[Jennifer w]

Hi there, I'm new to the forum, so a quick introduction. We run a small/med sized operation supplying services for commercial and domestic rentals. The two guys we have that carpet cleaned for us are both retiring, so am looking to replace them. Apart from being fairly physically able, what other qualities should I be looking for in employing people to do this?

Are there any obvious ones spring to mind?

Thanks in advance

Regards

Jen

[Ed Valentine]

A quick over-view:


Dependability; honesty; and common sense.

You can teach anyone with the above qualities if they are willing to learn and have the interest.

Believe it or not, those basic requirements above (IMHO) aren't that common.
 
Best;
Ed Valentine
cross-American.com

[Jennifer w]

Thanks for your reply Edd, I'm thinking the same really. I'm guessing after a week working with the guys leaving the business anyone should be able to clean the carpets we clean fairly competently . Although I'm sure ill be corrected if this is not the case!

I was just wondering if there were any special hidden qualities needed for the job?

Perhaps if anyone knows they could advise...

Regards

Jen

[bennymon]

We may as well all give up then if everything we have learned over many years can be taught to someone off the street in a week . I take it this is a wind up del

[Craigp]

They'll be pretty crap still after a week, think Dels right, wind up.

If they are hidden qualities I guess it doesn't matter if they have them or not.  lol

[Jennifer w]

Sorry I hope I havnt offended anyone, it's just that the carpets we clean arnt exactly precious. What I mean is setting up the machine, using it and packing away properly.

Surely this can be picked up in a week or am I missing something?

Regards

Jen

[jim mca]

Jennifer

Where are you based and have you considered subbing the carpets

[Richard Meads]

Hi Jennifer, look at it like this, anyone can hire a Rug Dr, or buy a Vax machine and clean their carpets. But letting agents don't generally allow tenants to clean their own carpets because of the poor results and maybe shrinkage.  Every one on here aims to be the very best, to get the best results, which you simply don't get with untrained operators and the above type machine (not saying you have a DIY grade machine like that)

So you are looking to employ two guys, is that solely to clean carpets or will they have other duties, because if they are only cleaning carpets for you, and they don't have time to get the experience in dealing with all manner of types of stains and marks different carpets, best practice etc you could send them on a NCCA or IICRC training course and maybe a specific spot and stain treatment course.

Remember also that to gain experience will take time and if you have valuable carpets or carpets that must be cleaned LM then it may be a costly learning curve.  In a week they will be able to set up and pack away, but are you looking for DIY or professional results?

[david@zap-clean]

Cleaning carpets IS fairly straightforward, though you do need to be thorough.

It's knowing how (best) to clean them that takes the knowledge, experience and skill.

[Jennifer w]

Hi guys, thanks very much for the above posts, very helpful. After the last couple of replies before I thought maybe sarcasm was high on the list of being a carpet cleaner!!

Anyway, we are based in east anglia but work mainly in the London/herts area for big office block refurbs, housing associations, letting agents and block managers.

The need for me asking was Weve had the same two guys doing it on a self employed basis for nearly 11 years but they are both going at the same time. There is one van mounted system, and a padding system which I'm sure is a textatherm.

It is a small segment of the business, but something we are going to have to keep going at the moment.....although if it became a real hassle we could give to another company.

I'm thinking of looking for ex forces type people/person, so turning up on time and looking presentable SHOULD be as standard,.....the rest I thought could be taught in a week, however I may look into one of the courses. Initially I dismissed these as I still have a vivid memory of attending one in a place called Alltec in the early 2000,s, which seemed to be all about marketing, with technical knowledge as an afterthought . In fact we tried to purchase machines from them, but were ignored really , which was a surprise..

Thanks for your help again guys, if anyone has anything else to add I'd be grateful.

Regards

Jen

[Richard Meads]

Alltec are under new management since you used them, they were well known for their marketing course that helped a lot of carpet cleaners. They are closest for my truckmount servicing, and, I've attended the courses there, run by the IICRC. They will also provide training but more specifically for using one of their machines, like most machine manufacturers/importers, NCCA and IICRC training is not specific to any manufacturer and more in depth.

