[Colin Day]

I can perform just about any DIY task, fix just about any household appliance, paint and decorate and also achieve a bit of car mechanics.......

BUT, I wouldn't go around posing as a joiner, household appliance technician, painter and decorator or car mechanic because I am not insured to do so and not qualified.

99.99% of all people can use a RD to soak their carpets, but the clever ones get us guys in to do a "professional" job.

I imagine that a few posters on here are NOT insured, to match their wishy washy attitude they are projecting to our livelyhoods. You are a ticking time bomb and I doubt very much you'd ever have the decency to admit any big mistakes you've ever made.

There's nothing "professional" about cleaning carpets. It's not a profession, it's barely even a trade and it's certainly not a skill.

I assume you can wire a plug up just as well as an electrician and I am sure you can put up a shelf with the same competency as a joiner, even if you aren't qualified to do it.

I am not exactly sure when this "ticking time bomb" that you talk about is going to go off but it seems that it's been ticking for a lot of years.

There's nothing skilled about cleaning carpets, it can be learned in a day.

I agree with a lot of what you say.....

Answer me this.... Are you insured? If so, that's good, at least you taking one part of your business seriously.

[Dave Roberts]

I think it's like any industry; you get what you pay for.  If you want to pay a relatively small amount of money for someone with no expertise or who sees their work as 'unskilled' then you can.   If you want to pay for a quality service, insured & guaranteed, and where consideration is given to your carpet type, requirements, etc, then you can get a 'professional service'.

The people who say there is zero skill, only 2 chems needed, etc, etc, are not a new phenomena; splash & dash crews have been around for a long time.

[fitz2kleen]

Ok ive sat here long enough reading what rubbish some have written,undermining carpet cleaning as a skill.
These are the people that roam the streets cleaning carpets for a fiver a room and go around the corner to the nearest pub.
I spent a weeks on a residential training course being certified as a fire and flood restoration technician and carpet upholstery cleaner,
training in all aspects of fire and flood restoration,fibre identification,stain removal upholstery cleaning, so that I can safley enter a clients property deal with the problem at hand without causing more damage ie: shrinking carpets // removing stains rather than leaving a nice bleached patch where the stain was.
I pride myself on the knewledge I have and pick up as I go along and find comments like this insulting.
Yes its not rocket science.
any tom,dick or m.power can shrink a carpet.
While I dont sit here bigging the industry up I certanly dont agree that any tom dick or harry can cc and to that end if you feel you need to belittle the industry in this way its time you got out of it.
Marc

[absolutecleaning]

Agreed Marc and its some of these people who moan that they're not able to obtain high enough prices or say "no-one would pay that round here" :

[Peter_Jones]

Ok ive sat here long enough reading what rubbish some have written,undermining carpet cleaning as a skill.
These are the people that roam the streets cleaning carpets for a fiver a room and go around the corner to the nearest pub.
I spent a weeks on a residential training course being certified as a fire and flood restoration technician and carpet upholstery cleaner,
training in all aspects of fire and flood restoration,fibre identification,stain removal upholstery cleaning, so that I can safley enter a clients property deal with the problem at hand without causing more damage ie: shrinking carpets // removing stains rather than leaving a nice bleached patch where the stain was.
I pride myself on the knewledge I have and pick up as I go along and find comments like this insulting.
Yes its not rocket science.
any tom,dick or m.power can shrink a carpet.
While I dont sit here bigging the industry up I certanly dont agree that any tom dick or harry can cc and to that end if you feel you need to belittle the industry in this way its time you got out of it.
Marc

Well I've never done a training course, shrunk a carpet or bleached one. So where does that leave your argument?

For the record I've cleaned carpets that have cost the owners over £180K and been paid over £2K for a day's work by a local school. This is not a boast as they are extremes but it just puts it into perspective that training courses are not needed in order to be successful at cleaning carpets. And I stand by my statement that it's not a profession or a skilled trade as those two things cannot be acquired (IMHO) in some extremely short training course.

