T
TheEyeball
I know this is very basic but maybe it can help some of you newbs who are still pooping green in your figurative carpet cleaning infancy. The absolute best combination of chemicals I have ever found for cleaning almost every single residential carpet you will ever encounter is this:
Prespray
Preload or any number of it's cousins (Matrix Grand Slam SC, Ultrapac, or Breakthrough. Preferably Preload. Show some support you ingrates). Ignore the directions. Put 20oz in a Hydroforce, fill the rest with water, and go to town. Remember, lightly prespray. Try using less than you ever dreamed would work. You'll be surprised. And your dry times will drastically improve.
Extraction Solution
Same thing as "rinse" but I don't like using that word. Anyway, the product is Prochem All Fiber Deep Clean (Or it's vastly more popular cousin End Zone. I personally prefer the Prochem product though). Again, ignore the directions. Put 10oz into your five gallon chemical injection system jug, fill the rest with water, set the meter to 3 or 4gph. Mine is always at 3.5gph. I have only regularly been using an extraction chemical for a year and...I LOVE IT.
Soft Water
Have to, have to, have to be using soft water. Have to. Not optional. If you don't have a softener on your truck steal one, or steal money from an elderly relative to buy one if you feel bad stealing one, or fill your fresh water tank only from sources you know to be soft water.
So why does all this matter? Here are my reasons. First, the Preload prespray is liquid (I way prefer), easy to measure and mix, and works great. I don't use it full strength because it's too foamy. Way too foamy. 20oz in a Hydroforce is the sweet spot. Put another glug in if you get a nasty. Preload will clean anything from a spotless year old carpet to a trashed beyond belief rental. It is the best prespray, hands down, no contest. Don't need any other prespray unless you're doing CGD, and even then Preload will work most of the time. Yes, there are other brands that are essentially the same thing, but show Rob a little support and order the Preload. Even though prices have gone up it's still a great deal, and a little less than the mainstream brands.
The All Fiber Deep Clean extraction detergent is perfect in every way. It cuts the prespray. It helps you rinse it out. Being acidic, it helps neutralize ph if you care about that sort of thing. Usually acids don't have any cleaning capabilities. Well, the All Fiber Deep Clean does. So you aren't just neutralizing carpet. You're cleaning it. Works phenomenally on soil filtration and other special cases. But what's that you say? "I ain't using no crap like 'at. It's just gonna leave behind a gawl-dang residue in the carpet and what have you!" Well guess what, you're right! It does leave behind a polymer residue that actually repels dirt and soil. Did you know that? It's true. Call Prochem and ask, or call Bridgepoint and ask them about End Zone, which is the same thing.
So triple whammy on the Deep Clean. It neutralizes, it cleans, and it even protects to some extent. No, QUADRUPLE whammy because it also keeps your solution lines clean on the inside. Big time! You know how your brass fittings patina and turn dark over time? Well all of my male fittings are clean and shiny and new looking right on the tip, where they are in contact with the solution flowing through the hose all the time. If I stop using the Deep Clean or End Zone they go right back to dark and ugly again. The mild acid keeps everything clean and residue free.
Finally, soft water. Have to get it guys. A few times over the years I've had my wands and rotary machines start to get caked with a chalky white residue on the inside. When that happens I know the softener isn't working. Usually it's out of salt or the float inside the brine tank is stuck or a hose came off the back of the brine tank. So I fix the problem and BAM. Chalky white residue disappears after a few jobs. Now, if that gunk is getting stuck on my equipment, I know it's stuck in the carpet too. But the soft water rinses it right away from the surfaces of my tools. So what's that tell you it's doing to the carpet? It also makes your chemicals work better, and makes it so that you don't have to use as much chemical. If you don't have a softener at your house, don't you notice it when you go to someone's house that does have one? You try to wash your hands and it feels like you can't get all the soap off? That's a good thing! The trick is, use one miniscule little drop of soap. It will spread thin and lather right up in soft water, and then it's easy to rinse off. Same concept when you're cleaning carpet with soft water. Use way less chemical than you're used to. It'll go a long, long way, saving you money.
That's it. If you have any questions or comments have at it. Obviously there are different ways of doing almost anything, except for peeing out of a canoe. There is literally only one way to do that. But when it comes to carpet cleaning we all have our little routines. This is mine. Won't you please try it? And feel free to share yours.
