Ok got some bridgepoint with citrus and re-did the carpet. It looks better but still not good enough in my opinion. One thing i did was rub some fels napthia on some of the traffic area then extracted. Today when i rub my hand over this area it is still kinda sticky feeling. Did i not get all the fels out? I am thinking i am not getting good enough suction. 25' 1.5" vac hose. Should i rinse more in these areas? My porty has 1-2 stage and 1-3 stage vac motors in it. What should suction feel like on wand end? I really don't feel what i would consider strong vacuum? Appreciate any feedback and help.
New guy needs help please....
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Jim Ellis
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Spray full strength Bridgepoint Avenge on the worst 1 square foot area and agitate by rubbing it in with your shoe then take a clean rag and dab it till dry. If it doesn't make a difference nothing will. Avenge is the best stuff I have seen come out of Bridgepoint and along with Flex with Citrsolv and Boost All if it don't make a difference nothing will. When I started using Avenge the results on stains were so dramatic that I put all my stain removers in the corner and have not used them since.
Tom, feel free to call me if you'd like.. it sounds like too much to go over on the forum.. let me know if I can help.
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You've already gotten a lot of good info. I think the carpet you were cleaning had some severe wear and will likely never look anywhere near like new no matter what you do to it. There is clear evidence of heavy traffic lane wear which means it has actually lost a lot of the fibers in the traffic areas. Once those fibers are gone they're gone for good. Cleaning will not magically return them and applying more prespray won't help either which leads me to my next point. Be careful when using a Hydroforce sprayer not to over do it. You can spray a massive amount of prespray w/ a Hydroforce in a matter of minutes. Don't hold the actual spray tip too close down to the carpet when spraying, because the closer you put it down the narrower the spray pattern of the jet gets. Hold it up high enough that the spray pattern will be pretty wide. I think this probably contributed to your over wetting problem as well.
As far as your wand losing vacuum at the slot. I seriously doubt your wand is obstructed, but it can happen. If I think my wand is getting obstructed I will flush it from the top with a garden hose and sometimes run something through the tube to see if something got jammed sideways in it. Most obstructions will be where the vacuum tube joins in to the vacuum manifold. I hold mine up to the light and look inside the vacuum slot and I wash my wand out several times a year.What I do think is that your machine was more designed with tile cleaning in mind. It's a lot easier to remove water from a hard surface than a carpeted one.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but a 175 rotary makes a great preagitator and you can usually pick up a good one for cheap. Agitation reduces the need for excessive prespray, super high psi, and even high heat quite considerably, but I don't want to spend a whole lot of time doing it either. It just takes a few extra minutes per room and is way easier than manual agitation. You can also use an absorbent bonnet to post bonnet a job and greatly enhance drying times when needed.
Last thought I would give is that not all carpets are salvageable. I don't care how good you are, what machine you use, or how long you've been at this business. You use all the tricks you've learned over the years and sometimes it still just doesn't come out great. You sometimes just have to do your best. All carpets are most certainly not created equal.Some carpets just don't hold up as well as others. Cheap carpets are cheap for a reason and that most certainly is not one of your better carpets that you had this experience on.
As far as your wand losing vacuum at the slot. I seriously doubt your wand is obstructed, but it can happen. If I think my wand is getting obstructed I will flush it from the top with a garden hose and sometimes run something through the tube to see if something got jammed sideways in it. Most obstructions will be where the vacuum tube joins in to the vacuum manifold. I hold mine up to the light and look inside the vacuum slot and I wash my wand out several times a year.What I do think is that your machine was more designed with tile cleaning in mind. It's a lot easier to remove water from a hard surface than a carpeted one.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but a 175 rotary makes a great preagitator and you can usually pick up a good one for cheap. Agitation reduces the need for excessive prespray, super high psi, and even high heat quite considerably, but I don't want to spend a whole lot of time doing it either. It just takes a few extra minutes per room and is way easier than manual agitation. You can also use an absorbent bonnet to post bonnet a job and greatly enhance drying times when needed.