There are cowboys around for sure - and plenty in my area, I've seen their "work" it's shocking. I leave them to it, they don't last long and are only good for my business if anything. Virtually all my work is via referral so my marketing cost are minimal. Maybe they wouldn't ask me back if I told them I didn't have my GCSE in carpet cleaning  :

[Peter_Jones]

I think it's like any industry; you get what you pay for.  If you want to pay a relatively small amount of money for someone with no expertise or who sees their work as 'unskilled' then you can.   If you want to pay for a quality service, insured & guaranteed, and where consideration is given to your carpet type, requirements, etc, then you can get a 'professional service'.

The people who say there is zero skill, only 2 chems needed, etc, etc, are not a new phenomena; splash & dash crews have been around for a long time.

Just for you David I uploaded a video just now from a job I've just done. Sorry, it's the 90 degrees the wrong way around, I was holding my phone the wrong way :-)

This is a short vid of the first pass of two needed to totally clean that carpet. Could you explain why my customer should have paid twice as much to someone who'd "been on a course" in order to get a visibly identical result?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT4MTCPjPRY

[Mike Halliday]

I've been training a new employee for the past 3 weeks during that time I've been using any commercial jobs to let him practice wanding a carpet i would say in total he has done half a day (4hrs) actual wanding. he still cannot do it right, he misses bits, leaves areas unfinished & too wet ( he can't judge how many dry strokes it needs)

he still cannot judge if an area needs more pre=spray or scrubbing.

if he does stairs he still over spray all over the wall.

I talk about chemicals & chemistry  as we drive between jobs but if I asked him to prepare the pre spray for a job he would still be uncertain and no way would he know how to identify or remove a stain.

this is after working 3 week (6days a week) with an experianced carpet cleaner explaining everything..

how can anyone learn to clean proffesionally carpets in a day its not possible.

and this guy is x forces and is very switched on and keen... not a thicko

[Mike Halliday]

Peter that is a good video, even though its on its side and not full screen.

 it still show an impressive result I'm impressed with the wonderwand, it shows no wand marks or streaking, a perfect result in a single pass

[Peter_Jones]

Peter that is a good video, even though its on its side and not full screen.

 it still show an impressive result I'm impressed with the wonderwand, it shows no wand marks or streaking, a perfect result in a single pass

Thanks Mike. 

[Joe H]

It was interesting to see a PUSH wonderwand as well.
I have had a wonderwand, but I choose the "conventional" pull wonderwand.
I did try the push, but it just seemed odd. Suppose would have got used to it.

[richy27]

looks an impressive videoi used a wonder wand for a considerable amount of time and although drying times were good with this tool i was not convinced about how well it flushed the pile

[garry22]

Joe,

I've got one of the older (4 jet) push wands.

Much easier on the back when pushing rather than pulling.

[Dave Roberts]

Just for you David I uploaded a video just now from a job I've just done. Sorry, it's the 90 degrees the wrong way around, I was holding my phone the wrong way :-)

This is a short vid of the first pass of two needed to totally clean that carpet. Could you explain why my customer should have paid twice as much to someone who'd "been on a course" in order to get a visibly identical result?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT4MTCPjPRY

Peter, good work for sure. But that's not an example of the sort of work I was talking about that needs training and 'professional' experience.  Yes straightforward 'cleaning' can be achieved mainly through the equipment and doesn't require deep-seated theoretical training.  I was more talking about special jobs like removing certain types of spots that won't go with the pass of any wand (because it's not detergent or alkalines that will remove them).   Or the experience of an eye that can spot a true velvet suite and know not to wet it.   To be fair, I did say above that these cases are the minorities.   Dave.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Although Martin Power is probably a spoof, I will respond to the general question.

As someone who is probably more scientific than most, it is obvious that cleaning is a science and anyone suggesting otherwise is ignorant, in the traditional use of the word!

There is no doubt that you can clean a carpet effectively by following instructions but if you want to be able to think for yourself and solve problems which are not covered by these instuctions then you need to know the chemistry and physics.

In my early days I used to deal a lot with Brian and I think his approach to technical improvement is illustrated by the Extracta machines being virually identical to the range I used to use 20 years ago.

Among any group of people there will be those happy to plod along and those who seek continual improvement, the majority being inbetween.

I earn money now that I would not have believed possible even 5 years ago, it's all about attitude.

