davidc11291
05-23-2012, 11:01 AM
I've really got 2 separate questions about cleaning carpets. I considered starting 2 different threads, but since they're related I decided to just post one thread and not add extra clutter to the board. Please try to help out with both questions.
1) Here's a description of the kind of dirty carpet I'm talking about. Not just isolated stains, but carpets/seats that have been neglected for years and the whole carpet is darker than the original color due to grime and dirt. My first problem is that I just can't get them clean enough, IMO. Here's my process- Vaccuum. Spray liberally with Meg's APC+ 10:1. Scrub. Let dwell for 2 or 3 minutes. Vaccuum (pulling the filth up, but not spraying water with the extractor. I don't want the water to push the filth deeper into the carpet and seats, plus pulling up the APC dry first means that there's less APC to get diluted and be hard to completely remove when I extract). After I've vaccuumed, I use the extractor, spraying clean water as I go. Repeat the whole process a couple of times. Even with all this, I just don't feel like I'm getting everything as clean as it should be. If I pull a trim piece up, the carpet under the trim piece will be that nice, brand new color and look a lot better than the rest of the carpet. Is there anything I should be doing differently, or are my expectations just too high? Is there a product that's better suited for cleaning fabrics? I love the results of Folex, but I'll typically spray a gallon of product when doing 4 seats and the carpet, so spending $18 on a gallon of Folex per car is out of the question. The customers are always amazed, but where they look and see amazing, I just see flaws.
2) I'm having a problem getting all the APC out of the fabric. I've got a commercial extractor, but no matter how many times I go over the carpet with just water, I'll still have some APC foaming up when I extract. I'm spraying down enough APC so that when I scrub it foams just a little. I think I'm spraying a little on the heavy side, but while it's dwelling I definitely don't want it to dry. Plus, I'm talking about carpets that aren't just dirty on the top ends of the fibers, but the fibers are dirty all the way down, so I have to spray enough to get everything wetted down. Still though, when I'm at the extracting stage, I'll literally go over everything 5 times and still have soapy bubbles coming up and a slightly sticky feeling when the fabric dries.
I'm spending 20 hrs per car (no correction work) and 4-6 hrs just cleaning seats and carpets, and I've got to get my time per car down. Any advice?
1) Here's a description of the kind of dirty carpet I'm talking about. Not just isolated stains, but carpets/seats that have been neglected for years and the whole carpet is darker than the original color due to grime and dirt. My first problem is that I just can't get them clean enough, IMO. Here's my process- Vaccuum. Spray liberally with Meg's APC+ 10:1. Scrub. Let dwell for 2 or 3 minutes. Vaccuum (pulling the filth up, but not spraying water with the extractor. I don't want the water to push the filth deeper into the carpet and seats, plus pulling up the APC dry first means that there's less APC to get diluted and be hard to completely remove when I extract). After I've vaccuumed, I use the extractor, spraying clean water as I go. Repeat the whole process a couple of times. Even with all this, I just don't feel like I'm getting everything as clean as it should be. If I pull a trim piece up, the carpet under the trim piece will be that nice, brand new color and look a lot better than the rest of the carpet. Is there anything I should be doing differently, or are my expectations just too high? Is there a product that's better suited for cleaning fabrics? I love the results of Folex, but I'll typically spray a gallon of product when doing 4 seats and the carpet, so spending $18 on a gallon of Folex per car is out of the question. The customers are always amazed, but where they look and see amazing, I just see flaws.
2) I'm having a problem getting all the APC out of the fabric. I've got a commercial extractor, but no matter how many times I go over the carpet with just water, I'll still have some APC foaming up when I extract. I'm spraying down enough APC so that when I scrub it foams just a little. I think I'm spraying a little on the heavy side, but while it's dwelling I definitely don't want it to dry. Plus, I'm talking about carpets that aren't just dirty on the top ends of the fibers, but the fibers are dirty all the way down, so I have to spray enough to get everything wetted down. Still though, when I'm at the extracting stage, I'll literally go over everything 5 times and still have soapy bubbles coming up and a slightly sticky feeling when the fabric dries.
I'm spending 20 hrs per car (no correction work) and 4-6 hrs just cleaning seats and carpets, and I've got to get my time per car down. Any advice?