[MarkSutcliffe]

Hello,

Thought i'd post on this forum as i won't get a biased answer...

I'm moving towards doing just encap and low moisture cleaning. I won't go through the in's and out's however I will hopefully have a small spotter for jobs that are beyond encap, like a Galaxy or Truvox.

Seen a fair few chems and wondering what everyone's opinions are on them.

Hydramaster, - zipdri and release with oxi break for the worst ones - currently have 2L and 3L of these.  I also have hydrafree which is a bio friendly (Theyre all bio friendly tbh),  Have used them and had good results. Quite happy to carry on using them, but as always I want to "up" my game. I'm also aware that on food and proteins they may not be the best..

Texatherm - I have the full set up, it seems the ultimate way to deal with encapping, the videos look great, but how does it perform on food and residential etc.

Solutions - SPM - can be used for bonnet cleaning, very economical and British made, eco again, anyone have any experience, is it good on protein based (in place of an enzyme cleaner), I've had good reviews on 202 and fusion clean which seem to be the equivalent of zipdri and release. I also know that M power can be used the same way and can be used on upholstery.. Which is a bonus

Dynmall. People seem to love it and seems the go to, can be used on upholstery too..

Omegaenzyme - only one that uses enzymes, the only review i could find wasn't great..

I'm leaning towards the texatherm,

I know my spotting and jobs will be limited but it's down to circumstances.

Thanks

[Mike Halliday]

Given the choice I would go toward the bonnet cleaning route rather than encap I think it’s more proven method of cleaning and more easily explained to customers.

I don’t there is a lot of difference in the performance of most chemicals it’s more to do which preparation and how you use them,

[edward coller]

I was slow to encap, I have a truckmount, but in last 2 yrs have increased my use. Hydramaster encap good, great smell too, Revive it  rocket was excellent for t/coffee and generally great, am finding Dynamal hard to beat, especially in office cleaning both CGD and upholstery... Great product and earner. PS Have texatherm  system too , i use occasionally on low soil domestic where T/M reach difficult and I dont want to lug my porty! best simon

[MarkSutcliffe]

Thanks for the replies,

Ordered the taxetherm chems,

going to order some rocket, main issue i reckon i will face is spotting, i know some spotters can be used with encap but not many, so will take me time to figure it all out..

Thanks

[Jonathan Evans]

I have tried many encaps. The only one that didn't make me cough was the Hydro 202.
I don't encap much as I am still not convinced about cleaning with it preferring HWE.
But if I was doing what I think you are eluding to I would use Encap and a pro 35 and market the residual protection and super fast drying times.
Only thing is would you go back the next day to do the post vac and also is it really safe on wool?

[MarkSutcliffe]

I have tried many encaps. The only one that didn't make me cough was the Hydro 202.
I don't encap much as I am still not convinced about cleaning with it preferring HWE.
But if I was doing what I think you are eluding to I would use Encap and a pro 35 and market the residual protection and super fast drying times.
Only thing is would you go back the next day to do the post vac and also is it really safe on wool?

Hello, thanks for the reply

I have encaps that are wool friendly, and woolsafe recognise some too (procaps by prochem), I have used zipdri on wool and it's worked out well, and as long as i test, i cannot see an issue.  As for vaccing, i'm advising customers to do that the next day, I have had one where that wasn't an option.

My main issues revolve around the lack of spotters for encap, however i have previously spotted and rinsed using water and terry towel to success and might have to get a teeny spotting machine.

Yes, residential is the market, going for fast drying, less resoiling and less intrusion. I can't compete with the 15 quid a room guys, and it appears to be working ok for me.

[Jonathan Evans]

That's great and sell it as a premium dry system.
I have heard a lot of people use it on upholstery to.
I am finding my hearing suffering due to the noise levels. Might be something for me to consider?

[Mike Halliday]

That's great and sell it as a premium dry system.
I have heard a lot of people use it on upholstery to.
I am finding my hearing suffering due to the noise levels. Might be something for me to consider?