Cheers

Doug

[Dave Roberts]

Brilliant post Doug. Couldn't agree more.  I didn't want to put Brian / Extracta down because they helped me in the early days too but the (sad) fact is they are living in a different age.  I mean, compare an Extracta Excel at £2,150+VAT and an Airflex or Scorpian at the same price.... unbelievable!   and that's without mentioning the aesthetics!

If we didn't progress, we wouldn't have some of the crackingly good plant-based chems coming through now that are much better for the planet and for our kids, when they rub their faces into the carpet.   Regardless of what people here may think of SolutionsUK, if you have kids, would you rather they were playing on a carpet cleaned with M-Power two hours ago, or one cleaned with Power Burst or Super Chem ............  just my view.  Trust me I'm no eco warrior.

[Marti]

You can dress it up as much as you like but the true facts still stand!!

[Doug Holloway]

M Power

You have not produced any facts!

Cheers

Doug

[Peter_Jones]

Hi Guys

Although Martin Power is probably a spoof, I will respond to the general question.

As someone who is probably more scientific than most, it is obvious that cleaning is a science and anyone suggesting otherwise is ignorant, in the traditional use of the word!

There is no doubt that you can clean a carpet effectively by following instructions but if you want to be able to think for yourself and solve problems which are not covered by these instuctions then you need to know the chemistry and physics.

You may consider it a science Doug, but then so is switching on a light bulb. Carpet cleaning is so incredibly easy if you have half a brain to start with, that it's a little unfair to compare it to other lines of work that may actually require some sort of higher education accomplishments.

A small example - 2 or 3 years ago I was faced with a rust stain on a carpet that the customer wanted removing. I said, hang on a minute, looked it up on Google on my mobile phone, nipped down to the shop to get a lemon and some salt and removed the stain.

That's not science Doug, it's kid's stuff. All it takes is a little initiative, we're not trying to split the atom here, or create a perpetual motion device. It really is as basic as it gets.

Another example - Indian restaurant last week, I posted here on the forums as to recommendations, I was pointed in the direction of Enz-All. I could have just as easily phoned Chemspec or whoever and asked their recommended solution, it doesn't make me a scientist and it doesn't make what I do scientific. All it takes is the ability to use a mobile phone and then follow instructions.

For the record here's the pic of the carpet in question part way through the first pass done with Enz-All, after that a light spray with Power Burst and another rinse and it was in immaculate condition and all done in before you'd have got your kit of test tubes and microscopes out of the van.

Carpet cleaning is much like prostitution, it's good money, crap work, anyone can do it, and you can huff and puff as much as you like but it's the end result that counts.

[brencarpetman]

Hi Guys

Although Martin Power is probably a spoof, I will respond to the general question.

As someone who is probably more scientific than most, it is obvious that cleaning is a science and anyone suggesting otherwise is ignorant, in the traditional use of the word!

There is no doubt that you can clean a carpet effectively by following instructions but if you want to be able to think for yourself and solve problems which are not covered by these instuctions then you need to know the chemistry and physics.

You may consider it a science Doug, but then so is switching on a light bulb. Carpet cleaning is so incredibly easy if you have half a brain to start with, that it's a little unfair to compare it to other lines of work that may actually require some sort of higher education accomplishments.

A small example - 2 or 3 years ago I was faced with a rust stain on a carpet that the customer wanted removing. I said, hang on a minute, looked it up on Google on my mobile phone, nipped down to the shop to get a lemon and some salt and removed the stain.

That's not science Doug, it's kid's stuff. All it takes is a little initiative, we're not trying to split the atom here, or create a perpetual motion device. It really is as basic as it gets.

Another example - Indian restaurant last week, I posted here on the forums as to recommendations, I was pointed in the direction of Enz-All. I could have just as easily phoned Chemspec or whoever and asked their recommended solution, it doesn't make me a scientist and it doesn't make what I do scientific. All it takes is the ability to use a mobile phone and then follow instructions.

For the record here's the pic of the carpet in question part way through the first pass done with Enz-All, after that a light spray with Power Burst and another rinse and it was in immaculate condition and all done in before you'd have got your kit of test tubes and microscopes out of the van.

Carpet cleaning is much like prostitution, it's good money, crap work, anyone can do it, and you can huff and puff as much as you like but it's the end result that counts.

Just love your analogy Peter.
Have to agree with you and great job on that restaurant.

[Peter_Jones]

Thanks Bren