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Marius Alexandru

  • Posts: 108
Steam
« on: September 21, 2018, 08:19:35 pm »
Hi All,

I want to speed up my cleaning time (if possible). I pre-vac, move furniture, pre-spray solution chemicals, tm3 and extract with jaguar cub.  3 bedrooms, living room and stairs would take me roughly 3h.

Would buying a steam mate or a v2 speed up the cleaning times? I find that I have to do lots of stain removal with other products like nitro.

Upgrading to a TM is not possible

I don't understand how the pre-spray and extract guys get any results, as sometimes I'm not happy with how a carpet looks and I would clean it again. (I do focus on doing a good job so that may be just me)

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Steam
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2018, 09:17:54 pm »
Using heat won’t massively increase your speed or increase the quality of your clean it will give a slight improvement but  it’s when added to higher flow, recovery and quality detergents it will make significant improvement.  it’s like small pieces of a jigsaw each playing a vital part.
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Simon Gerrard

  • Posts: 4405
Re: Steam
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2018, 09:22:04 pm »
If you’re using a top quality prespray you shouldn’t need the agitation with the tm3. Also, prespray, place sticky tabs under the furniture then pull the furniture out and prespray behind them then extract replacing the furniture into there original position. It’s all about efficiency on the way to doing a great job.
How much are you earning in the three hours?

Jonathan Evans

  • Posts: 264
Re: Steam
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2018, 08:03:57 am »
Steam will not speed up your system, as Simon put it above it is about being more efficient.
Little things like carrying things back to the van if not needed whilst you get something else.
Having a machine that has a bigger tank or auto fill and auto dump would also help.
It is also about using appropriate chems with the machine you have.
The people who provide Nitro also produce other good solutions my preferred one being HD.
Also often a carpet will not look great until it is fully dry plus lots of other issues that might not be cleaning related but more to do with wear and general damage.
Also I think Nitro is a detergent based pre spray? You may have a better result in using labelled spotters ie tea and coffee stain remover.
The other thing is I never price to be quick I always price to do a good job.
I think the biggest loss of time is the bucket running customers will judge the quality of your work for you.

john martin

  • Posts: 2699
Re: Steam
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2018, 11:03:51 pm »
Hi All,

I want to speed up my cleaning time (if possible). I pre-vac, move furniture, pre-spray solution chemicals, tm3 and extract with jaguar cub.  3 bedrooms, living room and stairs would take me roughly 3h.

Would buying a steam mate or a v2 speed up the cleaning times? I find that I have to do lots of stain removal with other products like nitro.

Upgrading to a TM is not possible

I don't understand how the pre-spray and extract guys get any results, as sometimes I'm not happy with how a carpet looks and I would clean it again. (I do focus on doing a good job so that may be just me)

I would say there is nothing wrong with three hours for all that           ...     if you charge enough  !

If you are charging low and need volume then u could improve speed . A lot depends on the job itself though as there are lots of variables .
I think your machine is your weakest point at the moment  , if you had a full size machine liike a storm or enforcer for eg  , you could leave the machine in one position in a regular size house and reach around to every room with the hose , and with greater vacuum you could increase you wanding speed with confidance that your not leaving the carpet too wet .
An inline heater like the v2 u mentioned will also help to speed up you wanding in many situations as you wont have to go over dirtier areas as many times as id say you are currently .  Also stubborn spots are more likely to shift on the first pass with blast of very hot water onto it .
Other speed suggestions  ... 
cut out most of the dry vacuuming ... unless its a bad case , chances are the lady of the house has the dyson out every day anyway , unless your doing low moisture cleaning ....vacuuming is mostly a waste of time  imo .... you are using an extractor to clean anyway .
Look at the room you are cleaning as a whole ... chances are much of it needs little cleaning , just focus on the traffic areas and give the cleaner areas an quick single pass .
Use the likes of nitro on almost everything  ... the reason you are using it as a spotter is cause it will work better that HD or what ever , lay down the nitro thick and wet the carpet as much as u can  get away with with out overwetting that might get to the backing .
The tm3 is a good machine  .. but on bigger areas aggitating with a 175 ( or preferably a 200+ ) rotary is much faster and more aggressive if the carpet can take it  .... use red to blue scrub pads or a stiff poly brush depending on what the the carpet can take .

Explore , intank detergents  ...  not fashionable perhaps , but will increase your efficiency in some cases where a basic wanding after a prespray is all thats needed .
 The above suggestions are for an average house with dirty regular carpet , obviously you have to take more care on wool and fancier places .


