tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44495798603505537532024-03-17T19:59:37.976-07:00Joining up the clean bitsAn occasional commentary by a professional carpet cleaner for the benefit of consumers (and maybe even some other carpet cleaners) concerning the science and technology of carpet cleaning and the marketing of allied services...
You can view our company website at:
www.SteamCleanCarpetService.co.ukEd Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-51423551632251906862013-12-09T07:21:00.000-08:002013-12-10T16:21:28.363-08:00I know what to do with my dirty carpets. I will get a hire machine. How difficult can it be?<br />
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In the immortal words of the robot in Lost in Space “Danger
Will Robinson!”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have just finished a job recently that confirmed a
theme maintained by many professional carpet cleaning company owners and their technicians. Hire machines actually make work for professional carpet
cleaning companies.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This may sound like clever bravado but time and again we
have proved that home owners who have rented machines and cleaned their carpets
are engaged in a downward spiral of grubby carpets getting grubbier with each
‘clean’. Eventually they despair and call in a professional.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The lightweight machines rented out in the UK (mostly the
same models/machines as used in the US market but 240v instead of the 120v used
Stateside) are actually pretty good at the first part of the job. <o:p></o:p></div>
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They spread a luke-warm soapy solution very effectively around
the carpet (sometimes with a revolving brush head) which makes sure this soapy solution is
worked well into the carpet, and thus ensuring that your carpet now has a dirty, soapy
scum on the ‘face fibre’ of the carpet. Any really dirty areas will have the dirt moved elsewhere and transferred to other, cleaner parts of the carpet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuLF0eFr_Py-LbzoArzo7DoZsup0Od3nmc-PuwIHLIfXhaJSOjZMqF5053o65SNzWLB3Z4kA4mMUE0bsSOdfqgDbYFY6Kh4IX8jxH7_mtPc6dqxSnQTnChfUBsGVC1Vuvrm2bf58vNuU/s1600/images+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuLF0eFr_Py-LbzoArzo7DoZsup0Od3nmc-PuwIHLIfXhaJSOjZMqF5053o65SNzWLB3Z4kA4mMUE0bsSOdfqgDbYFY6Kh4IX8jxH7_mtPc6dqxSnQTnChfUBsGVC1Vuvrm2bf58vNuU/s1600/images+(2).jpg" /></a></div>
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You have to use the very soapy products that the hire
machine company sells because they say you must only use their products in
their machine. This is clearly just plain wrong because no mere liquid is going
to damage the inner workings of what is in effect a wet vacuum system with
filters and safeguards to stop liquids or foam reaching the electric vacuum
motors. But they charge a great deal of money for these soapy products and they
make a great deal of money out of selling a fairly cheap product. It is a
win/win ‘solution’ for them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are a consumer of these products/rental services though
it is a lose/lose situation and I will now explain why.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While these machines are relatively efficient at spreading
the soapy solution around the fibres of your carpet (gravity also helps it do the
job thoroughly) they are very inadequate when it comes to recovering and
rinsing the soapy solution. No amount of going back and forward will improve
the situation as the vacuums and rinsing actions are just not up to the job of recovering the dirty
‘slurry’ that you are creating on the carpet surface. Each subsequent rinsing
action/vacuum run just adds more water and makes a good result even less likely.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The result of this is that you may partially recover some of
the soapy, dirty scum that you have just spread all over your carpet but unfortunately
you will leave most of it embedded in the carpet where because of the action of
the detergents it has the appearance of having ‘cleaned’ the carpet. It has of
course done nothing of the sort as each fibre is now coated with a soapy
‘jacket’ that dries but still attracts dirt and soil like a magnet for anything being
walked into your house on a daily basis.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If this were not bad enough you have at the same time
effectively removed your carpets natural ability (in it’s clean state) to shed
soil and turn it into dry dust which normally you would simply vacuum up on a
regular basis. Carpet cleaning (the proper variety) is designed to strip the attached soil from your carpet fibres that has emulsified and joined with the fibre to make your carpet look dirty and unattractive but which cannot usually be vacuumed up and out of the carpet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As with the jobs that we see, the carpets that have been poorly cleaned with hire machines end up very soiled
indeed and it is as if there is a grey ‘mantle’ or ‘cast’ over the entire
carpet – not just where the carpet was dirty in the first place but wherever it
has been ‘cleaned’. </div>
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So the remedy to a hire machine disaster is actually rather easy to achieve for a well-equipped operator. The better the standard of 'the rinse' action of the professional carpet cleaners system then the more emulsified soil will be released and extracted from the dirty (i.e. cleaned!) carpet and yet still leaving the carpet relatively dry.</div>
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So while I would not wish that <i>everyone</i> goes out and hires one of these machines and then does a dis-service to their carpets I don't really mind if their use increases because I know ultimately that the market for carpet cleaning will continue to grow for this (and other) reason(s).</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-83810480315678789992013-03-28T15:42:00.000-07:002013-03-28T15:42:08.162-07:00How often should you do it?Sorry but this post is not going to be anywhere near as exciting as it may appear from the title.<br />
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One of the most basic requirement of a well-run home is cleanliness and most people devote at least some time during each day doing something towards that end. It might be wiping down kitchen surfaces or it might be cleaning the bathroom.<br />
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Whether it be wiping down work surfaces or cleaning out a fridge shelf, we all usually want to try to counter the effects our daily lives have on our domestic and work environments.<br />
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Quite often people will have a quick run around with the vacuum cleaner in the lounge or in the hallway if they have carpets there.<br />
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I am often asked to recommend a vacuum cleaner and people ask what machine it is that we use in our company.<br />
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We, like most professional cleaning companies in Europe, use a twin motor Sebo machine which is probably the most highly recommended professional machine bar none - they produce this commercial machine in two widths - a BS36 and a BS46.<br />
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The important point is they have two motors - one to drive the brush bar (the sweeper that beats the carpet and vibrates the dust particles to the face of the fibre) and one motor to drive the vacuum which sucks up this dry soil.<br />
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In terms of a domestic machine the one I recommend most often for carpet maintenance is the Miele S7210 - this is a very good machine and most importantly it is one of the very few (if not the only one) that has two motors just like the best commercial machines.<br />
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I know I can recommend it because it is the one we use in our own house. It has won at least one Which? consumer test as best vacuum cleaner for domestic use. They are not cheap but show me a really good tool that is!<br />
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So here are the two machines side by side - the commercial machine is a dull grey colour (left) and the domestic machine is available in a yellow and several other colours.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4B6YjBcSqS2gGQZyf1oY77QFH1cn7f3EJnjoGjjtSO5bJbD5KCmzBlto4VlZoNdawjZYg-Jo1X2Au4c9hMoOlh-wQuuHQS7k8qYXZvlCm2dvDYtRuEz1SGRdHUgkycrMHPcow2Nazsyc/s1600/s7210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4B6YjBcSqS2gGQZyf1oY77QFH1cn7f3EJnjoGjjtSO5bJbD5KCmzBlto4VlZoNdawjZYg-Jo1X2Au4c9hMoOlh-wQuuHQS7k8qYXZvlCm2dvDYtRuEz1SGRdHUgkycrMHPcow2Nazsyc/s1600/s7210.jpg" /></a></div>
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So the inevitable question is how often do you do it? Well once a day is not too often but may be seen as a bit OCD so lets say three times a week is good and once a week is not enough. At the end of the day you decide - but first of all get a good vacuum cleaner.<br />
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Oh yes and I should add we never recommend Dyson machines - sorry Sir James but you will find most commercial cleaners would not be seen dead with one in their van. And since they stopped manufacturing them in the UK it is much easier to be able to get this off our chests.<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-89342799906511580102013-03-17T09:43:00.000-07:002013-03-17T09:43:01.825-07:00We name the guilty...Just another normal upholstery cleaning job today. Typical in many ways because the homeowners i.e. my clients have done what many, many other carpet and furniture owners have done - they have self-medicated!<br />