But if we are honest it’s the exact opposite of a premium service, just calling it ‘premium’ doesn’t make it so.

I’m going on holiday tomorrow when I get back i’m Returning to carpet cleaning for the winter season. I plan on offering a premium service and i’ve Not even considered encap cleaning. Encap has 1 benefit and that is fast drying.

This is not a dig at people who use this system but let’s not mistake what’s good for us with what’s good for the customer.

[JandS]

Do same customer same 2 rooms about every 9 months......asked her if I could do them encap and sold her on the fast drying and less to pay plus I wanted to see how they did on domestic.
The next time she rang to book she wanted them HWE again...she said they didn't stay clean very long compared to when I HWE them.
Great on commercial though...doing a full church tomorrow half with Dynamall and half with Hydro 202.....the meeting hall part with Dynamall and the main church with the Hydro see which is best.

[Robin Ray]

Isn't encapping just another tool?

You don't see carpenters that just use hammers. Why limit yourself to only one tool?

With a full range of tools you can offer a full range of services, on a full range of surfaces to a full range of customers and earn money to the fullest potential.

I encap a meeting hall carpet every year and encapping with Dynamall is the perfect tool for the job. HWE would take a lifetime and wouldn't give a better visual result.  On the other hand I clean an Indian restaurant carpet every 3-4 months and powerburst extracted with ultra hot water is the best tool for the job. Quite frankly I don't see how encapping, bonneting or anything other than HWE could deal with the big solid black greasy lumps.

If all you are cleaning is call centers then encapping would be the way to go , but is business really like that?

[MarkSutcliffe]

Isn't encapping just another tool?

You don't see carpenters that just use hammers. Why limit yourself to only one tool?

With a full range of tools you can offer a full range of services, on a full range of surfaces to a full range of customers and earn money to the fullest potential.

I encap a meeting hall carpet every year and encapping with Dynamall is the perfect tool for the job. HWE would take a lifetime and wouldn't give a better visual result.  On the other hand I clean an Indian restaurant carpet every 3-4 months and powerburst extracted with ultra hot water is the best tool for the job. Quite frankly I don't see how encapping, bonneting or anything other than HWE could deal with the big solid black greasy lumps.

If all you are cleaning is call centers then encapping would be the way to go , but is business really like that?

I dare say some of them the encap system won't work, however that is a risk that I'm going to have to take. Carpet cleaning is roughly 25% of my income, with leather cleaning/repair making up 15% and upholstery 10%. I'm a very small business with limited growth opportunities due to external factors. I also don't have the ability to store or transport a decent extraction machine alongside encap, and leather kit..

It's a risk i'm going to have to take. I may lose some that i can't touch, however i have a few local people who i can recommend and they have already passed people my way for the jobs they can't do.

FWIW, houses are all tiny round here, most don't have the option of cordoning off a room for 5/6 hours to dry, so it's a huge selling point.

Hopefully if things do pick up i can invest in a van again, however atm the insurance and tax and finance extra for a van negates the money it would take

[Mike Halliday]

To me encap is not a method to use on budget customers, you can’t use on benefit ridden,  council estates  who have 3-4 kids & disgusting carpets, it just won’t give an acceptable result against such a challenge.

It’s used on wealthy and retired people who have decent carpets and just want a freshen up and are willing to pay top price.

25% +10%+15% =45%. Where does the other 55% of your income come from? Or am I reading your figures wrong

[MarkSutcliffe]

To me encap is not a method to use on budget customers, you can’t use on benefit ridden,  council estates  who have 3-4 kids & disgusting carpets, it just won’t give an acceptable result against such a challenge.

It’s used on wealthy and retired people who have decent carpets and just want a freshen up and are willing to pay top price.

25% +10%+15% =45%. Where does the other 55% of your income come from? Or am I reading your figures wrong

5% is a different revenue stream non cleaning related

50% is something else altogether, I teach computer science in a secondary school 2.5 days a week.

