[thomas pl]

Hi! I am new in this business. Just want to ask what do you think about ashby's carpet cleaning products. Are these any good or is better to pay bit extra and get prochem? Was told that ashby's /supreme powder extra (blue one)/ is same as cristal green /ashby's half price compering to prochem/
Do you know any more replacement product just to save a bit of money?
Thanks!

[Fintan_Coll]

Don't go down the cheap road Thomas. Source the best quality products you can get. The amount of chemical needed for an average days work is small, a few pounds  worth at most, what are you saving by buying cheap, a few pennies. for poorly formulated products that can cost you more in the long run with damaged pumps etc.
I have never used Ashbys products so I cannot comment  but over the years I have used Extracta, Alltec. Prochem, Solutions etc always buying top grade and moving on if I found a better product.
Buy Quality Thomas, every time and the end result will always be better.

[thomas pl]

Fintan thanks for reply!
However you missing my point!
Question is:
How good ashbys products are! Not whats a cheapest way do clean carpets
I thought ashbys is cheaper than prochem cos ashbys is uk probuct and prochem you can buy in usa and most of european countries.
If thats only diference whay pay more....

[Peter Sweeney]

Thomas

Prochem have spent years developing their product range. Ashbys are not chemists but Prochem do employ them (albeit in the US) but I think that says it all. As Finton says, you will not save any money in the long run by using "copy chemicals". Stick to Prochem, Chemspec etc as these meagre savings are really not worth it.

Pete

[Mike Osbourne]

Although I'm not a big fan of Ashby's, I wouldn't say their chemicals are not quality products, far from it. They don't spend any money on marketing and 'new improved' formulas that's for sure and maybe that's the only reason they are cheaper, and for Ashby' that's saying something!

Where I do have a problem and why I stopped using them is the method they use to clean with them i.e. prespray, rinse with another detergent, then spray on an acid neutraliser.

There were two things I didn't like about this. First I didn't like shoving detergent through the pump and second I can't help feeling I left detergent in the carpet, neutral or not.

Some of there stuff is very high pH which is OK with me but some might not realise potential problems it may cause.

[Mike Halliday]

I believe Ashby use bio-production/stapro to make thier chemicals, so does Craftex and I bet extracta do as well. Stapro are a excellent company who make excellent chemical.

Prochem make excellent chemicals but I've got the same results using Craftex chemicals which are significantly cheaper.

 its easy to say it cost pennies to clean a carpet (which it does) to justify paying prochem prices but over a year I spend maybe £1200 on chemicals if I used prochem it would be £1700, so I would get a free holiday every year if I used Craftex.

BUT!!!! I actually use Chemspec high heat liquid which probably works out to be the most expensive detergent going because I chose quality and safety over price.

[Mike Halliday]

Mike have you changed your picture to that of kim peek to honour his memory?

[stuart_clark]

Mike, isnt chemspec high heat an acidic encap chemical ?

[Mike Halliday]

yep.

Acid side extraction detergent for all types of extraction cleaning machines

Liquid High Heat offers acid side cleaning with a unique polymer coating which encapulates the residue to avoid any chance of any of the crystalising residue reactivating. The acid side detergent has been developed for truck mount users particularly those using very high temperature water systems, but is an excellent safe and very effective product with the latest technology for all extraction machine users.
Liquid High Heat contains no dyes, is biodegradable and has very low VOC's and will not clog jets or filters and is safe to use on all fibres. No more need to acid rinse this detergent will neutralise your alkaline pre sprays whilst it cleans.

Truck mount users- mix 1 litre to 20 litres of water for a stock solution or directly feed through your siphon hose. Set your proportion metre to 320 to 1.

Portables - Mix 60ml to 20 litres of water ( 320 to 1)

Packaging: Single or case of 4 x 3.78Litres

pH @ use: 3-4

Fragrance: Mild polymer

Colour: Clear

Dilution: 320 to 1 ( 60 ml to 20 litres)

[Mike Osbourne]

Well spotted Mr Halliday, and yes, sort of.

I found his real life story fascinating, not the film though, although good entertainment.

[Neil Mc Anulty]

Can you use high heat liquid with a microsplitter prespray?

[Mike Halliday]

Neil, that's how I use it.

I use it because I carry 210lt of pre-mixed solution so I know its safe for everything & it does a good job

[stuart_clark]

So what  brand of MS do you use Mike, and is it the same that you use in your marketing video ? I was very immpressed with that by the way !

[Mike Halliday]

I use Solutions normal & HD. these with Nemesis are used 90% of the time ( the other 10% I use HM Fast break)

on the Video I say we rinse with clean fresh softened water, which at the time I did but I've been trying out high heat for the last 3months to keep the truckmount scale-free( which it has) and it is safe on suspect fibres

[stuart_clark]

so is softend water any better when rinsing out ? is it the type window cleaners use with there reach and wash ?

[Mike Halliday]

again I use softened water for the benefit of the truckmount and theoretically you can use less detergents.

the water around here is very hard and I've read that softened water will leave the cleaned carpet softer (although I can't say Ive noticed a big difference.

reach & wash cleaners  use water that has gone through a reverse osmosis filtering system, it is 'pure' water not softened

[Ken Wainwright]

Mike

What's Liquid High Heat like on the corrosion fron? Does it have built in inhibitors? Is there any indication after the short time you've been using it of corrosion on brass or aluminium components?

I gather from the wording of your post that it runs through both your pump and heat exchanger.

Safe and happy cleaning
The Ken

[Mike Halliday]

Ken don't know about aluminium as nothing I use is made from this.

in all the years I have been carpet cleaning using every chemical under the sun I have never had a brass fitting fail on me due to corrosion also I've never had a pump fail due to any chemical I've used, has anyone?

I've had filters clog with crap powered detergent (which never fully dissolve) or scale from my heat exchanger but never corrosion

[dave123]

Thomas at the end of the day it is what you think is the best product , in my opinion . Over the years i have use chemspec /prochem and ashbys and have stuck to ashby's because i like their products .Prochem stuff i find a bit wishy washy and being produced in the states there is stuff that they cannot put in their products also why they are more expensive i think .Also ashybys have a descaler in their products which prolongs the life of your pump .Try the fabric safe product and see what you think . That has a ph of 6. Chemspecs formula 90 is also very good and their enzall ,especially for restaurants .

[richie]

Prochem USA & Prochem Europe chemicals are different.  Prochem USA manufacture theirs in the USA....Prochem Europes chemicals are manufactured here in Chessington UK.  Prochem offer a massive range of different chemicals most of which are EXCELLENT.  Prochems Power Burst is probably the best Heavy Duty cleaning agent on the market today.  Better than Chemspec Enzall.  Prochem have a powdered form of Micro-Splitter (PURE CLEAN) and also have a NATURAL RANGE aswell as the standard range.Their range offers the carpet cleaning expert a solution for 99% of what you will come across. I do like the Chemspec range but many of their chemicals cause a problem with my Asthma.  Ive never tried Ashbys so cant comment. 

Richie.