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It sounds a bit dramatic but I can't think of any other way of describing this obsession people have with cleaning their own carpets and upholstery. Many are called to this job but few are chosen to do it -- properly.<br />
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As with today's victim who has fallen for the beautifully labelled bottle of soapy gunk that purports to be the one shot solution to dirty, grubby carpets and upholstery.<br />
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The problem is that even if it provides a brief holiday from the grubby appearance of the carpets and soiled furniture, this holiday will last for a very short time indeed.<br />
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As soon as the carpet or furniture dries and goes back into normal circulation it will start to 'grub-up' much quicker than normal because the soapy residue left behind by the amateur textile technician is now actually attracting dirt!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q9pLumSDG6SQ34ahtP0JOJ3_MDlXVDRTgNL5pVLfWG6pdcsy6pOIfnXWof4aP9nT9oz9hZoDDbvfXa7ILnpsMxlDh9B3E6r2cz5Amp6DY_XkzgOxI2g-MHh3MAgE2E1prv1xfzEPllI/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q9pLumSDG6SQ34ahtP0JOJ3_MDlXVDRTgNL5pVLfWG6pdcsy6pOIfnXWof4aP9nT9oz9hZoDDbvfXa7ILnpsMxlDh9B3E6r2cz5Amp6DY_XkzgOxI2g-MHh3MAgE2E1prv1xfzEPllI/s320/Untitled-1.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
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Soon the furniture is looking worse than ever and needs cleaning again - so the instant supermarket-bought remedies come out from under the sink and the cycle begins again - except this time there is more gunk on the furniture and carpets than before and hence the problem just gets worse.<br />
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I am not saying there is anything inherently wrong with these products - but then I would not say that outright as I do not want to be sued by these multi-national behemoths - it is just that the products have the capacity firstly to be overused and secondly to be wrongly applied and thirdly to not be rinsed out after they have done their job.<br />
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I do feel that 'doing their job' does not really cover the effect they have on carpet and upholstery. Undoubtedly the greatest problem is the residual product left in the carpet or on the upholstery and this can only be solved by the rinsing action - this rinsing action almost never happens to the degree required to flush all the product out of the fibres being cleaned - hence the problem.<br />
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This is not an exhaustive list but the products include: Vanish, 1001, Rug Doctor Pro, Vax AAA, Tesco Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Sainsbury Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Essential Waitrose Carpet Cleaner<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-1920130581271238052013-03-17T07:25:00.000-07:002013-03-17T07:25:29.631-07:00See the difference - no really!<br />
We clean a lot of end-of-tenancy properties - especially when the seasons start to turn in our part of the world (the New Forest, UK) and winter 'long' lets give way to shorter holiday lets and vice versa in the autumn.<br />
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Usually the holiday visitors treat their temporary home with respect and care - but we do get called on to clean carpets and hard floors at some stage during the 'season' to keep the properties looking pristine for the next guests.<br />
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The winter 'long' lets present a different sort of challenge as often the longer-term temporary residents are less than careful with the furnishings which may not have been in the greatest condition when they moved in. Memories are short with such things.<br />
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Sometimes people do forget how clean the property was when they moved in. One thing is for sure we don't often find a black-top* in a residential property - but the following video shows they do happen.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwqOlBEgsB6V6MVTUncQVNyR-E8qPXOl2YNoIaZ5KH66757lPvk0BnwFqYZxMjHUWc-1PchzcQK6tfGjAcp-g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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*A black-top is the humourous name the industry reserves for sticky (black) restaurant and pub carpets<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-80316726816875261512012-11-22T12:10:00.000-08:002012-11-22T12:10:35.347-08:00Do you have quality of life?It occurred to me today that what we do as an industry is worthwhile!<br />
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This is not the first time this has happened and it will not be the last time. I have always known it was worthwhile but often you tend to take what you do for granted.<br />
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But you know the feeling, you do the job - the best one you can - and then you go to the next job and so life carries on in its own merry way.<br />
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Sometimes though you are brought to your senses by a customer who tells you that you have done a very good job steam cleaning their carpets and that you have improved their "quality of life".<br />
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We had a customer like this recently who is a very regular user of our services - we clean their carpets every six months and when we arrive at the job it is always the same sad scene - the household in question has several small children and a dog.<br />
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When we leave the picture is very much improved; to such an extent that the customer was moved to make the comment about their "quality of life".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO9HbmTuXYHkSRbnxZat5o7pGiuszjBnn7Xygwxq1ed8QhREARlf_sint1wvlp3UTLwz0fh-ZZRVBZtmyrMkq4lTJI6jvbLFIH9W6VxhcQ_RUGMs7pipAIVRazBci7GI4Zm497I9Oy9k/s1600/choosecarpet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUO9HbmTuXYHkSRbnxZat5o7pGiuszjBnn7Xygwxq1ed8QhREARlf_sint1wvlp3UTLwz0fh-ZZRVBZtmyrMkq4lTJI6jvbLFIH9W6VxhcQ_RUGMs7pipAIVRazBci7GI4Zm497I9Oy9k/s320/choosecarpet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was just checking the results of our cleaning operation and commented quite casually that the money they spent on cleaning could have paid for new carpets by now! An exaggeration perhaps but you know what I mean - sometimes you just talk for the sake of talking - or maybe that's just me.<br />
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This was when it hit me though. Or rather the customer hit me with their reply; "Yes, but then I would still need them cleaning". Not only that but they would have paid out a huge amount of money plus the cost of cleaning anyway - so suddenly it made sense - clean carpets improve the quality of people's lives...<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-81702276473848573302012-06-29T12:21:00.004-07:002012-06-29T12:50:30.572-07:00Spend a little, save a lot...<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An ingenious
little gadget that can be bought online very cheaply (and new) compared to its original
selling price has just come into my possession.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPSzsCldhEZGNz8mFvyjhix_iSV81cchoDyw26cYDc5nv6NOMiO2DRIRKL0HlQtCnDTCCrIuDCrKnajr6d66k6emyd3mCtc4ZE8naLU_fsHaYd9eMMRnhIl2bUnMFH_6LYruMuAEacQI/s1600/Spill3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPSzsCldhEZGNz8mFvyjhix_iSV81cchoDyw26cYDc5nv6NOMiO2DRIRKL0HlQtCnDTCCrIuDCrKnajr6d66k6emyd3mCtc4ZE8naLU_fsHaYd9eMMRnhIl2bUnMFH_6LYruMuAEacQI/s320/Spill3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">It’s a well-made
little device called a Spillmaster and it was invented by Morphy Richards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Search one
out on Ebay and you should pick it up for about £8 including the
postage/carriage costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The idea of
the device is it turns an ordinary vacuum cleaner (virtually any vacuum
cleaner) into a wet vac. There are adapters to make it fit your vacuum cleaner
(probably).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PzbCinBdVr5BDr0CAosv8mzsfUwYTEqnSLyld1H490Xrbg6pVkyoJRuUsooP7WWeCLKHbYn2oS6IZzZY-ylUpCTaoHkY7CB1XpUf24qQN1gr31dfjflz112_G_1WaUNZ7K-v8MLhJ3s/s1600/Spillmaster-carpet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PzbCinBdVr5BDr0CAosv8mzsfUwYTEqnSLyld1H490Xrbg6pVkyoJRuUsooP7WWeCLKHbYn2oS6IZzZY-ylUpCTaoHkY7CB1XpUf24qQN1gr31dfjflz112_G_1WaUNZ7K-v8MLhJ3s/s320/Spillmaster-carpet1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Spillmaster at work. Pick the glass up first!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">We are often
called to properties that have had a calamitous liquid accident of some sort
and it seems, as luck would have it, they mostly occur very soon after people
have had new wool carpets laid! I don’t know why these accidents happen at this
precise moment but they do!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Often the
clients have either not persevered with their clean-up or they have managed to
compound the problems by spreading the spilled fluid around in a wholly unnecessary
and arbitrary manner – usually this happens because they are in a bit of a
panic. The phrase ‘gay abandon’ comes to mind but of course the use of such
phrases now probably breaks the law in several US states.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Much of this (shall we call it) frantic activity is accompanied by lavish use of one of those spray bottles of
carpet cleaner fluid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As I tell
customers who use these products they are all very well (up to a point i.e. the point when you put them in the cupboard) but the
