Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: jasonl on September 09, 2010, 04:55:53 pm
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What actually is in the chems we use ?
I tend to call them solutions, fluids ,cleaning agents or juices, to avoid calling them chemicals.
I notice customers more and more lately asking what is in them. Lots of labels tell you what is NOT in them , few tell you what is.
I tend to mumble something about plant based salts, colloids and secret recipes. In reality I do not have a clue what is in Nemesis, Mpower or Fusion 8 .
Does anyone know?
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I tend to do the same as well jason and always show them my hands as i have seen some c cleaners with really unhealthy dried skin from using some cleaning solutions..Think more people are aware now what we are using..
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Sometimes I say , look , its safe to drink , then drink a bit, if kids are around I then pretend to die.
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just lately I've been talking about the oil spill in the gulf coast, telling customers the last oil disaster was the Exxon Valdez in Alaska.
during the Alaskan clean up of the wild life they found the cleaning chemicals they used were more harmful than the oil its self and was killing the birds , so they had to develop a new cleaning agent that was totally harmless to the wildlife and the environment.
I then explain We are now using that exact same chemical to safely clean their carpets & upholstery.
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Mike - you dont half come out with some bull shxt! ;)
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Great answer Mike but it doesn't half smell of BS to me ;D I use Ultrapak and put some citrus in it and tell them it's the scraped leaves of a citrus bush (only joking)
Jason's question is more relivant then ever now.
Shaun
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it might be bullchit...... but its believable bullchit ;D ;D ;D
and its true!
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What actually is in the chems we use ?
I tend to call them solutions, fluids ,cleaning agents or juices, to avoid calling them chemicals.
I notice customers more and more lately asking what is in them. Lots of labels tell you what is NOT in them , few tell you what is.
I tend to mumble something about plant based salts, colloids and secret recipes. In reality I do not have a clue what is in Nemesis, Mpower or Fusion 8 .
Does anyone know?
All this detail is on the MSDS.
All chemicals being used should have been risk assessed under COSHH reg's and these assesments / data sheets should be kept by the operator, ideally with a copy in the vehicle.
If you don't have these then start by contacting your chem supplier / manufacturer. Most are now available online.
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Done that , but they onlt tell you what is NOT IN THE CHEMS! Strikes me that is because the ingredients are simple and easily freely available ???
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Where do you find all these clients with a conscience?
99 percent of mine just want their carpets etc cleaned. The one in a hundred that asks what I use are given a look which implies - 'what a darn stupid question' - and they quickly move off to let me get on with producing what in fact they really want.
On the commercial side just give them the MSDS as mentioned by someone above - and they just file it without taking any interest it what is says - but it ticks the box for them
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I think they are asking more out of concern that nothing toxic is being sprayed around thier home.
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Er Actually Mike is spot on. This is exactly what the micro splitter technology was developed for originally.
Pete
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Fusion 8 is essentially akin to small particles of perspex.
Its a PMMA derivative that has a specific particle size.
Your cleaning floors with plexiglass.
Well not quite as its a copolymer with a maleic anhydride derivative and ethoxlylates. But essentially if you want an easy speal your cleaning with a specifically designed nano "wrecking ball" that hits dirt hard, but is soft on fibres of course!
Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions
ETA yay 300 posts and i hope that scientifically this answers your question
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Hmm,
I need to further qualify the post above with more tech jargon.
Dirt is held to a fibre using Van der Waals forces (essentially and electro static interaction).
Fibres are held together using covalent bonds.
New type cleaning products are strong enough to break Mr Waals forces, but not covalent bonds. Hey presto, we remove the dirt and don't damage the fibre.
Your gonna look like an uber scientist if you use that type of jargon. I would fire it on a sheet and let them wiki it. Most people dont care, its about price and when you can do it, but tech it up if you need to.
Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions
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Graeme , Are you anywhere near Clarkston in Glasgow? Went to a wedding there last week , The Busby hotel,, Minging carpets in there, definately worth a visit.
