[Jor dan]

alright  guys,

I had a posh boutique phone me, saying that they have an expensive pure wool carpet throughout the shop floor, and would prefer bonetting over HWE.

Never offered bonneting before in my first year of being up and running, so would like advice on what pads and chems i'm best to use?

I have a 17" rotary, which type pad would be best, and how many would I need for 80 square meters?

Which Product should I use? One's I have at the moment are:

Alltec traffic lane degreaser,
Alltec Citrus,
Altec traffic lane cleaner,
Prochem powerburst
SPM

On the carpet are some shoe polish stains, and general dirt.

Thanks.

[Adam Eastman]

Please don't take what I say as gospel,  as I have only ever cleaned one carpet before, having just completed my training........

However from what you have listed, I would have thought the best out of those five chemicals listed would be the  Altec traffic lane cleaner or SPM, as the other look quite high on the ph scale to me for cleaning wool carpets. If it were me, I have cleansmarts wool x on the van, which would be my product of choice along with some zebra pads.

Did the client mention pile construction?  That would be one question I would be asking, as I would think there is potential for pilling if it is loop pile and a wool carpet.

[Jor dan]

Please don't take what I say as gospel,  as I have only ever cleaned one carpet before, having just completed my training........

However from what you have listed, I would have thought the best out of those five chemicals listed would be the  Altec traffic lane cleaner or SPM, as the other look quite high on the ph scale to me for cleaning wool carpets. If it were me, I have cleansmarts wool x on the van, which would be my product of choice along with some zebra pads.

Did the client mention pile construction?  That would be one question I would be asking, as I would think there is potential for pilling if it is loop pile and a wool carpet.

hey,

not found out pile of carpet yet, I am going to it inspect on Monday before carrying out the work later in the week.

SPM was my first choice too.  There seems to be so many different kind of pads out there however!

[Mike Halliday]

Only one of them chemicals is suitable.

But with next day delivery why not just ask what to use then buy that.

Although what makes them experts in carpet cleaning? to tell you what to use, I would'nt bonnet clean that carpet.

As for what bonnet to use........Use a carpet cleaning bonnet they all do they job

[Tony Stewart]

Jordan................its a shop carpet that had had more footfall over it than a residential carpet, why non earth would you want to bonnet it. All you will do is spread the dirt more evenly. How will you deal with the shoe polish? If you put something down for the shoe polish then you will need to take it out of the carpet via HWE.
It may be that the client has had it bonnetted before and that is why they want it doing again, but being polite at best its a maintenance clean, and it usually gives a poor result as against bonnetting, despite what others say. So bonnet it with SPM and wonder if it will be good enough to get paid. OR clean it at the end of the day when they close with HWE and then they have a full day for it to dry before they reopen. Don't let the tail wag the dog..... especially if you are asking here on the forum, without being rude you never want to practice something that you have never done on a carpet with a customer..........unless you are a gung ho person then good luck. 
p.s. you need to vac it first!

[Jor dan]

Only one of them chemicals is suitable.

But with next day delivery why not just ask what to use then buy that.

Although what makes them experts in carpet cleaning? to tell you what to use, I would'nt bonnet clean that carpet.

As for what bonnet to use........Use a carpet cleaning bonnet they all do they job

ok, I shall just get a standard bonnet pad then for future jobs, I would rather do HWE to be honest, lets see how it goes monday.

what chemical would you recommend?

Tony, i always prevac, even when a customer is telling me not to because they did it before I had arrived!  and gung ho is a very good way of describing me, I shall give it a go, and let you know how I got on next week.

[Mike Halliday]

I'm keen on Chemspecs Odour Kill Plus.

I would offer a duel process, bonnet the lightly soiled areas and HWE the bad traffic lanes, then you could almost HWE the full lot but tell them they got what they asked for.....a bonnet clean   but ask them what's important a thorough  job that will leave the carpet clean or an inferior method that might not leave them unhappy.

If they insist on a bonnet clean then do it.......but tell them they pay the bill no matter  the quality of the clean

[John Kelly]

SPM is far too harsh for Wool carpets.

[Jor dan]

Went to see the carpet, it is a wool blend and looks quite expensive.

The manager said they own a few different boutiques and use the same carpet throughout, they said that every time they have had them HWE that its left the carpet a few shades darker than it was previously.

He said if I can guarantee it wont go a shade darker I can HWE, but I guess in this biz id be stupid to make any guarantee's, especially since he could perceive it as darker out of paranoria from previous times, not worth the risk.

So im going Going to bonnet it, got the job at £2sqm (75sqm) its not for a couple of weeks. its my first commercial job, and first boneting job, so have a bit of time to do a bit of homework.

would these pads be okay? http://www.amtechuk.co.uk/shop/17__White_Lightining_Floor_Pad-pid-290.html

someone said use them as cheaper, or should I use one of them mopping ones?  someone also suggested a zebra pad?

how many will I need for 75sqm?

[elliott cleaning]

Why is it that whenever I read a post from this guy 'Tony Stewart' it makes total sense - unlike many others on this forum.  Might be wise for many who haven't been in the business for any length of time or those who just do this for the sake of it to note his posts

[Adam Eastman]

Went to see the carpet, it is a wool blend and looks quite expensive.

The manager said they own a few different boutiques and use the same carpet throughout, they said that every time they have had them HWE that its left the carpet a few shades darker than it was previously.

He said if I can guarantee it wont go a shade darker I can HWE, but I guess in this biz id be stupid to make any guarantee's, especially since he could perceive it as darker out of paranoria from previous times, not worth the risk.

So im going Going to bonnet it, got the job at £2sqm (75sqm) its not for a couple of weeks. its my first commercial job, and first boneting job, so have a bit of time to do a bit of homework.

would these pads be okay? http://www.amtechuk.co.uk/shop/17__White_Lightining_Floor_Pad-pid-290.html

someone said use them as cheaper, or should I use one of them mopping ones?  someone also suggested a zebra pad?

how many will I need for 75sqm?

Those pads are for hard floors bud.

Give Restormate a call and speak to Lynn, they stock a few different pads and will be able to talk you through the options.

[Hilton]

What happened to Charly Pads can you still get them ?

[Paul Moss]

Agree with Tony, it's a shop, it's got high footfall and it will be trashed. HWE and put some driers on it.

[Paul Moss]

Hilton, I've a set of Charley pads if you want to buy them

[Hilton]

No thanks just wondered if they were still around....used to use them all time.

[dutchman]

Hi Jordan,

I would think twice about this job i I were you. The words "expensive wool carpet" and "did not like Hwe" would raise red flags to me. I have done 100's of these jobs and you would need a fair bit of exeperence to tackle them. The customer states that the previous carpets came up a few shades darker whne they were hw extraced.  Chances are that the carpet was not cleaned correctly last few times she has had it done. These shops get hammered from foot traffic and they can be seriously dirty coupled with the fact that they have put down an expensive (probably creme) carpet causes problems which only a lot of experence can solve. If not cleaned correctly with Hwe then they will look darker as the soil has been brought to the surface and not totally removed. If you then buff the damp carpet you will clean it better using the right pads so this would give the customer the impression that buffing is the way to go. If its totally dirty then you will not get it "clean" by buffing, improve it probably but clean, no. I would leave this one for a year down the line when you have done a fair few with buffing. If you have to go for it allow a long time for hoovering, hoover 3 times more than normal and try a changing room to start with. Bring air movers as well so you can see how it looks when the first bits are dry and go from there. Good luck but I would bump it for easier money.