more they spray on the stain the more it tends to merely mask or hide the marks
left by the staining fluid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">With this
there is also the likelihood that the active ingredient (usually sodium percarbonate)
will bleach the stain and more importantly some of the carpet that surrounds
the stain. And therefore we now have two problems for a carpet cleaner. A
partly removed stain and a partly bleached carpet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">With this
cheap and functional device you can simply suck up the fluid thoroughly and
hence prevent any ‘gay abandon’ at all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">So buy one and
avoid having to call us in to clean up the mess – we are fed up clearing up
your mess (this is a joke by the way we love cleaning up mess!).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">See an
online demo of the device on Youtube:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://youtu.be/mDykfeQpFqQ">http://youtu.be/mDykfeQpFqQ</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If you must
call us in to clear up your mess our website is at
www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-27215530360747842572012-04-29T06:27:00.003-07:002012-04-29T06:29:28.664-07:00To vac or not to vac - that is the question...Yes springtime is just about over and here in the UK it is the time we as a nation start to think about two things. What to do in the garden with the dead daffodil leaves and spring cleaning!<br />
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For the SteamCleanCarpetService.co.uk this is our busiest time of the year and this year - despite the double-dip recession - is no exception.<br />
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As an industry we are faced with a tidal wave of facts and figures bandied about by those we buy from, those we consult, and from people we admire or rely on as 'experts'. <br />
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Possibly the most 'bandied about' fact concerns the composition of the accumulated muck in your carpet that carpet cleaning (in all its forms) seeks to remove.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTOrcGqjNQVcLKtfN-7RRz8nCBIvI7t6oYB6XXeJXQ1srEz69B0loJ-TYosp8lVLJiLgENFG4SsscyjPee55eILugYlLGOWCBzMqiUXgd-Jb45E2OWUnb5KBYr4zWFY5x8RPjd0wpuVs/s1600/springtime4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTOrcGqjNQVcLKtfN-7RRz8nCBIvI7t6oYB6XXeJXQ1srEz69B0loJ-TYosp8lVLJiLgENFG4SsscyjPee55eILugYlLGOWCBzMqiUXgd-Jb45E2OWUnb5KBYr4zWFY5x8RPjd0wpuVs/s320/springtime4.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These 'experts' opine that 80% of this accumulated muck is 'dry soil' which they suggest can be removed by dry vacuum alone.<br />
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Carpet cleaners might be forgiven for feeling a tad naked when confronted with this 'fact'. Does it mean that our whole multi-million pound service industry is based on the 20% of accumulated soil that the consumer cannot deal with on their own?<br />
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In truth most carpet cleaners would be hard pushed to prove this so-called ‘fact’. All professional carpet cleaners will in most cases vacuum the carpet before they commence the specialist cleaning operation that they sell. In our case that subsequent specialist operation is the finest steam carpet cleaning that money can buy!<br />
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Most home owners do vacuum their carpets on a pretty regular basis - some vacuum very occasionally and a few people (tenants and other people such as say students who are apparently pre-occupied with other things) never vacuum their carpets at all... ever!<br />
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The job needs to be done twice weekly or even daily on entrance areas around your main doors. There we have said it now - you need a daily vacuum regime!<br />
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But even if you have the best vaccing regime in the world you will at some stage still need to engage the services of a professional carpet cleaner.<br />
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Often we will be called in to homes with specific problems identified by the home-owner. Often it is traffic lanes and shuffle spots (where people's feet rest when they sit down in a chair) that are making people think their carpets look dirty and discoloured.<br />
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Usually they are right - dirt has attached itself to the pile of the carpet by electro-static action or because the dirt itself contained moisture - either way its not possible to simply vacuum this attached dirt away - no matter how good the vacuum.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRN3YZ1DOODHTIETn260RPD8BivjxRWsIen-pEMLb1RLgi8ileA9e_ebb5-Xoeuq_geTYs5yoIQ_xiVR58S0bdBmu2uSUlp3BowrpirANk-a-gI4h_2SVrL19m9j5OCaK0IRT4TYkNhNg/s1600/chemspec_pile_lifter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRN3YZ1DOODHTIETn260RPD8BivjxRWsIen-pEMLb1RLgi8ileA9e_ebb5-Xoeuq_geTYs5yoIQ_xiVR58S0bdBmu2uSUlp3BowrpirANk-a-gI4h_2SVrL19m9j5OCaK0IRT4TYkNhNg/s320/chemspec_pile_lifter.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chemspec pile lifter vacuum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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We will use a commercial vacuum cleaner (it has two motors) first or in extreme cases we may use a pile-lifting vacuum - this is a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner with a very stiff roller brush that really penetrates to the bottom of the pile to beat up, agitate and remove deep down dry soil. Above is the particular Chemspec model that we use:<br />
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The secret of the success of any operation in terms of dust removal is to know what you are dealing with. To do this you have to get down and dirty with your carpet.<br />
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So don't be shy, get on your knees and do what we do to examine how much dry soil, hair, dust mite litter, pet dander and cut pile there is deep down in the carpet. If necessary then use a magnifying glass like we do.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGloNJuOyLNpC9J354H4LKGkSo29rhkE4P1yP1NkIdR1e9kR4vJQShJbfwlFTtrWXESfRDwRUtQTkk4AVgxucKYXI5YL8LNYzkrZYsuJyFqVS0tdDMOSGelOqjWR-Px4zO__sbl5M_bAI/s1600/PileLifterSoil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGloNJuOyLNpC9J354H4LKGkSo29rhkE4P1yP1NkIdR1e9kR4vJQShJbfwlFTtrWXESfRDwRUtQTkk4AVgxucKYXI5YL8LNYzkrZYsuJyFqVS0tdDMOSGelOqjWR-Px4zO__sbl5M_bAI/s320/PileLifterSoil.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extreme example of cut pile and soil removed from a hotel carpet using a Chemspec pile lifter</td></tr>
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If there is a lot then we certainly don't want to get the carpet damp or steam it when there is a chance this soil will be converted into sticky mud that is adding to the poor appearance of the carpet. If its dry and removable we want to remove it dry.<br />
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So the next time you think about your carpets and you have a magnifying glass in your hand you know what to do!<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-34608296651625431972012-04-26T13:52:00.000-07:002013-12-12T07:23:45.008-08:00Got an empty house? Now get the carpets cleaned...It seems like (to use that over-used expression) a bit of a 'no-brainer' but if you find you have an empty house at your disposal why would you not get the carpets cleaned when there is nothing else in the house?<br />
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In the UK we do not necessarily think of carpet cleaning as a necessity. I don't think I can put it in a more straight forward (or inelegant) way than that.<br />
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To anyone in the carpet cleaning industry though it makes perfect sense to us that if a house is being emptied of all its normal furniture, bookcases, sideboards, tables and chairs, beds, wardrobes and other furnishing clutter the carpets should be steam cleaned.<br />
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By that I mean properly steam-cleaned - not brushed over with some luke warm water and a load of cheap sudsy carpet shampoo whereupon this un-holy mess is badly hoovered up with a hired carpet cleaner from the DIY shop! Yes you know the brand - worse than useless!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtqtcSMN7YiqPHdRM-xTon5M-FRhVQUcT8HYQdx1Ze1VM_sODlsILhXsagny2N3WLWqu1Ur3JAUJvoavikDBlcClQC8CDVbttrAX6NN3JUpzt_LyMSQ_IqAGDSLQnKYp2lsCrZpFQQkY/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtqtcSMN7YiqPHdRM-xTon5M-FRhVQUcT8HYQdx1Ze1VM_sODlsILhXsagny2N3WLWqu1Ur3JAUJvoavikDBlcClQC8CDVbttrAX6NN3JUpzt_LyMSQ_IqAGDSLQnKYp2lsCrZpFQQkY/s320/0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We cleaned what is known in the trade as an 'EOT' the other day - nothing remarkable about that, an End of Tenancy is usually an opportunity for the landlord to get a good look at their investment when the previous tenants have moved out but before they get their deposit back from the letting agent.<br />
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We try to encourage our letting agent clients to remind their landlords that after any re-decorating and the general cleaning is done the last thing before new tenants arrive is to have the carpets thoroughly steam-cleaned by one of our truck-mounted units.<br />
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This is usually a great chance for us to do the very best job we can by having access to every square centimetre (or inch if you like) of carpet and to survey and clearly identify all dirty traffic lanes and stains and to really go to town on the clean.<br />