Last thought I would give is that not all carpets are salvageable. I don't care how good you are, what machine you use, or how long you've been at this business. You use all the tricks you've learned over the years and sometimes it still just doesn't come out great. You sometimes just have to do your best. All carpets are most certainly not created equal.Some carpets just don't hold up as well as others. Cheap carpets are cheap for a reason and that most certainly is not one of your better carpets that you had this experience on.
johnnygraham88
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I have done something like this with the X before which is really annoying because it cleans better than the pre spray then you are screwed lol
Thanks everyone appreciate feedback I will keep plugging along. I do you a brush pro like device to agitate prespray but I would like to get a 175. Question - if cleaned properly how long should my carpet take to dry? Couple hours or overnight? Thanks.
a lot of factors in dry times.. depends on weather, fans, carpet, how wet you had to get the carpet, you, your equipment .. lol
generally you should try to be somewhere between 2-10 hours all things considered.
Depends alot on how much water you laid down and how powerful your vacuum is too suck it up!!
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Like what has already been said, too many variables. Every step makes a difference as well as your tools and technique. As long as you don't over apply w/ the Hydroforce and do extra dry strokes with your machine followed by fans you should be able to achieve decent dry times. I'm talking anywhere from 1 to 8 hours. There will be big differences of opinion on this so take that for what it's worth. Even under 12 hours I would call acceptable.I always do my work w/ fast drying in mind, but sometimes it is more of a priority than others like for example when I'm cleaning a rental that won't be occupied for a day or so. Things like opening some windows often helps or cranking the a/c down some, turning ceiling fans on blowing down can help a lot sometimes. A better wand might be something to look into. A wand with angled jets doesn't inject the water deep into the backing as a wand that has the jets pointed strait down.
I would try to work with a reputable carpet cleaning company for a little while at least to learn more. I've done thousands of jobs and I still learn new things everyday. It was super beneficial that I worked with a company before going out in my own! Hope it works out for u, it's a great business to own.
Thanks everyone for the feedback i appreciate it. I understand dry times vary, but when i read on this forum someone who cleans and the carpet is dry when they leave the house i am like how did they do that? This is all an experiment with me right now, cleaning my own carpets before setting out into someones home so i want to get it right. Working with local Interlink supplier now so hopefully they can give me some guidance. I will try the Avenge stuff on the traffic area and see how it comes out. I am now using Flex with citrus from Bridgepoint. Should i/could i use a booster in this for heavier traffic lanes? I have an apartment to do today, a friend of mine, so i will see how that turns out. I might have a tile job this week, friend of mine, gonna order a jar of Tilemaster to try it. Any of you use it and how does it work for you? Ever use it as a booster for your carpet prespray?
If your prespray foams heavy it will cripple the suction on your portable. Plus my carpets dry cause I use 300 psi and I do a lot of dry passes also which is important with a portable. Plus let your prespray dwell for at least 10 minutes before extraction. Watch videos and pick people's brains and you will get it. But definitely do your own house to practice.
StevenB.
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Judging by the towel test pics the carpet is still really dirty. I'd pause what you are doing an take a class or two, even better work for someone. I'm guessing poor wand technique and/ or an issue with suction.... it looks like you aren't removing dirt/water you are just moving it around. From your description it sounds like the wand is clogged or an obstruction somewhere between the vac inlet and the end of the wand.
StevenB.
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I love my Mytee hot turbo I usually hook it to a kitchen circuit (20 amp)and hook the other two cords to seperate 15amp circuits Bath/ hall bedroom. 20 amps when possible. It gets plenty hot and stays that way haven't blown a circuit in months.I just use tap water myself and as you can see by my attachment (average carpet i clean / cleaned waaay worse) that desired results can be acheived. just like washing clothes in cold water produces same results as hot water the key is the power of the cleaning products and using the right combinations for each cleaning job. i cleaned this carpet after the guy went over it with a rug doctor.I have a Mytee Hot Turbo heater sitting in the corner gathering dust. after continually blowing out circuits i got fed up and parked it!!
I would use the Boost All with the Flex w/ Citra Solv. Buy the Flex with Citra Solv in powdered form and dissolve in really hot water > the liquid Flex will cost you alot more money in the long run.
Problem is i am in Canada and we don't have 20 amp circuits here >only 15 amp. If i can spare 500-1000 watts only before blowing out a circuit I may as well use a bucket heater before running my porty!
Your carpet it's still VERY NASTY!,I mean,look at that towel!!.
Just allow it to dry,and try again...well,you know what?,don't touch it just yet.
Please explain your wand strokes/passes i.e. travel distance.speed,overlap,trigger on/off,dry passes,etc. (it'd be great if you could post a vid). I don't think is your pre-spray
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