[Tony Stewart]

I cleaned a dentist's surgery on Friday and was disappointed with the results - especially the waiting room. I put down SPM and aggitiated with my TM4 crb with the stiif brushes on a needlepunch industrial carpet. HWE with warm water and lemon fresh.
I was not happy with the results so went for Powerburst and a dwell time of 15 mins and HWE with F & F rinse watching that I didn't overwet the place and extracted with the hand tool with many dry passes. There was still black traffic marks from where the customers sit on the chairs in the waiting room. It was better but I noticed the difference.
Should I have bonneted it off again. I had the rotary in the car but as these surgeries are converted houses I thought some of the rooms would be a bit of a squeeze with the rotary.
I am sure it was clean it just did not look as good as I would have liked.  Any thoughts on where I went wrong?
 

[Jim_77]

Tony,

Are you sure the carpet hasn't just worn through to the backing?  Seems as it's needlepunch that's what it'll look like... almost black.  Typical wear in a high traffic area on such a carpet.!

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Tony

You may find it has dried looking a lot better.

Also did you try removing the black marks with a little solvent?

Cheers

Doug

[Jamie Pearson]

I had a similar xperience with needlepunch in an officers mess at an RAF base.
It was thought that it was boot polish from them polishing their soles.
It turned out to be that the fibres had melted with feet scuffing back and forth.
It as particularly noticeable on traffic lanes around corners and under chairs.
A little magnifier is a great tool to carry with you for this sort of occasion.
Its also good during your pre-inspection to show the customer the soil in their carpet.

[Tony Stewart]

Thanks for that guys. I am convinced it is not dirty as I cleaned it twice. It may be down to wear and it may be scuff marks that have done it. I used gum it off, carefully and that did not remove it.............I will check the waiting room next time I pass............have to collect the money as no one was there to pay me.
Maybe I will take a magnifying glass to have a look for my own peace of mind and then take the glass to reception looking for the cheque!!!
 

[Claude Fenner]

Don't put solvent on it! You could use Prochem Traficlean neat if necessary but do rinse and extract properly. I suspect it is friction burn or wear.

[Tony Stewart]

I went back to the surgery today and took these pictures.
I know they look bad but I just know the carpet is clean!!
 

[Jim_77]

Doesn't look worn out but impossible to be sure from the photos.  wicking?

[Seymour Sunshine]

I wonder if my rotowash would do it? I'm about 40 miles from you. You're very welcome to borrow it and give it a go, if you'd like.

Have a look on Youtube and see what the rotowash can do and then decide.

Mine is the R3B 30cm wide model like this one:



It works like this:

[Tony Stewart]

Hi Jim
I think the consenus seems to be wicking. I believe I should be bonnetting this sort of carpet with VLM pre spray. That way the dirt does not wick back? The machine water discharge was blacker than the ace of spades and because they have never had it cleaned since it was new then it was bound to be filthy. Stupid thing is that I have a rotary and I suppose I could have saved myself a lot of heartache, time, and disappointment if I had looked at this route. Beacuse it was a converted house it was my first forage into semi commercial, it was the carpet that fooled me perhaps.
Seymour
That is a lovely offer and really kind. I used the TM4 which is similar to the rotowash as it has contra rotating brushes but no tank. I used it to agitate the prespray as it is much better than a sebo duo. Perhaps your machine would have prevented wicking too.

[Jim_77]

Tony your TM4 will have been a great tool in the cleaning process.  Maybe on a similar job in the future, try adding an oxidiser to your pre-spray.  Presuming you let it dwell at least 10-15 mins no change needed there.  Hottest rinse possible will help you out, with a good quality extraction product in the tank (I use SPM actually, it's brilliant as a rinse).

Extraction equipment can make a difference - decent pump output and high performance vac system will definitely pay dividends.

[Paul Moss]

Extraction equipment can make a difference - decent pump output and high performance vac system will definitely pay dividends.

We had to explain this same fact to Jim on a pub job. Then he went out and bought a truck

[Paul Moss]

Mind you Billy tells me though that he still has doughts about his blower