[gr cleaning solutions]

been asked to clean to rooms they are both foam backed carpets. is there any thing i should be looking for when cleaning , she wants them just shampooing

[Simon Gerrard]

That's a bit like a doctor going on a forum asking how to treat a common cold.
If you don't know how to clean a foam backed carpet, should you really be offering your services as a professional carpet cleaner?
I think not.
Do a training course.

Simon

[gr cleaning solutions]

im sorry but still only learning this trade Ive clean other carpets just not a foam backed carpet ,im looking to get on to a few course but Ive im very busy at the moment.And i have found this forum very useful for advice always helpful so thank for any advice with this. (didn't we all have to start somewhere)

[Phillip Mold]

im sorry but still only learning this trade .......... (didn't we all have to start somewhere)

Sorry, most of us started with the training!

[Simon Gerrard]

GR,
Most of us start on a training course!!!!!
Don't you think that your customers deserve someone to turn up to clean their carpet with at least some idea of how to do the job?
Do you think a plumber goes on a forum to ask how to plumb in a washer, and if he were coming to your home wouldn't you expect the guy to know that long before he ever advertised himself as a supposedly competent tradesman.

Sorry to be so forthright with you, but carpet cleaning is jammed with people like you, posing as carpet cleaners but knowing nothing about the job and thereby give us all a bad name because if you don't know even the basic how on earth can you be doing the job properly?

If you're serious about this business then find the time to go on a course and learn how to do it properly.

Simon

[Mike Osbourne]

Simon

I agree with your sentiments and I think there are less harsh ways of putting the message across.

I know quite a few cleaners who started by doing friends and relatives carpets and when they went on a course the prior experience greatly enhanced the value of the course because it wasn't all theory. 

[Simon Gerrard]

Mike,
So it's ok for people to go out cleaning carpets without even troubling themselves to learn the basics. The only type of person who should be asking such a basic question is a member of the public intent on doing their own.

Most of us did the training first and THEN went out and did friends and relatives carpets to gain some practical experience before going public.
The last thing this industry need is yet another know nothing amateur posing as professional, screwing up people's carpets and thereby giving us ALL a bad name and if it's harsh to say so then that's just tough, I tell it like it is.

Simon

[Mike Osbourne]

GR, certainly a course would be a good move asap. Some are with suppliers and others are independant.

There's lots of info on here obviously that you can find the answers to most things.

[gr cleaning solutions]

sorry i did not mean to up set anyone that the last thing , you guys have been very helpful on other things Ive ask for .Yes i know the basics i am in the middle off sorting out a number off course but i am waiting to see as i may be getting some funding towards these once again sorry if i have offended any one

[ady]

wish I could have got funding but had to pay my own way !from the very little money I had when I started.
  I carnt get over the way you are running your business ! where I live I am surrounded by untrained cowboys ,splash and dash merchants and it is very damaging to my business , this gives us all a bad name andyou must be damaging your reputation to no end,you could be waiting for funding for ages even if you get it at all ,i think you should get your hand in your pocket and pay for some training from the proceeds of your CARPET CLEANING OR SHOULD i SAY ,ATTEMPTED CARPET CLEANING.

[gwrightson]

gr,

When I first started I had no training.

To be honest it was a little daunting all of the different fibres, constuction, chemicals blah blah blah, however a few weeks with an experienced c/c a feel for the job and your confidence grows, then as already mentioned a course is benificial, imo going straight onto a course can make the task in hand even more daunting " that is just my opinion before people jump down my throat" my reasons for these thoughts!  well the majority i was on my first course with , you would think had never seen a carpet never mind cleaned one.
Lets be honest here, a course is a must but it not everything and the problem been you pass your exams " dont know any one yet whose failed "  and hey presto you can clean carpets, not so, experience is what matters and help from other c/c when a problem arises. I was still asking questions every other week in my first year when i wasnt sure, but I got through the work , many thanks to M Halliday and now its rare for me to be stumped .

I do think a couple of replys have been harsh, i believe you have done the right thing in asking after all a splash and dash wouldnt bother asking , Would they ?  it shows you are concered and you dont want to make a hash, good on you, get out with a c/c ,get on a course when your ready, and keep asking the questions when your in doubt, no matter how stupid it may seem to the more experienced.

Good luck.

geoff

[Darren O]

So basically if you havent had any training your not allowed to ask questions on here pretty sh-t if you ask me when i started i had to wait about 6 months before i took my Prochen training course everybody has to start somewere and trying to compare it to a doctor and medical advice is just daft.