Prespray
Preload or any number of it's cousins (Matrix Grand Slam SC, Ultrapac, or Breakthrough. Preferably Preload. Show some support you ingrates). Ignore the directions. Put 20oz in a Hydroforce, fill the rest with water, and go to town. Remember, lightly prespray. Try using less than you ever dreamed would work. You'll be surprised. And your dry times will drastically improve.
Extraction Solution
Same thing as "rinse" but I don't like using that word. Anyway, the product is Prochem All Fiber Deep Clean (Or it's vastly more popular cousin End Zone. I personally prefer the Prochem product though). Again, ignore the directions. Put 10oz into your five gallon chemical injection system jug, fill the rest with water, set the meter to 3 or 4gph. Mine is always at 3.5gph. I have only regularly been using an extraction chemical for a year and...I LOVE IT.
Soft Water
Have to, have to, have to be using soft water. Have to. Not optional. If you don't have a softener on your truck steal one, or steal money from an elderly relative to buy one if you feel bad stealing one, or fill your fresh water tank only from sources you know to be soft water.
So why does all this matter? Here are my reasons. First, the Preload prespray is liquid (I way prefer), easy to measure and mix, and works great. I don't use it full strength because it's too foamy. Way too foamy. 20oz in a Hydroforce is the sweet spot. Put another glug in if you get a nasty. Preload will clean anything from a spotless year old carpet to a trashed beyond belief rental. It is the best prespray, hands down, no contest. Don't need any other prespray unless you're doing CGD, and even then Preload will work most of the time. Yes, there are other brands that are essentially the same thing, but show Rob a little support and order the Preload. Even though prices have gone up it's still a great deal, and a little less than the mainstream brands.
The All Fiber Deep Clean extraction detergent is perfect in every way. It cuts the prespray. It helps you rinse it out. Being acidic, it helps neutralize ph if you care about that sort of thing. Usually acids don't have any cleaning capabilities. Well, the All Fiber Deep Clean does. So you aren't just neutralizing carpet. You're cleaning it. Works phenomenally on soil filtration and other special cases. But what's that you say? "I ain't using no crap like 'at. It's just gonna leave behind a gawl-dang residue in the carpet and what have you!" Well guess what, you're right! It does leave behind a polymer residue that actually repels dirt and soil. Did you know that? It's true. Call Prochem and ask, or call Bridgepoint and ask them about End Zone, which is the same thing.
So triple whammy on the Deep Clean. It neutralizes, it cleans, and it even protects to some extent. No, QUADRUPLE whammy because it also keeps your solution lines clean on the inside. Big time! You know how your brass fittings patina and turn dark over time? Well all of my male fittings are clean and shiny and new looking right on the tip, where they are in contact with the solution flowing through the hose all the time. If I stop using the Deep Clean or End Zone they go right back to dark and ugly again. The mild acid keeps everything clean and residue free.
Finally, soft water. Have to get it guys. A few times over the years I've had my wands and rotary machines start to get caked with a chalky white residue on the inside. When that happens I know the softener isn't working. Usually it's out of salt or the float inside the brine tank is stuck or a hose came off the back of the brine tank. So I fix the problem and BAM. Chalky white residue disappears after a few jobs. Now, if that gunk is getting stuck on my equipment, I know it's stuck in the carpet too. But the soft water rinses it right away from the surfaces of my tools. So what's that tell you it's doing to the carpet? It also makes your chemicals work better, and makes it so that you don't have to use as much chemical. If you don't have a softener at your house, don't you notice it when you go to someone's house that does have one? You try to wash your hands and it feels like you can't get all the soap off? That's a good thing! The trick is, use one miniscule little drop of soap. It will spread thin and lather right up in soft water, and then it's easy to rinse off. Same concept when you're cleaning carpet with soft water. Use way less chemical than you're used to. It'll go a long, long way, saving you money.
That's it. If you have any questions or comments have at it. Obviously there are different ways of doing almost anything, except for peeing out of a canoe. There is literally only one way to do that. But when it comes to carpet cleaning we all have our little routines. This is mine. Won't you please try it? And feel free to share yours.
