Bolton), 10 November 2003
Mike
There is just one area that makes your theory impracticable.
Water, although a solvent in its own right, needs some form of detergency to break down its surface tension thereby allowing it access to the substrate.
The cleaning pie elements may be reduced or increased as the situation demands but you still need all the elements in place.
Derek
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