[derek west]

So basically if you havent had any training your not allowed to ask questions on here pretty sh-t if you ask me when i started i had to wait about 6 month before i took my Prochen training course everybody has to start somewere and trying to compare it to a doctor and medical advice is just daft.

course your allowed to ask questions, its cleaning carpets that worries the majority.

i'd be pretty p1zzed off if i found out i'd booked someone to do a job then saw a message on a forum from the said pro asking how he's supposed to do it.

i started my business april 2008, i did the prochem 2 day in january 2008. theres no way i would have the cheek to consider myself competant with someone elses extremely valuable possessions without at least knowing the basics.

we all started somewhere, but that somewhere should either be with a training org or out with a pro for a few days. otherwise its just irrisponsible.

can't believe anyone would encourage someone to book jobs in first and get training later.

derek

[daysdeepclean]

I'm with Geoff on this one, a good and fair post. On one course I did with Extracta, there was someone on it that had just done the IICRC course first and he was thinking about not actually starting up after all, because (In his words) he felt scare mongered! Maybe that's a good thing in a lot of ways and maybe that's what the IICRC's aims and objectives are...(Rightly so!) But you can't beat a good bit of job experience so you can actually understand what the tutor's talking about....

Chicken and egg question comes to mind though

Training is vital, and as some of the best carpet cleaners on here do, you should fit in refresher courses to stay ahead of the game and keep ahead with new methods, chemicals and materials.

I personally did nearly 2 years as a carpet cleaner's employee, my boss took me under his wing and didn't get me trained in any way other than on the job training. He was worried I learnt too much about the actual running of a business and he had every reason to be : The actual work experience helped me understand exactly what was being taught, a lot of my fellow students looked as if they had attended the wrong course !

[Darren O]

Derek i learned far more in the 6 months i did myself than i did on a 1 day training course my local prochem dealer spent a couple of hours with me showing me how to use the machines and what chemicals to use carpet cleaning isnt hard its comon sense its not like learning a skilled trade for 4 years.Another thing you can join the NCCA and be a member and never cleaned a carpet in your life if i had the choice i would take the guy with the 6 months experience than somebody who has never picked up a wand in his life.

[derek west]

the guy with 6 months experience has all ready made the mistakes on someone elses carpet
and the guy with 6 months experience would not be asking a question like how do i clean a foam backed carpet.
so that not a fair representation.

okay darren i'll give you a choice

you own a belgium wilton carpet. you want it cleaning.

option 1) someone who has done a course but never cleaned a carpet!

option 2) someone who has never done a course and cleaned a few carpets!

i know carpet cleaning is easy, people say i'm a newbie and to be honest i just laugh my cck off at em. cleaning carpets is a piece of p1ss but without basic knowledge of the dangers, and i'll admit theres not to many. without that knowledge you can cause serious damage and disruption to someones life.

it costs £200 to clean safely. my advice to anyone starting up is, do the course first, then clean someones carpets. i'm sticking to my earlier statement, that its irrisponsible to walk into someones house and clean a carpet you cannot identify, its only a matter of time before you come across one that needs a different approach. and if you don't know that approach, you've just p1ssed someone off and its your fault. not theres, for failing to tell you its a wilton. or sisal. your fault. and you should replace that carpet, which will cost a damn sight more than £200.

derek

[ady]

so some of you are patting this carpet cleaner on the back for having no training no idea and using this forum for help when stuck, from professional carpet cleaners because he wont pay for the training we did.dont get me wrong help and advice is what this site is about but when someone who cleans carpets and has to ask how to clean the most basic of tasks,I find it hard to swallow.many of you didnt have the training first BUT were working with professional carpet cleaners.
I live in a town where splash and dash merchants are a menace on the other hand I get to clean up after them which is more work for me.
I am sorry if I have upset the lads who think that the gent who put this post up  is not a splash and dash merchant but this man goes into customers homes with no idea and takes payment. and gives us a bad name

[Darren O]

Derek in a ideal world we should all be trained before we clean carpets it all depends in the circumstances i had to wait 6 months because my girlfriend had post natal depression the guy said hes going to get some kind of training in the meantime a little helpfull advice from the experts on here wouldnt go a miss.

[Darren O]

ady what do you suggest string the guy up by the nearest lampost.

[Neil Williams]

When I first started I had no training.
Good luck.

Ditto. One week of following another carpet cleaner around whilst reading a carpet cleaning manual was all the training I received before being sent out all over the place on my own. I wasn't aware there was any other way of learning.
9 years on and still no insurance claims to mention, granted probably more by luck than judgement in the early days.
Still no official courses to my name and having cleaned up after enough c-ock ups by supposed NCCA members I don't see why I need to either.
GR- You could read manuals or you'll probably find all the answers on this or other forums.