Commercial Carpet Disaster

[Cowboyjones]

OK-

I will figure out how to post the pictures in a second-

I have a commercial account where we clean the same carpet every 3 weeks. This account has been active since 2002.

WE go up, pre spray, clean and leave. Spray Scotch Guard when we are done and walk away. Now this is a power plant so we are dealing with fine goal dust and other just crap.

Lately we have had major staining and browning coming back. We haven't changed our process one bit, but now we have a customer who thinks we are doing something wrong.

Anyone have any advice in this? My plan this coming week is to take time and pre vac and use our pile lifter. We will also pre spray and scrub with orbitals. We will then clean it with a rotovac. Then I will go back over it and pre spray and clean with a wand as normal. Hoping we just need to get a really good rinse back in the carpet. I dont know what else the problem would be.

Anyone have any experience in this?

 

[sbsscn]

If what you are stating is the actual detail of your process,
then you are doing something wrong

1st thing that I noticed and dont feel bad just learn (we are all still learning)

is:
You are not pre vacuuming
Also
you are not agitating/scrubbing.
and
But most importantly you have not done well on communicating with your client,
What I mean by this is that when you first got the account you really should have done a thorough walk through, identified the carpet and taken notes on the sub floors condition and environment, this information should have been given to the customer along with expectations, complications and alternatives to cleaning and how to maintain.

It almost seems as if you are just going in and spraying and rinsing"cleaning" and spraying scotch guard and you're out!

Maybe I got it wrong but it seems like you need to slow down.

How to correct will be based on the exact situation.
please post photos, fiber ID, type of sub floor, what you are doing, and materials you are using and the tools you are using.

 

[Cowboyjones]

If what you are stating is the actual detail of your process,
then you are doing something wrong

1st thing that I noticed and dont feel bad just learn (we are all still learning)

is:
You are not pre vacuuming
Also
you are not agitating/scrubbing.
and
But most importantly you have not done well on communicating with your client,
What I mean by this is that when you first got the account you really should have done a thorough walk through, identified the carpet and taken notes on the sub floors condition and environment, this information should have been given to the customer along with expectations, complications and alternatives to cleaning and how to maintain.

It almost seems as if you are just going in and spraying and rinsing"cleaning" and spraying scotch guard and you're out!

Maybe I got it wrong but it seems like you need to slow down.

How to correct will be based on the exact situation.
please post photos, fiber ID, type of sub floor, what you are doing, and materials you are using and the tools you are using.

You are absolutely correct. One of the biggest problems is we are not pre vacuuming. We do agitate, but not with our full intent. One of the biggest problems is in the room we are having the most issues with is operated 24/7 so on top of the fact that people are always walking around on wet carpet when we clean, we are forced to rush through the job because they have a job to perform. It is a perfect example of a terrible storm. In a perfect world I would be able to go in there and vac, pile lift, spray agitate and rinse and clean until its clean.

In a different section of the building we have noticed some terrible browning. We start vacuuming, agitating and pile lifting there (we found out they close this area so we wait until they are gone for 8 hours and take our time. However the same issues are still arising. We are getting browning if it takes us 30 minutes or 120 minutes. Once it dries, it looks like garbage.

 

[CrazyRay]

Without seeing it or knowing anything else I would say you need to rinse more thoroughly and take extra drying strokes.
Probably getting a buildup of chemical residue. You might use blowers on the job to get it dry quicker.

 

[Odin]

when done cleaning bonnet in some encap do you use fans?

 

[OxiFreshGuy]

Is your pre-spray alkaline or acidic ? If you've been using alkaline all these years switch over to an acid prespray.

 

[epservices]

If you have had that account since 2002, then you have been doing a lot of things right and your customer will work with you
Maybe there is just a build up , residue from your pre spray over the years.
Since most presprays are alkaline a good acid rinse might help, along with a good flush and strong airflow to dry the fibres

 

[sbsscn]

You are absolutely correct. One of the biggest problems is we are not pre vacuuming. We do agitate, but not with our full intent. One of the biggest problems is in the room we are having the most issues with is operated 24/7 so on top of the fact that people are always walking around on wet carpet when we clean, we are forced to rush through the job because they have a job to perform. It is a perfect example of a terrible storm. In a perfect world I would be able to go in there and vac, pile lift, spray agitate and rinse and clean until its clean.

In a different section of the building we have noticed some terrible browning. We start vacuuming, agitating and pile lifting there (we found out they close this area so we wait until they are gone for 8 hours and take our time. However the same issues are still arising. We are getting browning if it takes us 30 minutes or 120 minutes. Once it dries, it looks like garbage.

It almost sounds like you are cleaning CGD carpet, or tiled carpet. If so then HWE may not be the best method of cleaning, also over wetting will also be your enemy

 

[Joe cool]

Do a Encap Job