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These are very satisfying jobs for us because we go away feeling we have really earned our corn by getting into every nook and cranny and giving the landlord a report on the state of the carpets as they were at the end of the last tenancy and as they were left by us at the start of the new tenancy.<br />
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So if you rent from a letting agent or own a property that is rented out or are buying a property for your family home then please work out a time when the property will be empty and you can give a reputable carpet cleaning company a window of opportunity to work their magic. You know it makes sense...<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.comLymington, Hampshire, UK50.758531 -1.541909950.718352499999995 -1.6208739 50.7987095 -1.4629459tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-47282138574618477152011-10-27T07:34:00.000-07:002011-10-27T07:34:35.265-07:00Of Moths and Myths…One of the regular carpet-related consumer problems we get asked to sort is moths. More often than not though, the owners of said carpets are completely unaware that they have a problem.<br />
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The tell-tale signs are not that easy to spot. But once you have seen carpet moth damage in a variety of different environments you can quickly tell if the damaged carpets you are looking at have ended up like that because of human (or family pet) action or because you have unwanted flying (and crawling) visitors!<br />
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It is also called the clothes moth but that is in fact another species - the webbing clothes moth or Tineola Bisselliella. Our prime suspect for carpet damage however is the case bearing or case making moth and to give it its latin name Tinea Pellionella.<br />
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One of the best and simplest ways of coping with carpet moths is to vacuum your wool carpets rigorously and often, especially around the edges and in dark corners and behind curtains.<br />
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If you do have a good vacuum regime (!) this actually makes our job a little more difficult because one of the telltale signs is lots of little ‘cases’ scattered around the skirting boards and attached to the inside of curtains and tangled up in cobwebs under furniture. <br />
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If you do find one and it looks something like the ones in the picture then you might try ‘popping’ it and hence killing the little bugger – just squeeze it and the mini-beast’s head will shoot out of one end of the ‘case’ as you cancel his future!<br />
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I have picked them up and put them to one side and then later when I came back to kill them in front of the customer the little buggers have crawled some distance away to make their escape.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh141NBJrHmb9qCCW6wPgg1e4i01gX_eR4xuP2z5YojOmVNoqOgsc077cbiVJafjMQ3wkYS8LdkHSD-lV08SfOxIXvDtQTI2n70dlTAsYlUZ9UWw8JrlYcyYLidbivLIUcW5WjCySqmR4M/s1600/case-bearing_moth_larvae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh141NBJrHmb9qCCW6wPgg1e4i01gX_eR4xuP2z5YojOmVNoqOgsc077cbiVJafjMQ3wkYS8LdkHSD-lV08SfOxIXvDtQTI2n70dlTAsYlUZ9UWw8JrlYcyYLidbivLIUcW5WjCySqmR4M/s320/case-bearing_moth_larvae.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The case it has made was spun by the worm-like larvae from fibres in your carpet and while it was eating your wool carpet the creature was planning to pupate inside the case and then hatch and start the life-cycle all over again.<br />
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We can spray for them but this is obviously a chargeable service and really needs to be repeated initially on a monthly basis and very few customers will bear the cost of that operation.<br />
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Often we will do the first spray very thoroughly and then brief the client what to do next if they want to control them. We will price into our service a later re-visit 6 moths later to tell them if the moths are still a problem. <br />
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Unless you take really drastic measures, control may be the only feasible level of treatment and is often all you can achieve because - it only takes a couple of missed adults to see the colonisation re-commence at a later stage.<br />
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The case moth can do considerable damage to a carpet and if left to their own devices they will go forth and multiply and absolutely destroy a carpets so as to make it a candidate for replacement.<br />
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I recommend that the self treatment begins a month after we have treated the carpets. Buy a good aerosol moth killer (Rentokil do one called Insectrol) and spray around all the skirting boards in your wool carpeted rooms and under furniture and in any dark and slightly forgotten corners like behind the television table where the moths can carry on their trade in relative peace and quiet.<br />
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Also make sure you knock down and kill any of the adult males that can be sometimes seen flying around at night – they are said not to like light but they will fly towards a flickering TV screen in an otherwise darkened room. The female adults crawl around but are similar in size and description to the males – both are small, brown and fairly feeble-looking things.<br />
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Often our clients are horrified when we tell them they have moths but there is nothing dirty about them – I can find them under furniture in most smart homes and it is a sign of the times that the undersides of old furniture inherited from parents will often be festooned with case moth larvae dead and alive. <br />
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So when you inherited your parents’ beautiful antique furniture you may also have inherited their moth problem which an antique dealer 'sold' them!<br />
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Any problems with moths? Let me know and I will see if I can help…<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-46761208602655726552011-09-17T09:59:00.000-07:002011-09-17T09:59:45.833-07:00<SCRIPT charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript" src="http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?rt=tf_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822/GB/steamclcouk-21/8001/059d315e-6359-4cf0-8f86-d63b4856bae1"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT><A HREF="http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?rt=tf_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822%2FGB%2Fsteamclcouk-21%2F8001%2F059d315e-6359-4cf0-8f86-d63b4856bae1&Operation=NoScript">Amazon.co.uk Widgets</A></NOSCRIPT><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.comLymington, Hampshire, UK50.7577513 -1.548951200000033250.730885300000004 -1.5864502000000331 50.7846173 -1.5114522000000332tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-44957660955815542482011-08-22T05:22:00.000-07:002011-08-22T08:09:08.609-07:00Cleaning carpets is not just about appearance, but also a health issue…According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, indoor air quality is one of the top five most urgent environmental risks to public health. Especially in the winter, when buildings are insulated against the cold, indoor air is often two to five times more polluted than the air outside.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uPI-aRZsJDeHolKWlYgSirwmpyCDHe07mgpz6-1uV5KnOA_l9EVO09fBL3fjbUgT-tRwc70qgQUCZLBFfdRtv0CyxjzZC_B-dCQNvKVw00NrjQVt-iJH1_84uZoibfkXLm6shUVHGYg/s1600/airquality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="187" width="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uPI-aRZsJDeHolKWlYgSirwmpyCDHe07mgpz6-1uV5KnOA_l9EVO09fBL3fjbUgT-tRwc70qgQUCZLBFfdRtv0CyxjzZC_B-dCQNvKVw00NrjQVt-iJH1_84uZoibfkXLm6shUVHGYg/s320/airquality.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Further to this the American Lung Association is seeking to educate the public about the benefits of healthy indoor air quality. Cleaning carpets is not just about appearance, but also a health issue. <br />
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Case studies have shown that regular steam carpet cleaning on an annual basis coupled with a regular vacuming regimen, can help to transform a ‘sick building’ into a more healthy environment, thus reducing illness due to respiratory-related problems. <br />
