When you clean carpet, do you want it to look like it was cleaned, or...

[yeshuaisiam]

The question is, have you ever had a custy complain about the shark tooth pattern? I have not. In honesty, I think most like it. I even prefer it in my personal home after I clean it. I think the dark color & light colors of the strokes gives the carpet a "pattern" that makes it look uniform and neat. But anyway, it's obviously a preference.... Never had a complaint though.

 

[Decker]

I almost always rake. I use fans, but even when I didn't, I still raked. I think it looks better, but also helps find spots you can still fix as you rake, and serves the purpose of setting the fibers upright to dry as uniform as possible.

 

[Benjamin Doss]

I find that people around here prefer the shark tooth pattern. Let's them visually see that the room has been completed.

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[Joey J.]

A few years ago I allowed some bulletin board posters to convince me that every job should be groomed if i was to ever achieve my goal of being the best carpet cleaner in my area. I started grooming every job and nobody noticed except the one person who got mad at me for raking out the triangles and the other person who accused me of not doing the job at all, because there were no triangles. I then spent the next month asking every customer if they preferred me to leave the triangles or rake them out. In that month I had exactly one person say they would prefer if I raked them, everyone else was either indifferent or preferred the triangles. I don't know if its maybe a regional thing or something but MY customers overwhelmingly proffered the triangles and I'm not such a snob to tell them they are wrong for it.

That said the rake is still in the van and if someone wants it groomed its no problem. I also groom after applying protector, I just tell the customer its necessary to distribute the protector.

Regarding fans I use air movers at the entrance of the room so I don't have to walk back over clean carpet to retrieve the fan.

 

[AdmiralClean]

Forgive me if this thread has moved off topic, they normally are by now. I am responding to the first poster.

I have never asked a customer what they prefer. Once years ago, I had a customer stop me from raking because she said she liked it to look like it had been cleaned. I said fine with me. That got me to thinking. I wonder if I'm wasting my time grooming everything? So, I stopped doing it. This was something like 25 years ago. Not one single person has commented on it over the years.

I'm not suggesting you are wrong. All I'm saying is that I have nothing to suggest that I'm wrong either.

Sometimes we say our customers like things the way we personally do them, when it fact it's just us telling ourselves that.

 

[Prosteam-sonomacounty]

Forgive me if this thread has moved off topic, they normally are by now. I am responding to the first poster.

I have never asked a customer what they prefer. Once years ago, I had a customer stop me from raking because she said she liked it to look like it had been cleaned. I said fine with me. That got me to thinking. I wonder if I'm wasting my time grooming everything? So, I stopped doing it. This was something like 25 years ago. Not one single person has commented on it over the years.

I'm not suggesting you are wrong. All I'm saying is that I have nothing to suggest that I'm wrong either.

Sometimes we say our customers like things the way we personally do them, when it fact it's just us telling ourselves that.

The look of grooming or shark tooth is a personal preference but you can't deny the usefulness of grooming in regards to better finding every spot and it's drying aid. Another question maybe for another thread would be, "how do you apply fans without grooming?"

 

[TConway]

Most of my jobs prefer the V finish, it is proof to them that it has been cleaned, PM work. I also helps to hide a worn carpet making it easier to rent.
My customers have made more comments about the V not being there after we groom in protectant, so I would say from that, they prefer the V pattern over groomed because they noticed it was gone.

 

[Mojo Rising]

Over the last 30 years or so you associate those triangle marks with clean carpets.. its one of those subconscious associations. The way you have the nap accent the lighter and darker side.. showing contrast. That is now the image of clean.

Grooming carpet is just like combing your hair, something admiral clean also stopped doing 25 years ago.. grooming completes the job, helps the carpets dry and will help the light refract through the fibers so it looks cleaner.

 

[AdmiralClean]

Hey! I comb both strands on a regular basis!

 

[matt30577]

A few years ago I allowed some bulletin board posters to convince me that every job should be groomed if i was to ever achieve my goal of being the best carpet cleaner in my area. I started grooming every job and nobody noticed except the one person who got mad at me for raking out the triangles and the other person who accused me of not doing the job at all, because there were no triangles. I then spent the next month asking every customer if they preferred me to leave the triangles or rake them out. In that month I had exactly one person say they would prefer if I raked them, everyone else was either indifferent or preferred the triangles. I don't know if its maybe a regional thing or something but MY customers overwhelmingly proffered the triangles and I'm not such a snob to tell them they are wrong for it.

That said the rake is still in the van and if someone wants it groomed its no problem. I also groom after applying protector, I just tell the customer its necessary to distribute the protector.