Robin Ray

Re: Steam
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2018, 06:08:43 pm »
I agree with John that 3 hrs is not bad. I would probibly take longer than that unless its empty of course.

Some time ago I figured that it was impossible to earn more money by getting quicker and quicker as a long term thing. I have since changed the tactic to earning as much money as possible by providing the best possible service and results. Heat definitely helps to achieve that.

If you do choose to go for the V2 steammate it is a good choice and is the hottest inline heater i have had.

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Steam
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2018, 08:34:02 pm »
The best way to decrease your cleaning time is to get a helper, anything else will  just knock 10-15mins of your cleaning time.

Work it right and they will pay for themselves with the extra work they can bring in by putting 5-a-round cards and leaflets, they help you set up get started then go leaflet for half an hour, then return to help you pack away.

A helper (even if parttime) is the  best thing you can do to make more money
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

GarryN

  • Posts: 18
Re: Steam
« Reply #7 on: September 24, 2018, 10:17:21 pm »
That's fairly good going for a furnished flat and nitro may not be your best option as posted above, my go to tend to be their heavy duty micro, m-power and SPM, I generally only nitro utter mingers and I find with my small rotary it's does need a good agitation. I killed my storm so I am also using my cub at the moment and yes the storm is quicker but you won't speed your process up to the point of making significant income gains. I clean as an add-on so that would be an extra 150  for me with vac and travel going on the other bill so £50 plus per hour which is not terrible.

john martin

  • Posts: 2699
Re: Steam
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2018, 10:36:56 pm »
I was kinda suggesting the nitro cause he has some already ,  i would say its more efficient than the others you mentioned , but no harm using all nd seeing what your happy with . Indeed mixing a bit of spm into it would be good also , and a bit intank .
heres a tip  , Evans E.M.C plus is quite similar in composition to nitro  , iv been using on a lot of the dirtier places lately  ,  and from a shop wholesale place  its about £7 for 5 lts  !!  ... where as nitro is about 30 ? 
Evans makes some great products ...  but i do get alltec , chemspec stuff also

john martin

  • Posts: 2699
Re: Steam
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2018, 12:08:39 am »
That's fairly good going for a furnished flat and nitro may not be your best option as posted above, my go to tend to be their heavy duty micro, m-power and SPM, I generally only nitro utter mingers and I find with my small rotary it's does need a good agitation. I killed my storm so I am also using my cub at the moment and yes the storm is quicker but you won't speed your process up to the point of making significant income gains. I clean as an add-on so that would be an extra 150  for me with vac and travel going on the other bill so £50 plus per hour which is not terrible.
you killed you storm ?   you mean a part has gone ?  whats wrong with it , someones here might help fix it

GarryN

  • Posts: 18
Re: Steam
« Reply #10 on: September 25, 2018, 12:32:33 am »
Needs a new motor and probably pump as well.

john martin

  • Posts: 2699
Re: Steam
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2018, 12:39:29 am »
Ok , Hope you get it going  , good to have both a big machine and a small one .
there is good value here for the motors
https://www.worldwidecleaningsupport.com/ametek-lamb-122236-18-6-6-vac-motor-2-stage-tan-240v

and the pump can be serviced /rebuilt if you find someone local to help you or send it off to some of the repair guys .

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Steam
« Reply #12 on: October 05, 2018, 03:41:17 pm »
I did a job today that was a budget job, (in that they wanted   3 carpets cleaned but only had the money for 2)

I said I would clean all 3 rooms but it would be a a good deep clean but still a basic clean.

To me this meant no vacuum or prep just go in with the wand and blast the dirt from the carpet with Chemspec F90 and high heat.

I did the 3 rooms and earned the best hourly rate I had done all week, the job was quick and looked just as good as if I had done  my normal clean.

But I used steaming water from my propane  heater & high flow (3x no2 jets)

Here’s a video of how steaming it was...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1DMXMRRyE38

Ignore the bad wand technique this was a one handed job while I filmed the video, normally my wand strokes are a lot more precise
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Marius Alexandru

  • Posts: 108
Re: Steam
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2018, 02:55:03 pm »
That is some serious heat ! What machine is that ?

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11581
Re: Steam
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2018, 04:32:23 pm »
It’s a home made machine, the heat is provided by a propane high pressure water heater. I use my diesel drain jetter on tick over to pump the water ( with the uploader turned completely down so it produces about 350psi) the vacuum is from a  3 vac wet vacuum parked outside the door
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk