Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
Selling ProtectionPosted by Ian_G. (Ian_Gourlay), 28 December 2003
How many cleans do protectors last for.
I think the waterbased ones only last one clean.but product info is not very clear
Do they very product to product. For example Stainguard
possibly three cleans?
If so would you charge more for longer lastering product.
Do you sell protector before you clean, or do you demo after the clean and sell as an add on.
What over add ons do you sell reguarlyPosted by paul_moss (paul_moss), 28 December 2003
A good topic Ian
I will also be watching the responses on this one as it interests me.
Being fairly new to Carpet cleaning I have started to offer Carpet protector after being convinced on a Prochem training course how good it was.Unfortunatley because of the price (£25 for 120sq ft carpet as an example of protection price) The customer has always refused.
I may be asking too much or not selling it well enough.
May be the top guys could throw some light on this one pleasePosted by Ken_Wainwright (Ken Wainwright), 28 December 2003
Sticking my neck out to be shot down, a flouro-carbon is a flouro-carbon is a flouro-carbon. My impression of the products is that the higher quality products don't necessarily give better stain/soil resistance, but are more durable so perform longer.
Many years ago, when Derek first started shaving, I also attended the above mentioned Prochem Training Course. Uncle Ron (Tilley) went into this debate quite convincingly, preaching that the Prochem products performed much longer than most of the competition and was amongst the best on the market. I admit to agreeing with this viewpoint. He went on to tell us that some other brands they had tested themselves had lost their resistance properties after the first vacuuming.
I now use Chemspec's Enviroshield which is , I gather, identical to Stainshield Profesional, which has a higher solids content than the ordinary Stainshield (no license required for this product). I believe that this makes the higher grade products more durable rather than better performing. Some figures I remember from the past, which I trust are accurate, was that correct cleaning will remove about 3% of a good quality protector. Another 2 or 3 % will have been removed with wear and tear over about 2 years. You need a 10% reduction before topping up the treatment, which is usually at the 2nd clean, and may be for traffic lanes only. My own experiences support this statement. This applies to residential carpets only, and not commercial, which may require treating at every clean.
As far as pricing is concerned, I would always advocate working to a standard, not a price. You can then set a price accordingly. To do this, a premium service requires premium products. So never undersell your services.
I have used primarily premium labeled products in my business, and although there will be lower priced good to serviceable quality products available, I do not have the time or means to go around applying, testing and monitoring all the products available. By keeping to well known, trusted brands, I have faith in the products and back up provided. The difference in material cost per sq.M isn't that great.
Protector is a product for which I would not give the "hard sell". Although the products can perform as the manufacturer intended, the customer quite often has a vision that a spillage will "hovver" just above the carpet and not penetrate into it's structure. Therefor, a protected carpet should never need cleaning or require mopping up after a spillage 
Safe and happy cleaning
KenPosted by Derek (Derek Bolton), 29 December 2003
Hi Guys
Kenneth...When I started shaving Noah was still building the 'Ark' 
Protection....
3M guidelines were that protection levels were acceptable for up to five years following treatment (providing treatment was applied correctly in the first place)
During this five years carpets/upholstery could be cleaned twice on the second time a top up treatment could be added (usually 50% of initial treatment)
You must bare in mind that cleaning chemicals with a pH levels of above 10 will have a significant effect on protection levels...they will remove them! Also any cleaning chemical residues left in a carpet/upholstery fabric after cleaning will 'mask' the protection reducing its effectiveness.
You must always talk to your customer about protection 'resisting' stains...this is what they do NOT prevent stains.
Retailers have always oversold protection (co's they make a lot of money from it) and this in turn had caused problems for the industry as these customers then have a high stain removal expectancy which doesn't match the reality of the situation.
I did much warranty work a few years ago and most of the problems came from items treated by retailers NOT by the 3M licenced applicators.
Kind regards
DerekPosted by woodman (woodman), 29 December 2003
The warranty's supplied with soil protection has become a mine field now so much so that most have dropped out and some gone into liquidation.
Many used to supply a 3 year guarantee with sales but of course this could mean being called out many,many times to spot clean sofas and carpets and this could rise to more than the value of the item being cleaned.
As many guaranteed that spots and stains could be removed only to find they couldn't they then had to replace the items or offer a cash settlements.
I don't know of any that will now give 5 year warranty's and if they do they must be mad.
As for the protection its self I'd say have it applied after every other clean depending on usage some will be re-applied every year to 18 months.As for it's performance, very debatable I simply state it will act as a barrier against every day soiling but it is NOT bullet proof and major spills will still penetrate.
Pricing 75% of the value of the clean, ie £100 to clean carpet £75 to apply soil resistant. 
Posted by strakercleaning (strakercleaning), 29 December 2003
I have worked for a 3M Scotchcare company in the past so have some experience with protectors but as an add on with my own business............. 
Many people are under the impression that the carpet or sofa will be bulletproof, once protected but when you explain the maintenance needed they often shy away from the product. I normally recommend it on items that are easily soiled but difficult to clean, to prevent ingrained stains etc. As the price of the protector is very close to the initial cleaning cost, I would advise that the item be cleaned annually rather than expect protector to keep soil and stains at bay for 2 years etc. 
This page is a thread posted to the cleanitup forum
at www.cleanitup.co.uk and
archived here for reference. To jump to the archive index please
follow this link.