Regarding fans I use air movers at the entrance of the room so I don't have to walk back over clean carpet to retrieve the fan.

Forgive me if this thread has moved off topic, they normally are by now. I am responding to the first poster.

I have never asked a customer what they prefer. Once years ago, I had a customer stop me from raking because she said she liked it to look like it had been cleaned. I said fine with me. That got me to thinking. I wonder if I'm wasting my time grooming everything? So, I stopped doing it. This was something like 25 years ago. Not one single person has commented on it over the years.

I'm not suggesting you are wrong. All I'm saying is that I have nothing to suggest that I'm wrong either.

Sometimes we say our customers like things the way we personally do them, when it fact it's just us telling ourselves that.

I admitted that I don't groom the carpet either. My point was that I thought the pattern of the way the carpet looked after cleaning, (one pattern vs. the sawtooth). I felt that it made more of a difference when making the carpet looked like it is new, or just cleaned.

From these two comments above, there is a big chance that I might be wrong. If my customers over here in Georgia are the same as yall's, then I'm wrong on this. Oh well. It's just an observed opinion. But it sure brought up a good conversation

 

[dmreed4311]

I like the shark tooth much better than the rake look. I have never seen an installer rake a carpet, they vacuum. That said in 19 years of cleaning carpet I have never had one complaint. I have accounts working for apartments and they require the shark tooth pattern.

 

[rob allen]

Backgammon look here. Why? I learned many years back when my wife vacuums she gets mad if we walked on her patterns. Told me women like the patterns. I like to give women what they like. Then they give me what I like.

 

[emeraldclean]

I think it's cleaner preference.... mine is to post groom.
Why... because 80% of my work is repeats and they are use to the groomed look. If I skipped the postgroom my repeats would feel I'm cutting corners or perhaps loosing interest in my job.
I can understand empty move - outs ... when homeowner isn't around.
My custy's get a walk through prior to me packing up... there is no doubt in their mind that indeed the carpets were cleaned. On any new work ... I get alot of "Wow ... last guy didn't do that".
Don't really care who does what... looks to me like alot of guys miss on the carpet protector.
Or do alot of PM work.




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[raw74]

Yes a lot of people like the shark tooth look for some reason.

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[Richard Trevino]

You rake to open or separate fibers, like combing your hair so it dries quicker. And as brought out earlier shows up missed spots or stains. IICRC guidelines. Each to their own.

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[Andy MC]

I went back and forth (grooming vs pattern) always got more complements on the pattern. I think it matters if you leave them nice and uniform like in Rob's photos, if it's a sloppy desing then a rake looks better.

I have done a little art work testing with the rotovac 360, if you put your mind to it you can really leave some cool looking design's, people love it and can see something real serious has been done.

 

[Wilmington Carpet Care]

I groom unless Im asked not to. Of course Ive never been asked not to but Ive heard from cleaners that PM companies and property owners preferred wand marks to show the tennant that indeed the rug was cleaned. P.S If a carpet in a room has been down long enough and has windows you can never get it to look new again.

I agree. When your doing vacancies for property management, especially apartments, wand marks show the place has been cleaned and looks great. I think its personal preference, if someone tells me they don't like the wand marks(rare) then of course break out the carpet rake. When the home is occupied I will usually go ahead and groom the place air movers down, then of course groom where air movers were, then you just wait for.... "wow that looks amazing!", and then "do you have any business cards?" lol.

http://www.wilmingtoncarpetcare.com

 

[AdmiralClean]

Even when I have to groom (after applying protector) I do it in a saw tooth pattern.

 

[AdmiralClean]

I admitted that I don't groom the carpet either. My point was that I thought the pattern of the way the carpet looked after cleaning, (one pattern vs. the sawtooth). I felt that it made more of a difference when making the carpet looked like it is new, or just cleaned.

From these two comments above, there is a big chance that I might be wrong. If my customers over here in Georgia are the same as yall's, then I'm wrong on this. Oh well. It's just an observed opinion. But it sure brought up a good conversation

I suppose there's really no WRONG opinion on this topic. Either way is fine.

But, I suspect your people are similar to my people, since we're basically neighbors. So, just pay attention to what they SAY.

Not what you may be imagining they're saying. (We all fall victim to our own preferences occasionally.)

 

[Kevin Dumas]

Instead of having the carpet look clean
I prefer to leave the carpet looking like New
Therefore I groom (brush) every carpet to perfection when finished.

When's the last time you unrolled a New carpet that came with a saw tooth pattern?