[dustee]

Dry sponges or encap for domestic and also commercial , what is / would be the most effective

[Simon Gerrard]

The most effective would be the best system for the circumstances, on domestics you need a good twin vac extractor as you won't touch half the carpets you'll encounter with the others, especially Dry Compound.

Simon

[*Hector*]

I only ever used sponges once to see if they worked.... I was not impressed. in fact I think I still have the tub with the second pack in it unopened...

Possibly on sisal but even then, don't expect much of a good result.

[Dave_Lee]

Ive been getting a few jobs recently from customers that have previously used a dry compound guy. Advertising 'dry cleaning', except that he pre sprays trafic lanes first. That's a bit naughty, selling it as dry cleaning then explaining that he'll have to  wet some of of the area. in other words 'Wet Cleaning'.
Dave.

[COLIN BRIGHT]

is that the ZERO DRYING TIME guy dave?

[Simon Gerrard]

is that the ZERO DRYING TIME guy dave?

Yes, he gives jobs to me too - nice guy that Zero fella😃

[dustee]

Ok so that rules out sponges  so is encap suitable  ?

[COLIN BRIGHT]

yes Simon, since this guy has been in town demand for a "proper" clean has gone up a lot, hope he keeps going cause its great for business

[john martin]

I think u are suppose to prespray in many cases , as in host has its own range of presprays which are mostly just detergent when i look it up .
I use host powder ( occasionally ) i prespray or mist  with citrus prespray when appropriate , the host powder smells good anyway , often customers comment on that .
It can be messy in my limited experience , the stuff gets everywhere , on your gear etc . 

[Simon Gerrard]

Ok so that rules out sponges  so is encap suitable  ?

Encap is suitable in certain commercial situations, but not suitable for domestics as you are leaving nasty residues in the carpet which could be harmful, or so I'm told by people who know more than I do about these things.

[Jonathan Evans]

Have never rated sponges, encap works well on commercial I did try it on my own carpet as a test.
Initial thought was wow this is great......3 months later I was getting worried as carpet didnt look great 8 months on and it needs cleaning properly with proper extraction.
Commercial it is a no brainer and imo domestic it is a no starter.

[first impressions]

Well i use encap 95% of the time and work 5 to 6 days aweek, plus work for 5 estate agents and they love it , dry in about a hour plus loads of repeat from my customer bank , so every body to there own ,   

[Simon Gerrard]

So do you wait in the job till the carpet dries and then post vac the residues out?

Simon

[first impressions]

no i ask the customer and explain ,they are more than happy with the results and dry in a hour so every body happy .

[Simon Gerrard]

But you haven't actually taken anything out of the carpet. Perhaps the domestic customer might vacuum the carpet, but the eot's won't and don't even know that they have to because they aren't there, so how have you cleaned the carpets?
From my perspective  I would not dream of encapping 95% of or any domestic carpets  because I believe that it is our job as professionals to get customers carpets as clean as possible  and encapping just doesn't fit the bill in that respect. No argument that if you encap a carpet it will look cleaner, but that is not the same it being clean, which is what the customer is paying for.

Can I ask why you choose encap for these jobs and not extraction cleaning?

Simon

[Dave_Lee]

The usual comments coming from customers that have used the Dry Compound system in the past is " I just didn't feel that it had been cleaned."
Many years ago when  a very large Franchise was 'Dry Foam' shampooing carpets, that required post vacuuming to supposedly remove the soil that had become trapped in crystals (sound familiar?) a couple of their operatives attended a carpet cleaning course that I was on. I wondered why they were there, as this course concentrated on HWE machinery. Their reply was that they were fed up of customers asking where the soil had gone and were trying to get out of the Franchise.
Dave.

[first impressions]

Well Mr Gerrard that is a very bold satement , the system, vac, spray,  tm4,  vac again , bonnet, there is loads of rubbish comming out from the bottom of the  pile , then again i could use a sebo like a lot of carpet cleaners and leave most of the dirt in the bottom of the carpet, come on Hector help me out here , has i said each carpet cleaner to  his system , going for a pint now love you all even the tm lads.

[Simon Gerrard]

the system, vac, spray,  tm4,  vac again , bonnet

So you're vaccing damp carpet?
And surely you are missing out the most important bit, post vaccing.
I'm not having a go at you, if you think that is carpet cleaning acceptable in 95% of cases then so be it.

Simon

[dustee]

First Impressions do you have an email addy / phone number  so as to pick your brains 

                                           jim

[Robin Ray]

After trying all the different methods available it is clear that there is no simple cheap option. Hot water extraction is the most effective method in 90% of cases. The other methods are available to solve problems. A good carpet cleaner will try to have them all at hand if the need arises.

Relying on one method is like being a carpenter who only uses a saw and no other tools.