You are right about the dirty orrid carpets, i'm trying to move away from those having seen one too many things I wish i hadn't.

Meanwhile while i'm saving on a van etc, i can save up for a truck mount if the plan doesn't work. Sometimes have to try something, it might not work but least i've tried it.

[John Kelly]

Hydrogen Peroxide boosted encaps can be used as spotter at 1-10 dilution and are quite effective. If using low moisture systems I always recommend at least have a small spotting machine especially on commercials. If a full cup of coffee has been spilt on an office carpet the full depth of the carpet will be contaminated. Bonneting will clean the surface area and appear clean but subsequent footfall can compress the fibres back into the remaining coffee bringing it back to the surface. Extracting bad stains like this first is really worthwhile doing.

[MarkSutcliffe]

Hydrogen Peroxide boosted encaps can be used as spotter at 1-10 dilution and are quite effective. If using low moisture systems I always recommend at least have a small spotting machine especially on commercials. If a full cup of coffee has been spilt on an office carpet the full depth of the carpet will be contaminated. Bonneting will clean the surface area and appear clean but subsequent footfall can compress the fibres back into the remaining coffee bringing it back to the surface. Extracting bad stains like this first is really worthwhile doing.

That's on the "to buy" list, little puzzi just in case.

or a craftex sabrina, something along those lines

[Mike Halliday]

Do you even need a small extractor, a wet vac will do the same job with a small pump up  sprayer, it’s what I use at home.

[MarkSutcliffe]

Do you even need a small extractor, a wet vac will do the same job with a small pump up  sprayer, it’s what I use at home.

I thought that, but something tells me it might not go down well with customers, it's not a bad idea though. Quite a few of the num.atic ctd's on eBay. Know a carpet cleaner who makes a fair bit just using those and decent chems

[Marcushiggins]

I have doubts about encap as a soil removal method. I've achieved great visual results with it for sure but when I have performed a post-vac I have never found these magic crystals the product manufacturers talk about. Only ever an empty BS36 bag! Part of me suspects it's mostly just soluble soil re-distribution  (that creates a more even appearance) really.

[John Kelly]

Encap isn't a soil removal process. On commercial carpets expecially they are never vacuumed. The cleaners come in with Henry type vacs and pick up what they can see around the desks. The bulk of the carpet never gets touched. Consequently the carpet fills with very fine dust and dirt. Mixing water to this is what sometimes leads to wickback issues as its impossible to remove all the dirty water even with the most powerful truckmount. This was demoed at TACCA  a few years ago when the social club cord carpet was encapped numerous times, then extracted with Woodbridges electric truckmount, then extracted using Simon Gerrards Titan. After all this Jamie pearson went over the carpet with a dry cotton bonnet and it ended up black.
Encapping gives a visual clean to the surface of the carpet and as it's a Polymer as it dries it locks in any remaining dirt inertly which can't then be reconstituted with moisture. Post vacuuming to remove crystals is a myth which has persisted.

[MarkSutcliffe]

Encap isn't a soil removal process. On commercial carpets expecially they are never vacuumed. The cleaners come in with Henry type vacs and pick up what they can see around the desks. The bulk of the carpet never gets touched. Consequently the carpet fills with very fine dust and dirt. Mixing water to this is what sometimes leads to wickback issues as its impossible to remove all the dirty water even with the most powerful truckmount. This was demoed at TACCA  a few years ago when the social club cord carpet was encapped numerous times, then extracted with Woodbridges electric truckmount, then extracted using Simon Gerrards Titan. After all this Jamie pearson went over the carpet with a dry cotton bonnet and it ended up black.
Encapping gives a visual clean to the surface of the carpet and as it's a Polymer as it dries it locks in any remaining dirt inertly which can't then be reconstituted with moisture. Post vacuuming to remove crystals is a myth which has persisted.

so these chemical companies are telling porkies?