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-65454774624290111372010-12-15T02:52:00.000-08:002010-12-15T05:18:13.893-08:00How much is it to clean one square metre? (and make it snappy)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its like the joke about the man who goes into the Bush Tucker Trial Shop. Bear with me here, as I'm sure you've heard the punchline before. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">He walks up to the counter and says to the man who is serving "Gimme a crocodile sandwich - and make it snappy!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had a telephone call like this recently. The well-spoken lady on the end of the phone had no time to spare. She wanted an answer to her question and she wanted it quickly. Her question was not about crocodillians at all but it was simple and to the point. "How much to clean a square metre of carpet?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I deferred in a weak and defensive manner. "Err.. well its not quite as simple as that!" I have heard the question before and usually I express our firm policy in a more forthright manner. This lady was quite bullish though and she did not take fools like me very kindly. She repeated her question.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I explained that rather than give an outright price per square metre we would be more than willing to pop around at a time to suit her</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> to do a survey of the carpets that needed cleaning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This was not received with anything other than what I can only describe as frosty exasperation. She did not have time to do this and she just wanted to know how much we charged - yes you guessed it - per square metre.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to explain how we did not like to operate like this as the condition of the carpet was important when considering how much time we would take to clean the carpets. As the operator of two, high-end premium value systems we believe that we provide a much hotter and deeper clean than most of our competitors and that our cost base is different from an operator using an electric system.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofGCcty1a89ks04l1IF2VegE320XSXZPSfL_Vraa7wcM3VQ1SvSXLYkmc6P2sQtx9QVTTgbDLqK_28UIBV-Y1K5iConHHVS-BMcoxEkcHReFMWHNXXY4aVdhlfOIftJ3yf-dUUMjLbMA/s1600/Rug-Doctor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofGCcty1a89ks04l1IF2VegE320XSXZPSfL_Vraa7wcM3VQ1SvSXLYkmc6P2sQtx9QVTTgbDLqK_28UIBV-Y1K5iConHHVS-BMcoxEkcHReFMWHNXXY4aVdhlfOIftJ3yf-dUUMjLbMA/s320/Rug-Doctor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>Quite frankly I think this picture has been retouched - what do you think?</em></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I quickly tried to explain how much better our clean was going to get her carpets and how we would not be using her electricity or water or venting the stale damp air from her carpets all over her house - all in vain as she was much too busy to let us quote properly, she just wanted to know - yes you guessed it again - how much per square metre.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">By this time I was losing her - if she had been in the same room her eyes would have glazed over - she was busy, she didn't have time for all this unnecessary detail. We lost the sale because I was unable to convince her that it was not as simple as she was making out - I hope she got a similar response from other carpet cleaners but I doubt it!</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the risk of mixing my animal metaphors I hope she was able to pay peanuts (as that appeared to be her mission) and I hope she got a monkey with a Rugdoctor<span style="font-family: Courier New;">®</span>...</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-49876893473441114062010-11-23T11:29:00.000-08:002010-11-23T12:11:25.271-08:001001 cleans a big, big carpet for less than half a crownI remember a particularly enthralling episode (no seriously - I was young and enthusiastic) from Advertising Practice that was a part of my business studies course at Bournemouth College. The lecturer sought to explain to us how one of the classic case studies of all time in the annals of British advertising practice was that of the Babycham brand. <br />
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The advertising and marketing plan was the brainchild of the inventor of the product who had discovered that he could market fizzy pear juice (or perry) and turn a good profit by selling it as an upmarket champagne-type drink for 'ladies'. He used all his trading profits to buy prime time TV space on ITV and he managed to get a cardboard cut-out of a sexy girl with a small pony (!) and a bottle of his product into the lounge bar of virtually every single pub in the country.<br />
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Such was the success of the campaign and so widespread was brand awareness that after five years or so of lavish media spend he stopped advertising altogether and really started to coin it in terms of net profits. He wrote off the cost of this advertising off over many years and reaped the benefit of the position it had established as <em>the</em> class drink for sophisticated female people!<br />
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I imagine females stopped asking for Babycham some years ago as it is definitely a product of the past - did it even survive into the 1980s I ask myself? I bet among ladies of a certain age though that brand awareness is still very high - they may not want one (even if they could still get hold of one) but they will definitely not have forgotten the drink. In a way it was the Barcardi Breezer of its time when there was nothing else on the market to compare.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlTb6hsx_09QEhmbrlUNyzeckO-Eli_dY5yjZTIyzhEv2vhoRCjlZTMG8ol4LujI6TvJYwf0J98iUNX0WbZ97fXxY50fSam9zQJBV0TsLnmxW1ZbXVkTLj4bP_9Ugbbd9w4VnUMyDPsg/s1600/1001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlTb6hsx_09QEhmbrlUNyzeckO-Eli_dY5yjZTIyzhEv2vhoRCjlZTMG8ol4LujI6TvJYwf0J98iUNX0WbZ97fXxY50fSam9zQJBV0TsLnmxW1ZbXVkTLj4bP_9Ugbbd9w4VnUMyDPsg/s1600/1001.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Its the same with 1001 - the generation that grew up thinking Babycham was a great drink also grew up thinking that when it came to cleaning your carpet or rug there was only one name and that name was 1001. The slogan that accompanied the TV adverts was distinctive and memorable but must in the end have been a bit limiting on profits. <br />
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It did not matter that people had no other equipment when they set out to clean their carpet, if they had a bottle of 1001 then they could get the job done! The brand awareness of 1001 is incredible - among the group of lets say old<em>er</em> people (i.e. 45 plus) who are regular users of carpet cleaning services then I estimate that 9 out of ten have either used the product or have a bottle under the sink. <br />
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I have proven this to myself on countless occasions by asking people - and its not as if the product is advertised today - you see it in big supermarkets but its definitely the Babycham of carpet cleaning - the product is very mature or should that be obsolescent? They actually have a huge range of 1001 products but most people just know the brand cleans carpets.<br />
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Professional carpet cleaners hate the product with a vengeance. I understand this and feel much the same but I am not sure this is a rational reaction. We (truckmounted operators) can deal with it fairly easily and in truth it is a minor inconvenience in our working day. The product tends to be over-applied and it foams like crazy when we try to extract it - to such an extent that sometimes one has to use a specialised defoamer in the recovery tank to fight the froth.<br />
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The experience I have had with this product is that it is invariably used without any reference to the instructions and often it is simply left on or in the dirt/stain/mark - delete where appropriate for your situation! <br />
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It is always rubbed into the dirt/stain/mark - an action which usually causes an abrasion of the carpet fibres - so a bad situation has just been made worse. Never rub a carpet - agitate a carpet gently with a clean, white terry towel or use a white paper towel. Terry towels carry water much better than paper towels so if you want to remove the hated 1001 then that is the best option - doing it this way is not a quick job.<br />
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Most of the dirt/stain/mark removal jobs we do have been worked on before we get to them but more often than not the DIY carpet cleaner gave up far to early. If you stick at it with white towels or better still you have a wet/dry vacuum then you can remove the hated substance and the tepid water you have applied (with a spray bottle) and hopefully the plain dirt or staining substance will be sucked up as well.<br />
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It is undeniable that some (usually but not always wool) carpets will stain when a spill gets into the individual fibres - this is probably the time to get a professional in to deal with the consequences. The key is knowing when a spill is in danger of becoming a stain. Commonsense will tell most people what the chances are of any particular stain becoming permanent. <br />
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This risk of a stain increases with the passage of time, allowing the stain to dry out, using googled remedies and half-hearted or heavy-handed treatments also increases this risk. When a stain has 'set' in the fibre due to one of these then with some staining material and some carpets NOTHING will shift it subsequently. You might be able to re-colour the carpet but getting the original stain out may be impossible.<br />
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In terms of the use of 1001 specifically though I have found that when it has been used on purely dirt marks (i.e. tracked in and/or greasy soil rather than potential staining materials) that it can act as a catalyst to gather the soil together - what happens next is err... nothing - because that is where the DIY person usually stops. <br />
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The soapy 1001 stays in the carpet along with the dirt and it is the application of the 1001 that makes the carpet <em>look</em> cleaner. The dirt may have been rounded up and pointed in the right direction but the final extraction part of the equation is often not achieved. The effect is that the so-called stain (but probably just soil) has been disguised in the form of a sticky residue that acts as a magnet for NEW dirt. Hence the oft heard complaint that "It looked better at first but now it looks dirty again!"<br />
