Carpet Protector - Does Vacuuming Scratch it Off?

[GregAllen]

Ladies and Gents, I have been skeptical about carpet protectors, but I know we can generate a substantial amount of additional revenue with it. My skepticism regards how long it actually lasts, considering the abrasiveness of vacuum beater brushes. Doesn't the beater brush cut through and eventually remove the protector? I imagine a client who faithfully vacuums weekly, and after 20 or 30 vacuuming, perhaps far sooner, wouldn't the protector be gone? Please help me understand this a little better. I want to be sure it is truly a benefit to our customers and not just a sales gimmick, for lack of better words. Thanks for your input.

 

[Prosteam-sonomacounty]

Not if you use ScratchGuard....

 

[mrotto]

Great question!

I did a lot of research on carpet protectors years ago. I chose seven different protectors. Took a USED piece of carpet and cleaned it. Then I taped off eight sections - one for each protector and one section left unprotected. We did a water repellency test on each section.

The carpet was placed in our shop. After a time, we cleaned the carpet and did another water repellency test. It was surprising to find that the best protectors are NOT the national brands.

Overall the carpet resoiled the same. The big difference was the water repellency vs untreated carpet.

I cannot state that vacuuming will or will not affect the length of time the protector stays on the carpet. I would venture to guess that it would WEAR off faster than it being VACUUMED off.

It is my personal belief that FACTORY applied protector will stay on longer than protector applied by a professional simply because they can specify what temperature, humidity, etc conditions it is applied. A professional cleaner cannot.

Based on our testing it is clear that the benefit to applying a protector is for liquid spills. Therefore it would be similar to waxing your car - Waxing your car will protect the paint and repel the rain, BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO WASH YOUR CAR. So you need to find out your customers expectations. If they think that applying a protector will keep their carpet clean longer (longer time spans between cleanings)- for the most part they will be disappointed. They will still need to call you for cleaning.

I am not a big fan of protector. Since I don't sell a lot, I just upped my price for cleaning and make as much as if I did apply it on every job.

I'm sure there are those with opposite views that will chime in....

 

[ciobanu_liviu]

Great question!

I did a lot of research on carpet protectors years ago. I chose seven different protectors. Took a USED piece of carpet and cleaned it. Then I taped off eight sections - one for each protector and one section left unprotected. We did a water repellency test on each section.

The carpet was placed in our shop. After a time, we cleaned the carpet and did another water repellency test. It was surprising to find that the best protectors are NOT the national brands.

Overall the carpet resoiled the same. The big difference was the water repellency vs untreated carpet.

I cannot state that vacuuming will or will not affect the length of time the protector stays on the carpet. I would venture to guess that it would WEAR off faster than it being VACUUMED off.

It is my personal belief that FACTORY applied protector will stay on longer than protector applied by a professional simply because they can specify what temperature, humidity, etc conditions it is applied. A professional cleaner cannot.

Based on our testing it is clear that the benefit to applying a protector is for liquid spills. Therefore it would be similar to waxing your car - Waxing your car will protect the paint and repel the rain, BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO WASH YOUR CAR. So you need to find out your customers expectations. If they think that applying a protector will keep their carpet clean longer (longer time spans between cleanings)- for the most part they will be disappointed. They will still need to call you for cleaning.

I am not a big fan of protector. Since I don't sell a lot, I just upped my price for cleaning and make as much as if I did apply it on every job.

I'm sure there are those with opposite views that will chime in....

I just have a feeling that the protector is making your life easier when you clean the carpet next time you are going to have better results. Yes maybe is not helping to much with the resoiling but should help with the spills.

 

[envy]

I believe in it. It definitely buys time when it comes to spills. If your client is the type that leaves their spilled messes on the floor until it's time to move, then it probably won't help.

 

[wandwizard]

Ladies and Gents, I have been skeptical about carpet protectors, but I know we can generate a substantial amount of additional revenue with it. My skepticism regards how long it actually lasts, considering the abrasiveness of vacuum beater brushes. Doesn't the beater brush cut through and eventually remove the protector? I imagine a client who faithfully vacuums weekly, and after 20 or 30 vacuuming, perhaps far sooner, wouldn't the protector be gone? Please help me understand this a little better. I want to be sure it is truly a benefit to our customers and not just a sales gimmick, for lack of better words. Thanks for your input.

Carpet protections do wear off over time. How much? Nobody really knows that. Too many variables. A properly working vacuum cleaner that doesn't have an excessively aggressive beater bar shouldn't harm the protection. Heavy foot traffic or abuse with the wrong types of cleaners will do far more harm than a vacuum. I think some of the new carpets aren't supposed to be vacuumed with an upright vacuum. Most of the time, by the time someone calls you to clean their carpet for the first, time either a lot of the protection is gone, or in some cases, it's completely gone, at least in the high traffic areas. My experience has been that most folks wait far too long before their first cleaning. Even 10 years or longer. 5 years VERY common. 32 years is my personal record from a lady who had her carpet laid in 1964 and I was the first to clean it. Lucky me! Protection is really supposed to be applied after every cleaning which is supposed to be every 12 to 18 months. More frequent if kids, pets, or other circumstances merit it. I recently read that on a new carpet that has had only 3 cleanings in 5 years about 50% of the stain protection will be gone.