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

One of my operators was trained in well under a week and still going strong 18 months later and does a great job with out any problems and works on his own mostly, he works mainly on domestics. I have another operator who works on commercials and even though he is extremely intelligent he can be a bit too clever and goes off on a tangent sometimes and try's things out of the box that don't work in my eyes so I always go on jobs with him but I do leave him to it in the same building and us two can get through a massive amount of lm cleaning in a day. So every person is different and some will need more on going training than others. If you are not very experienced in carpet cleaning or don't have time to train them properly send them on a course and if they are doing upholstery cleaning send them on a upholstery cleaning course even if you train them on that aspect. Make sure you can pay them as much is viable.

Forget sub-contracting which has been mentioned. It is more hassle than it's worth for the small cut you get and from my experience of using sub-contracting workers is the quality of their work is truly appalling. You are better off training someone from scratch with your high standards. I have 2 fulltime carpet cleaning operators and also 3 more that I have trained up who work when there is any odd days spare, so if anyone leaves I have an operator to replace them.

[Jennifer w]

Thanks for the reply Richard, I,ll maybe give them another look.

I can't see how these ncca Certs and the like can count for a lot if they can be done in a couple of days. Also when my estimation of a weeks training was met with such derision. It's not like asking someone to learn to be an electrician or similar in a week is it??

I'm guessing there can't be too many different factors/variations to cleaning a carpet, unless I'm hugely mistaken?

Again, thanks for the replies

Regards

Jen

[Jennifer w]

I've just spoken to one of our retiring guys and he just told me for the last 8 years he's only ever used one chemical, which is a micro splitter ,he just has a higher mix in a sprayer for any stains, seems to work fine, so I guess we,ll be sticking with these methods,. So maybe the courses would be a bit fruitless...?

Regards

Jen

[*Hector*]

I've just spoken to one of our retiring guys and he just told me for the last 8 years he's only ever used one chemical, which is a micro splitter ,he just has a higher mix in a sprayer for any stains, seems to work fine, so I guess we,ll be sticking with these methods,. So maybe the courses would be a bit fruitless...?

Regards

Jen

Whilst it is ONLY carpet cleaning, your retiring guy is far from being a professional, and it is only by luck and not judgement that he has not made an expensive mistake. Seems to me you came on here looking for advice that matched what you were thinking, and now that you have received that you feel vindicated, and will now employ someone who will have the bare minimum of training and no experience and expect it to all work wonderfully.....

Well again if past experience is anything to go by, it will.... but beware... the first mistake could well be very very costly....

You may of course think that I am being sarcy... I'm not....

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

The thing that really really worries me is that you have just found out your operators methods after 8 years  

I found that unbelievable!!!  

So have you been carrying out commercial work without METHOD STATMENTS or CHEMICAL DATA SHEETS . You must of if you did not even know what they where using!

This all sounds like a recipe for disaster and you are lucky to get away with it so far.

[Richard Meads]

If you are still with us Jennifer!

Remember that you are on a professional forum, we aim to provide the best service possible for our customers and would not dream of using the same one product for 8 years!

A lot of guys on here have decades of knowledge and experience, and you are asking if it can be learnt in one week. The training is an ongoing thing, to remain IICRC certified for example, you increase your knowledge and skill  by continued training.

[Jennifer w]

My word, I'm sorry to rattle a few cages, I never expected people to be so touchy.

In terms of what I know about the cleaning of carpets, not much that's why I'm asking the experts. The carpet cleaning equates to 6% of our turnover, so it isn't really at the top of the list of priorities.
    In terms of method statements, we have a company that does these for us, and would include the whole job, ie ceiling grid replacement, air con, refrigeration, refurb, decoration, re carpet(OR CLEAN), so I'm sure there's no issues there in doing a mention of the chem.

And "hector", I never said it was ONLY carpet cleaning.......that was you.

Regards

Jen

[Jennifer w]

Also Richard, I appreciate this is a professionals forum. We meet the requirement needed by our clients which is simply "clean carpets". They couldn't give a monkeys how or why they are cleaned how they are..

I think we may be in two different sectors of the market. I just wanted some ideas on what sort of person enjoys/is good at/has the right attitude to clean carpets for a living.

Iv now formed a few of my own ideas...

Regards

Jen.

[Mike Halliday]

Jen what's your company name & website address ? We could give better advice if we had basic information about who you are..... a quick read of your website might help us.