[david@zap-clean]

I have a question for the experienced truck-mount brigade:

What is your standard cleaning procedure for commercial carpet tiles?  I've picked up some info over the past couple of years and I'm unsure if it's correct.  I've 'heard' you don't pre-vac.  I assume you may also not agitate (tiles)... So is it pre-spray and HWE only?

I'm using an Airflex Storm, and have experimented recently with its settings, heat and the pre-vac/agitate stages.  
I'd also be interested to know if you think I could skip the vac and/or agitate stage and still get a good result (on commercial flooring)?  A recent test on a filthy commercial job suggested dropping the agitation stage made no difference to the end result.

[William Sharpe]

Hi David it is always best to give a pre-vac but in saying that all the commercial's I do have a cleaning company doing day to day cleaning so carpets are generally free of debris/dust. I find Formula 90 the best at 2 scoops to a 14lt bucket, good stir whilst filling the bucket. I prespray about 2 sqm direct from the extractor onto the tiles and extract immediately. Some times it does require agitation under the desks where chair wheels and foot ware can make the area blackened. We always have good results and happy clients.
Whach out for low amperage sockets usually by desks as these are designed for computers and are 5 amp not 13 amp. Always use a circuit breaker to plug into. When extracting do at least 3 passes and overlap continuously to avoid streaking afterwards when carpets are dry.

Reg

[david@zap-clean]

Thanks for that Reg... Too late, I accidentally blew the trip out of a 'low amp / IT equipment only' socket on Sunday :-)

From the sales blurb, my Storm is supposed to be almost as powerful as a TM (not looking for a debate about that)... So I'm interested in testing the TM processes using the Storm.

I've given up quoting per sq ft on commercials now... I'm trailing a 'day rate', but I haven't got my eye in yet and seem to be under quoting far to easily... that's why I'm looking to cut down the time it takes to do these jobs.

Formula 90... I'll give it a try.  I've been using up a small supply of Shockwave, which seems okay.

Cheers,

[gwrightson]

Forget the h/w/e on low /p   commercial and go for Encap , much faster ,very little if any wick back on spills etc. then go in at a much lower price...............and you will still make more £££££,s per hour .

providing the carpets arn,t absolute mingers mind!!!  having said that I clean 2 restaurants on a regular basis and they can be mingers, but they insist on Encap.

geoff

[JandS]

Encap's the way David it's quicker and is usually dry within the hour.
Most commercials, when your finished, shut up shop including all windows and doors which could lead to condensation problems the next day when they open up.

[Phil @ Extreme Clean]

I agree encap all the way unless as stated really bad were hwe would be beneficial.

I pre-vac nearly every job and agitate but i am gonna try out F90 as a rinse i have heard good things about it and if not really bad just setup and extract with F90 in tank or feed.

[Tony Stewart]

Hi David
I use a truck-mount as you know.
I use a hydro-force to put down a hot prespray and use a red pad or hard bristled brush on the really bad bits. Then extract at 200 psi.

I don't tend to pre-vac as it all gets sucked in to the waste tank anyway.

I then if the job allows in the price - a bonnet off with the rotary.

I know I am about to be shouted down but this gets the carpets really clean. I have encapped offices where I have struggled to get my truck-mount to do the job but in my humble opinion encapping is  still only maintenance cleaning.
I know that the price is attractive to go in for a quote but there are still people out there who want a squeaky clean job - for instance.
After the encap has dried then the soil is extracted with a vacuum cleaning process. 90% of cleaners be they contract, or in house, use a Henry. It just relies on a bit of suction to remove debris and most of the time it's full anyway so the suction is weak. The carpet tiles needs a decent vacuum cleaner with rotating bristles to remove the dirt. So you encap and then the cleaners come along and never really remove the dirt that is meant to be crystallised. Then some bright spark wants to clean domestic lounges to make even more money. Unbelievable.
I miss out on lots of quotes but still get jobs where the client says the carpet cleaners were in and out really quickly and it didn't look that much different. I have even purchased a portable last week to use when I cannot get access with a truck-mount.
Lastly even with all of that I struggled to get a walkway coming up clean on one job......it was still a little black. Then you need an RX 20.
Most commercials have air conditioning which they are happy to leave on to remove any moist air.

You did ask!

[John Kelly]

Allways a good idea to post bonnet with dry bonnets. Helps prevent wickback. Even the most powerful truckmount leaves dirty water in the carpet.

[Carpet Dawg]

Will a dry bonnet not knacker the carpet John?

Yes, Encap with a slow speed rotery is the way forward. Worth investing in a Cimex if you start getting into it more often.

I did three areas before xmas. One room was really really badly coffee stained. I HWE'd the lot, but I got a call back on the 8th of Jan to tell me they had all wicked back!

I went back with a victor spriter, a zebra pad and some dynmall. Everything came up brand new! Carpet was pretty much dry before I left so I know the final results. I would estimate that if I had done the whole job with encap I'd of been on over £150 an hour for that particular job.

[John Kelly]

Standard carpet bonnet wont damage carpet it will be damp pretty quick. Just a quick wizzover to take the moisture off the surface the heat generated helps dry the carpet.

[Hilton]

Plenty of vacuum and LM clean job done 

When HWE had to be used we always used to bonnet off to speed the drying, very easy very quick and very effective.

[david@zap-clean]

I've used encap with my 17'' victor rotary for 2 years, which works fine, normally.
But filthy neglected commercial tiles seem to need HWE, and maybe twice! 

Convincing a customer that they need to pay double for restoration cleaning isn't so easy, so I'm looking at best practice for full restoration cleaning with a truckmount (or in my case a high powered portable)...

Recently I've used:
Vac / prespray (high pH) / [skip agitation] / HWE / spot clean (bluetak etc).
It still takes ages, and I was wondering if skipping the vac stage would still work?

One reason I tried skipping the agitation stage was simply that the room was so hot the pre-spray dried out in minutes, so I was agitating dry tiles!

[Carpet Dawg]

Put the pre-spray down heavy. Multiple passes of power burst etc. Put down fans that will sort any drying issues.

If your hwe the tiles then from my personal experience vacing is not always necessary. If there's been building work or the carpets look neglected then vac them.

Have you tried scrubbing your encap with a brush on your Victor? Longer dwell before scrubbing?

[stuart_clark]

I use a cimex and a chemstractor on comercial carpets, did a nursing home yesterday  with odourkill plus diluted at 20 to 1 and buff pad, took me about three hours at £125 per hour



Stuart

[Simon Gerrard]

There are commercial jobs that simply aren't going to be suitable for an LM process because of the type of carpet and the soil conditions. Once they have been deep cleaned then they may come into that range thereafter. Commercial carpet is not necassarily all low profile either and even if it is that doesn't mean it will respond best to LM.
If HWSE is the way to go then you could pre-vac if there is enough pile depth to allow the removal of dry soil.
Then prespray with Powerburst or Shockwave and if you deem it necassary scrub it in with a rotary then hwse. Padding over the traffic lanes, either with a dry pad or Encap will finish it off.
I think it is our job to provide the customer with the best possible and result, regardless of what it takes to achieve that.

Simon