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I have found on these occasions that when we come along with very high temperature cleaning solutions and industrial strength vacuum power we can rinse out the 1001 <em>and</em> the dirt and leave the carpets truly clean. In some cases it can actually make the job easier...<br />
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<a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/">http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-44108114930159135852010-11-18T13:57:00.000-08:002010-11-23T07:14:23.490-08:00Cowboys and the revenge of the small, frail, white-haired senior citizen...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Older ladies still like to control certain aspects of the running of the home - this includes the maintenance of household fabrics such as curtains and carpets - they probably had a big say in what was purchased new and they have a say in how these things are maintained.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I met just such a lady recently in somewhat unusual circumstances as out of the blue we got a call from a small, white-haired (as it turned out) pensioner who wanted our advice. I took the call and discovered that she had had a visit from a 'splash and dash merchant'. She was upset and she wanted to know if there were any good guys out there in planet carpet clean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I said I thought there were plenty and many of them like us are truck mounted operators. I suggested we could try to fit the bill for her. She asked if we could rectify the mess left by the cowboy operator as she was now faced with no option as the 'rootin-tootin' bunch had declined a re-visit to clear up their own mess.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNSy3baZpagBETU3ODLB-TINEoMH0Py1h9QOsP2Q1dJUd0jF-ne-r4frf_YK9Ppdh1RSr-XzVh00V9eCxiWpjK6xt4qgXFTMdnsq6iC8Py5C2-uE1dl6MrHjnEi5RIGXayW9qcqNQUUA/s1600/cowboys1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="238" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNSy3baZpagBETU3ODLB-TINEoMH0Py1h9QOsP2Q1dJUd0jF-ne-r4frf_YK9Ppdh1RSr-XzVh00V9eCxiWpjK6xt4qgXFTMdnsq6iC8Py5C2-uE1dl6MrHjnEi5RIGXayW9qcqNQUUA/s320/cowboys1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rootin tootin gang</span></em></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She had got through to the boss who said she had obviously had the wrong sort of carpet clean and she should have had a 'proper job' which (you'll never guess) cost considerably more than the cheap price the girl had offered her on the phone for the basic job.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently (as she told me) the company's telephone sales operation had called her five times in total before they had got her to agree to the visit and when she gave in and invited them in, the cowboy tried to upsell the touted price in a classic case of 'bait and switch'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She had refused to be upsold and although she had only wanted them to do her stairs and tiny hall - most of the latter covered by a runner - the clown had said he would do three rooms (hall and stairs being two of these rooms - yeah go figure that one) and an upstairs bedroom which she said didn't need doing but he insisted!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well the upshot was the bedroom was not dirty so he could not make a mess of that but the stairs and hall at the foot of the stairs were left looking worse than before with dirt being drawn somewhat out of the carpet and then left on the surface in a muddy, soapy slurry that was pooled at the foot of the flight and smudged down the risers and nosings on the stairs themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now she had a surprise for the company in the form of son who is a solicitor and therefore has plenty of free legal advice to offer and to enable her to mount a county court action to recoup her money and claim for the extra costs of putting the problem right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went in with the appropriate level of genuinely powerful steam cleaning and remedied the job to a standard that the cowboy/clown could not have achieved in a month of Sundays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We priced our job properly and charged a resonable price for a good job done. The cowboys wanted her to buy something she had not wanted and she had been tempted by the cheap offer of three rooms for a very low price and then when she refused to play their game had simply done a quick, rubbish job and dashed off to fleece someone else - just the sort of conduct that gives the trade a bad reputation.Thanks guys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure you are about to see that small, frail ,white-haired lady in court. Yippee ky ay...</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.SteamCleanCarpetService.co.uk</span></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-58931475559386959032010-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:002010-11-25T07:54:42.048-08:00Simples... just remove this here red wine stainIts one of the calls most professional carpet cleaners least like to get. Its a regular customer who has already given you various solid referrals i.e. she's told all her lunch buddies you can work miracles.<br />
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Now she tells you about a large, full maxi glass of red wine that she dropped right in the middle of the carpet last night. After the jokes about not having a drink problem, and it was actually only the first glass of the evening not the last, we turn to the job in hand.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHm9NYbj_Q_CLC7c6Y3lbo1NKCIAq1dYoU1C56nO1gYTR7irIOu64geWOGdVo-bseQxbGkdFXrrISqvTQha-zoX6s6Y2jZYDrG8JSioNbH63sMTzKQitBtgfUwg2QQ42nnQAHUhgJtNM/s1600/redwine.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHm9NYbj_Q_CLC7c6Y3lbo1NKCIAq1dYoU1C56nO1gYTR7irIOu64geWOGdVo-bseQxbGkdFXrrISqvTQha-zoX6s6Y2jZYDrG8JSioNbH63sMTzKQitBtgfUwg2QQ42nnQAHUhgJtNM/s320/redwine.bmp" width="247" /></a></div><br />
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As the boss I have taken this job on because as any carpet cleaner will tell you, red wine can be a bit of a bugger! At best of times stain removal is a risky business and hence can be a no-win situation commercially. If you take on a serious stain removal job that goes wrong you can end up 'owning' the carpet - while all carpet cleaners should be insured for 'treatment risk' they will not want to put that to the test and wise old greybeards may simply 'walk away' from the problem. Apart from the owner's often dim recollections you have no real knowledge of what it is you are treating.<br />
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Dirty carpets we like - stained carpets are something else so although its sounds like splitting carpet fibres they are two separate things! So it can make you a hero or a zero and should be approached with caution and you need to be sure of your routine before you start 'dosing the fibres' with chems - as we say in the trade.<br />
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First it depends on the construction of the carpet and the fibre content (this one is mostly wool) and it depends on the wine as well - some seems to come out alot easier than others. It can also be an old stain that has had the sun shining on it through a nearby door or window.<br />
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This one happened yesterday when it looks as if the full glass has flown across the floor with wine issuing out in all directions plus there are large concentrations where the glass first fell and where it bounced and worst of all where it ended up - plus many splatter marks! Nice.<br />
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Sadly the other problem which often rears its ugly head is DIY treatments - and this lot has had plenty. It has had the ubiquitous 1001 (a full bottle) and a product called Wine Away used on it - neither had worked to any negligible effect and may have made the stain harder to remove in the long run as the stain appeared to have been spread around and rubbed into the carpet.<br />
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The valued customer has done their best but has not removed any significant quantity of wine from the carpet. I got to work by starting with our standard first level of attack, rinsing out the chemicals with a mild dilute acidic rinse between courses and working up to the last resort. Some of the stains needed three treatments and several applications were left to dwell on the carpet for short periods.<br />
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A small portable wet/dry extractor was used during the rinsing stages and the active chemicals were mostly removed by repeated application of freshly laundered, white cotton terry towels.<br />
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Ninety minutes later the result is one pile of 'wine pink' terry towels, one clean, stain free carpet and one very satisfied and relieved customer. My only regret, I did not take any photographs for this blog!<br />
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<a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/">http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-27834493474363915082010-11-07T10:47:00.000-08:002010-11-23T07:13:35.739-08:00Here's the scientific bit again!<div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As trailed in a recent post, most truck-mount operators in the UK use high or very high temperature cleaning solutions at the exact point where they are actually steam cleaning the carpet. They set their machines up (at least in most domestic situations) as close to the property as they can reasonably get and when they are ready for the steam/clean extraction part of the operation they dispense steaming water/cleaning solution into the face fibre of the carpet. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">And at risk of repeating myself we have to re-iterate (did'nt you just say that? Ed.) <strong>the temperature of the cleaning solution</strong> is the single most important factor in the effectiveness of carpet cleaning.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
