[markpowell]

I have had more calls from people who have had a spillage of tea, coffee, juice, wine or beer in the last two or three months, who have then run off to the supermarket and bought one of these products off the shelf and guess what?
Yes your right they aint worked, just made the stain even harder to deal with ir set it in permanent!
My question is how dom these companys get away with it, surely they are advertising a product that doesnt do what it says on the tin.
Does anyone else come across customers who have had the same bad experiences with these products?
Do you think its time trading standards stepped in on the sale of these products?
Mark

[*paul_moss]

Mark there is always a disclaimer on the packet somewhere that says test in an area first and let dry to see if it effects the carpet dye.

But who tests first to that level,I have not met a customer that does. Thats because they make it look so easy and user friendly on the TV :

[Straker Cleaning]

"Vanish, 1001 and so on" ............. are you allowed to use such foul language on here  :

Love the look on custys faces when you explain what they have done ............. almost as much as when i show them what they can do with MY spotter bottles ................. not nicknamed "Jesus in a bottle" for nothing 

[The Great One]

Hey!

''jesus in a Bottle'' is my saying

Knew I should of copywrited it! :

Regards

Martin

[Straker Cleaning]

Seems a lot of people are credited with forming that phrase  :

Maybe we should labels the others as "Satan's little helper"

[Ken Wainwright]

9 times out of 10, it isn't the product that's at fault, it's the user Have you ever heard the saying that a bad workmen always blames his tools?

I often demonstrate spot removal techniques at consumer events etc. using, you guessed it, 1001 Troubleshooter on a beige wool blend twist. I've never, ever had a problem. I've been asked to do the same tomorrow at a BICSc event and I will again be using 1001.  The reason I use a retail product is to show that it's the technique that's important rather than the product. I don't use any equipment outside anything you'd expect to find in the typical kithen.

Woolsafe have carried out tests on many of these so called "bleaching retail products" and concluded in most cases that the problem was technique, not product. There have been doubts cast with at least one product though, and although the formulae were within the Woolsafe guidelines, further investigations were taking place. In tests, and my own experiences, the products appear to be effective. However, the examples Mark speaks of can prove, certainly when dry and aged a little, to be problematic for many professional carpet cleaners. The householder stands little chance.

Safe and happy spotting
Ken

[*paul_moss]

Ken thats just a kop out, and one the supliers use. The product is very good, but..... if used incorrectly which most ( 70% ) do it causes a peoblem. There is only one common denominator and that is that the customer thinks because of TV adverts or advertising in general you put loads in and loads comes out . when in real terms it just gives them problems.

[Ken Wainwright]

Perhaps it could be viewed as a "cop-out" Paul, but the fact remains that most of these products, if used correctly, will perform somewhere between adequately and well. OK, the secret isn't so much the product as the technique.

Today at the BICSc event I mentioned earlier, an instructor from a college demonstrated with this type of product and it performed 100% on a wool carpet.

So is it the product that causes damage? I don't think so. Most of the time the end user does not absorb the spillage, applies too much product, rubs it in too agressively and causes pile damage. The stain often still remains. Then they fail to remove the residues.

Yes, it is possible for the spotting solution to damage the colour, fibre or yarn, but that's why the instructions state that tests in inconspicuous areas should be completed first. Often, they're not.

Then we also have the instances when "Super-Suds" carpet spotter is expected to perform miracles like on oil and grease, tea and coffee etc. etc. Not even the professional products are that versatile.

Advertisers have to be so precise these days with anything they claim, and the consumer, me included, interpret the claim in a way that wasn't stated. An example is a woman buys a beauty product because she believes it will remove her wrinkles. It doesn't. The advert says that it will ".....reduce the appearance of wrinkles".  Can you see where I'm coming from?

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[*paul_moss]

Sorry Ken  I did not refere to "kop out" to you per say, I meant the manufactures and mainly there marketing departments as they make it look and seem so easy and quick. Cilit bang is another.
These guys on advertising/marketing or labeling do not go into any reasonable detail with regards to dwell time,agitation and extraction and the customer thinks she can pile it in.

Some body coming to a BICS such as an instructor will of course demostrate its use correctly.