Offer it to the customer. All they can say is yes or no. Btw, I've seen cases where I'm fairly certain that stains would not have been permanent if protection had been applied regularly. Protectors don't make a carpet bullet proof and there are actually quite a few things that can still penetrate through it making a permanent stain. Still, it gives a window of time on many things that you otherwise wouldn't have.

 

[Prosteam-sonomacounty]

I would strongly recommend if anyone has doubts about protection,
experiment on your own homes and furnishings...

 

[Mike Krall]

I'd still like to know if it does anything to protect against winter salt. I have a customer that wants it done on a small area, but I don't real feel it's going to help since it's an abrasive to begin with and the customers grind it into the fiber even more when they walk across the surface.

 

[mrotto]

the question here is

why does a good carpet protector thread get 127 views and the LUNCH WITH THE KING thread gets 128000 views???

 

[LookNGood]

The point of fabric protector (the original purpose) is to make vacuuming more effective (dry soil removal).

So I would hope vacuuming doesn't remove it...but who knows

 

[Mike Krall]

the question here is

why does a good carpet protector thread get 127 views and the LUNCH WITH THE KING thread gets 128000 views???

Cause guys like drama as much as women. Science, not so much

 

[Reflections138]

Might be a silly question, but I've been wondering this. If a carpet is scotchgarded, and wicking occurs, can you get the wicking out or is it trapped?

 

[wandwizard]

Might be a silly question, but I've been wondering this. If a carpet is scotchgarded, and wicking occurs, can you get the wicking out or is it trapped?

Protections coat the fibers. The carpet isn't sealed so things will still wick Proof of that is that even a brand new carpet with it's protection completely in tact can have wicking issues.

 

[john gerding]

Cause guys like drama as much as women. Science, not so much

Hey I science the shit out of stuff every day....

 

[Mike Krall]

Hey I science the shit out of stuff every day....

You mean mechanic the shit?

 

[SAA]

Paul, it is the same thing with providing a class on marketing, no one will show up but have a class on pet urine removal and you can fill the room. The only problemm with that is we have an industry full of people that could remove pet stains and odors but could not get the customer who would use their services, because they did not learn that part. Sad to say, the majority of our industry knows so little and cares less about protective coatings. There are still those who believe it is worthless and a rip off and that it does not work. That type of comment easily shows some may not have really done any home work on it.
SAA

Now for any who may care a little.
Protective coatings! This is a wonderful class to share with others. There is Definitely a way to determine IF the carpet still has a protective coating on it and to qualify if it needs it or not or if it needs more added to it. . It is simple and yet almost no one wants to learn about it or how to use it. If they did and if they applied what they could learn, it would be a Cash Cow for their business.

Just think, what if you did not acquire one new customer and all you could do was market to your current customer base? What if you could easily close about 1/4 of the customers to now let you apply protective coatings to their textiles? That would be worth a lot of money for very little work. That is if you did not even try to convince them. Now think if we did learn how to properly present it and qualify what was needed? The profits would rise rapidly.


SAA

 

[Reflections138]

Protections coat the fibers. The carpet isn't sealed so things will still wick Proof of that is that even a brand new carpet with it's protection completely in tact can have wicking issues.

I know they can still wick. The question was if it does wick does the Teflon coating make it harder to fix since its coated.

 

[Ed Cruz]

Ladies and Gents, I have been skeptical about carpet protectors, but I know we can generate a substantial amount of additional revenue with it. My skepticism regards how long it actually lasts, considering the abrasiveness of vacuum beater brushes. Doesn't the beater brush cut through and eventually remove the protector? I imagine a client who faithfully vacuums weekly, and after 20 or 30 vacuuming, perhaps far sooner, wouldn't the protector be gone? Please help me understand this a little better. I want to be sure it is truly a benefit to our customers and not just a sales gimmick, for lack of better words. Thanks for your input.

Any/all friction wears protector down but that doesn't negate its benefits. That said I passively mention that it's available but don't push it hard.

 

[mrotto]

"Sad to say, the majority of our industry knows so little and cares less about protective coatings. There are still those who believe it is worthless and a rip off and that it does not work. That type of comment easily shows some may not have really done any home work on it."

I agree - I never said it was worthless or that it was a ripoff. It does work to a degree but the real issue is that the carpet industry markets it to give the customer the perception that their carpet will not get dirty. I can sell the customer on anything if I want but IF IT DOES NOT FULFILL THEIR EXPECTATIONS (PERCEPTION MARKETED BY THE CARPET INDUSTRY) I TURN OUT TO BE A LIAR.

 

[owenscott]

Not if u set their expectations.
Tho the gatorade test on a sample piece of carpet is cute the protector's real value is, as was already mentioned above, dry soil removal expediance.
We dont want to *scratch* those carpet fibers with dry soil remaining in/on the carpet.