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<blockquote style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><em>Temperature is important in exciting chemicals, causing them to perform more efficiently, and in reducing the surface tension of water. In the HWE cleaning process, a temperature advantage is achieved primarily when hot water is injected into the carpet in the extraction phase which serves to accelerate pre-conditioning chemicals one final time, during the rinse process.</em><span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">It is a scientific fact that the hotter the water the better the clean. As like the above reference these figures have come from 'over the pond' I hope you will forgive me if we leave them in Farenheit. The original source of these figures is an American university scientific paper and I want to be as faithful to that source as possible.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">What it says though is that for every 18 degrees Fahrenheit rise in temperature above 118 degrees Fahrenheit, chemical activity doubles. This continues until you reach a temperature of approximately 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius). This applies to all the cleaning chemicals we use for carpet cleaning.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpA9_pT20l-WiXGfrvIdcoeZ4e7rPt4WpWLF_I3_IyAnCPRy_X649MD6zyg5605AVw1NrdRLIV-NHAbDE8gy1k8C96XJIlOwg6W8wzITVReQ73mg2671SyukYdmsB48lLSgpHlM8BmfE/s1600/steam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpA9_pT20l-WiXGfrvIdcoeZ4e7rPt4WpWLF_I3_IyAnCPRy_X649MD6zyg5605AVw1NrdRLIV-NHAbDE8gy1k8C96XJIlOwg6W8wzITVReQ73mg2671SyukYdmsB48lLSgpHlM8BmfE/s320/steam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>This is what steam looks like!</em></span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">Regardless of whether you are cleaning carpets, washing dishes or doing your weekly laundry! Very hot water offers increased grease-dissolving properties due to entropy. Even without detergent, small amounts of some greases will dissolve in water. In very hot water that grease-dissolving power can be increased by a factor of ten!</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">You can clean greasy dinner plates solely with scalding hot water, without even using a detergent - it works, give it a try next time you have to do the washing-up!</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;"><a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/">http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1 International E-Journal of Flooring Sciences</span><a href="http://www.flooringsciences.org/e-journal/0407/0407_bishop_science-carpet-cleaning.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Science of Carpet </span></a><a href="http://www.flooringsciences.org/e-journal/0407/0407_bishop_science-carpet-cleaning.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cleaning </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">by Jeff Bishop</span></span></div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-20275499102709515382010-11-06T14:03:00.000-07:002010-11-23T07:13:18.205-08:00Selling your Home? Here is a home-seller’s guide to steam cleaning your carpets for extra saleability…<div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When it comes to selling your property as we all know first impressions are vital. As soon as prospective buyers step into a home on a viewing at least one of them will switch to serious adult mode and actually start analysing what they are buying.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">They know they are not buying the giant flat screen TV over the fireplace or that ultra-chic glass dining table; but the chances are they are buying the carpets as part of the fixtures and fittings of the house.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As a seller then you need to present this asset in the best possible light – tired, grubby looking carpets (even worse are carpets that smell of pets) can put potential buyers off your whole house – its illogical but it happens!</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When asked, people say they are going to change the carpets as soon as they move in, but in fact they know in the back of their minds they will probably still be living with the same floor coverings six months or a year later – and in many cases much longer than that. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When you’ve just moved in, unpacked all the boxes and got all the furniture arranged to your heart’s desire it’s a tough call to suddenly uproot everything again so you can replace all the carpets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In truth there is no need to go through all this upset and expense, when a day given over to a professional carpet cleaner can restore your carpets as close to their new condition as possible by the removal of the dirt, dust mites, pet dander, grime, grit and grease that naturally accumulates in the carpets in any normal home.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the great old US of A, people who have carpets and ‘area’ rugs get them steam cleaned on an annual basis by a professional truck-mounted unit. In the States the steam cleaning of carpets is a huge industry. And here in the UK some operators are equipped with the same professional kit as their colleagues in the US.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the UK there seems to be a general reluctance to treat fitted carpets in the same way as we do our other household fabrics. The truth is that carpets collect alot of residue from everyday life including large concentrations of dead skin, dust mites, pet dander and of course walked in grit, grease and soil, the majority of which of which cannot simply be vacuumed away.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the best results in a domestic situation your best bet is to engage the services of a local company who use a powerful truck-mounted steam and vacuum extraction system which is driven by a large petrol or diesel powered engine. This system is known as HWE or Hot Water Extraction and is the system recommended by most carpet manufacturers themselves.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In brief, the trained operator will first vacuum your carpets with an industrial strength twin-motor vacuum cleaner and then pre-spray with a soapy substance that will help to separate and emulsify the stubborn soil attached to the pile of the carpet.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">After the pre-spray is agitated and left to ‘dwell’ on the carpet the truck mounted system is then employed to spray (at relatively high pressure, say between 300 and 600psi) a detergent in a very hot mixture onto the face fibre of the carpet and then extract that mixture (along with the soil and other pollutants and contaminants) using an industrial-strength vacuum almost as soon as it is forced into the carpet.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QdbVou1EXK4OcIpV0GHoV6oJS2OH7FitJfTZYeHtELu1YV3v3lvvNNfILDDu1l75cWbzS4UKikXQFew7g1KQEDT8zs_uxtQMSsovW5SKTF2nWe_Aii8EY-H9PISHlrxvOyauTYCLY78/s1600/Wand2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QdbVou1EXK4OcIpV0GHoV6oJS2OH7FitJfTZYeHtELu1YV3v3lvvNNfILDDu1l75cWbzS4UKikXQFew7g1KQEDT8zs_uxtQMSsovW5SKTF2nWe_Aii8EY-H9PISHlrxvOyauTYCLY78/s320/Wand2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Real steam – and NOT water vapour – will be seen jetting from the end of the metal floor tool (or wand) used by the operator. The National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) will tell you (on their website) that the term 'steam-cleaning' is a mis-nomer and that the term mis-represents all kinds of hot water extraction - in fact they and others who repeat this are WRONG and they all need to update their knowledge and their websites. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Most truck-mount operators in the UK do in fact use very high temperature solutions at the 'coal face' i.e. at the exact point where they are actually steam cleaning the carpet they dispense very hot, steaming water/cleaning solution into the face fibre of the carpet. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt;">The temperature of the cleaning solution is the single most important factor in cleaning, regardless of whether you are cleaning carpets, washing dishes or doing your weekly laundry! You can even clean greasy dinner plates solely with scalding hot water without even using a detergent - it works, give it a try!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The fresh water for the steam mixture and the soiled waste hot water that is recovered is serviced by separate large tanks on board the truck-mounted unit. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This vehicle will want to pull up fairly adjacent to your side or front door so that they can trail their large bore vacuum recovery hose and high pressure steam hose into the house. Don’t be put off if you have poor vehicular access to your property as the systems used can operate at a considerable distance away from your home. See the video here that illustrates the lengths our company goes to for our customers!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzwDJbzX4nGGotom3nB8PVbOm8lH00S5v2Y5eq6uvd_71IdR6xgavZsvqCmHqhdOPbIMUcAERXFGWs75LKNDg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">These machines are extremely efficient and effective and once they are set up they can clean very large areas of carpet very quickly. Drying times vary but can be as short as an hour or as long as three hours. Your carpets should never however be left in a 'wet' condition - if this happens you should be asking some serious questions of your carpet cleaner.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Good carpet cleaning comes at a cost but it will not be excessive if you have a reasonable number of rooms to clean. The old adage about ‘buy cheap – buy twice’ certainly applies to carpet cleaning and it is definitely worth asking if the operator uses a ‘truck-mounted system’. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are numerous unscrupulous operators about in the UK who are known in our trade as 'splash and dash' merchants who use using glorified DIY hire machines which are usually under-powered electric systems that are woefully short on either true heat-cleaning ability or drying (vacuum) power and leave you carpets no cleaner than when they started. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sometimes, as highlighted by the recent <em>Watchdog</em> programme, inefficient, low-powered electric carpet cleaning operators can actually make your carpets look dirtier than they were before they started. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Reputable operators are fully insured for unlikely events such as treatment risk and will give you their full company address details.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It may be tempting but please do not get your carpets cleaned by the company who simply push a card through your door with a mobile number and an offer of 'whole house' carpet cleans for very low prices.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When you engage the services of a professional carpet cleaner you should try to establish, during the (free) survey or quotation, if all the marks and stains in your carpets will be removed – it should be acknowledged by you that if you have very long-standing stains caused by (say) ink, blood or shoe polish they may well be permanent and no system or stain remover can remove permanent stains in wool mix carpets. Sunlight and your own scrubbed-in remedies or shop-bought treatments that have not been properly rinsed out <em>may</em> have made the problem worse and/or permanent. </span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You may also have wear marks in the carpet fibre in high traffic areas and these paths may not clean as well as other less worn areas because of abrasion to those fibres.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you are serious about getting your carpets into tip-top condition and making that house sale, then do have them deep steam cleaned - they will be dry in 2-3 hours – and remember if you want something doing properly then call in a professional who uses a truck-mounted steam system.</span></div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-left: 7.5pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We run a truck-mount steam carpet cleaning company in Hampshire and Dorset and rarely travel outside these counties but we are happy to put you in touch with a reputable operator in your area if you cannot find a suitable local company. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Contact me at </span><a href="mailto:BuckClean@aol.com"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">BuckClean@aol.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> or see our website at: <a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/"></a><a href="http://www.bucklandcarpetandfabriccare.co.uk/"></a><a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/">http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/</a><a href="http://www.bucklandcarpetandfabriccare.co.uk/"></a></span><br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4449579860350553753.post-52225815091718668342010-11-05T14:16:00.000-07:002010-11-23T07:12:53.257-08:00Joining up the clean bits!This is a blog about carpet cleaning!<br />
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Its about the way carpets are cleaned and the way customers/clients/the Great British Public (hereafter GBP) are dealt with by the Great British Carpet Cleaner.<br />
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Its a blog that will be of huge interest (the irony is intentional) to other carpet cleaners but also to Mr Joe or Ms Josephine Public who may be thinking about getting their carpets cleaned or have recently had their carpets cleaned.<br />
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Within the house the expense of flooring is one of the biggest investments you can make as a homeowner and yet the GBP do not protect that investment by having their carpets cleaned very regularly and for many they NEVER have their carpets cleaned but simply replace them after 5, 7, 10 or more years. <br />
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If by some remote chance they have a whim to get them cleaned they are very keen on price shopping regardless of the way that their carpet is going to be cleaned. They (usually) look for a cheap price before they ask other questions about how this cleaning is going to be achieved.<br />
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Sometimes they decide to DIY the carpet clean by renting a hire machine from a high street clothes dry cleaner or from a DIY retailer (hey that even makes sense). <br />
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Admittedly this is because as an industry we have not educated the public about the various methods of carpet cleaning and the benefits that follow what is in essence a fairly simple procedure.<br />
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Yes I am part of that industry so you may hear the feint echo of axes being ground but in a reasonable and very 'fair play' British way.<br />
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Recently, carpet cleaning in the UK has had some publicity or at least notoriety by being featured on the BBC consumer programme <em>Watchdog</em> whereby one firm of unscrupulous carpet cleaning cowboys were exposed for their 'Bait and Switch' tactics. <br />
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This was a particularly poor piece of consumer journalism, even by the standards of the <em>Watchdog</em> programme - hell it is info-tainment after all. Instead of examining the technical aspects of the carpet clean (which were on this expose by any standards woefully inept) the programme decided to concentrate on the 'Bait and Switch' con and consumer rights.<br />
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The expert that is usually called in with this format to examine the whole procedure does so from a secret vantage point and as an expert in that particular industry. However in a departure from this format but in keeping with the dignity of his white-collar profession as a consumer lawyer, the posh, educated bloke in this show watched the events on his smart laptop by video long after it had all happened.<br />
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The whole thing was a depressing damp squib really. Nothing was proved apart from the fact that there are dirty rotten scoundrels in the world who will try to take advantage of vulnerable people - so why not tell us something new like how it should be done and have a little inset with a decent CC bloke like the one off Kim and Aggie's show <em>How clean is your house. </em>Then people could actually learn something from the programme, it would only take a couple of minutes and could replace some of the totally pointless shots of Matt and his mate jumping on and off the bike<em>.</em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrf1clo1QgakNu4nVd8nUlerz2f-hvUYnZQ1OghmpF3MhcrdAps1R_R61MiVDIS7gYtVLm7sjZR8H6dz5VYd-QpiVk1LJuWkvNJiJkOefFKp5Sc3knsJpiHu2K6Ttqp_L7btAs5zRwMQ/s1600/cleaningspesm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrf1clo1QgakNu4nVd8nUlerz2f-hvUYnZQ1OghmpF3MhcrdAps1R_R61MiVDIS7gYtVLm7sjZR8H6dz5VYd-QpiVk1LJuWkvNJiJkOefFKp5Sc3knsJpiHu2K6Ttqp_L7btAs5zRwMQ/s1600/cleaningspesm.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I believe that the NCCA (National Carpet Cleaners Association) were consulted about this show and gave their feedback to the producers, but obviously they did not impress them sufficiently to get a place at the table. <br />
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This organisation (the NCCA) is the only large body purporting to represent the industry and yet it too has done a woefully inept job over the years in communicating any coherent message about the service industry to the GBP.<br />
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So we are left with a situation where the most recent public airing of the industry was so negative as a reflection of the business that not only do the GBP not know what we do but whatever it is we do, we do it very badly and try to get people to pay through the nose for it - thus confirming all the prejudices held by the GBP about our industry.<br />
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As an industry we are at Ground Zero!<br />
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I hope in this blog to be able to shed some independent light on the industry and provide an entertaining BUT informative commentary that will be useful to all its readers.<br />
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And in the spirt of the age all feedback is welcome...<br />
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<a href="http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/">http://www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk/</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Send me your carpet cleaning problems and questions. I will respond to each one! Mail me at: BuckClean@aol.com
See my Website at www.steamcleancarpetservice.co.uk</div>Ed Corbett Jr.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18394365299148426370noreply@blogger.com0