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When job goes well (ere...always ::))I call the chems "jesus in a bottle"
In simple terms I say that if you compare carpet cleaning to washing hands the prespray is like putting soap on your hands the agitation is the rubbing of the hands, now you have soil suspended on your hands which needs rinsing off under tap which is the final rinse with the machine..
make sense ???
more boddingtons then ;D
stu
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Pete I thought Nemesis and Mpower were designed for eco removal of oil?
Could be wrong but the US navy were using in the 1950's to clean ships and the sea water would wash the soiled water away but with no harm to fish etc.
Shaun
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hi jason mpower and nemesis are water and all the powders are daz ;D ;D
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We just call them detergents, if they ask , if they mention chemical I tell them that water is a chemical which is 99.99999999 of what we use, this has a cas no 7732-18-5
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hi jason mpower and nemesis are water and all the powders are daz ;D ;D
I thought so.
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Sometimes I say , look , its safe to drink , then drink a bit, if kids are around I then pretend to die.
;D ;D ;D ;D
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I tend to show them the bottle, explaining that it's plant and food grade, with no harsh chemicals, and child & pet friendly. That tends to reassure then enough, especially when you're letting them clearly read the labels etc......... shows you have nothing to hide.
PS.... this only works if you use eco-friendly products like M-Power. Wouldn't recommend it for the Power Burst users. ;)
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So , can anyone answer the original question? What is it we are spraying?
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Jason
In most cases - 90% water
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Paul, I am ot going to tell the customer that! ...And 10% what?
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Can you remember back in the good ole days that Sherlock ( The Best Carpet Cleaner In The World ) Ron King often used to say he used washing powder as it was essentially the same stuff. Has anyone actually ever bothered to try Persil, Daz or Bold as a test? You have to admit it sounds a good idea, and think of the millions that is spent developing these cleaners.
Oddly enough asked yesterday what I was spraying, I said it was a plant extract, it was actually Hydra Force. I don't have a clue what it is either, so now that we know it's 90% water what is the other 10% ???
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hydrofluoric acid ;D
Shaun
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2 buckets of 'H' and one bucket of 'O' and a sprinkling of fairy dust then.
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This really is like the emporers new clothes! I just want to know ,in simple terms what is in the CHEMICALS I am spraying .
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It seems you have your answer Jason ................. no-one knows!
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Loads of different chemicals contain loads of different compounds n elements. I tend to mostly spray "£50 a gallon eco freindly detergent free plant based fully bio degradeable woolsafe near neutral ph carpet and upholstery cleaning fluid which the general public cannot buy as it is only available to professional carpet cleaners" and I already know that no-one likes a foookin crook but!
this is all they need to know unless you frequently use Enzall UPR "hi PH /enzyme/deadly chemical jollop" in which case you can pre qualify the good custy that dependant on result required they may need to vacate your "workspace" whilst you do your thing.
Sorry this dont answer your Q in the way you prob want but it ALWAYS works for me. Think you need to speak to one of the "Boltons"?? for a definitive answer - no disrespect intended whatsoever, just applying my realistic interpretation of an everyday dilemma....
Stu
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Jason I think I get what you're asking.
I call anything I'm spraying a "cleaning solution". If asked further, I'll explain (depending on what I'm using) it's either a detergent or a non-toxic product and give them a bit of spiel about the benefits of hugging trees.
Nobody's ever had an orgasm when they find out my carpet cleaning product isn't going to kill the fishy wishys in the wivvers ::)
As said above, the only concern people have ever shown is for their babies or cats being on the carpet.
P.S. M-Power & Nemesis are a "colloid", and it is totally true about them being used for oil clean ups (and the exxon clean-up killing more wildlife than the spill). Colloidal suspensions have been in use for many many years in chemistry. But Colloids go further back still... millions of years, to the evolution of mammals -- milk is a colloid ;)
I hate the word "Microsplitter" because it's a bullpoo word, made up by somebody somewhere as a marketing tool as much as anything ::) The nearest scientific catch-all term might be "a mixture of sodium derivatives" but that's not quite as catchy, is it :)
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I did a bit of research on the net a while back to find actual research on colloids used in oil spilss as I too was spouting this carpet cleaning urban myth to the greenies.
The only thing I could find was a study suggesting it created more of a problem as the dispersent broke up the oil molecules which then sank and casues devastation to the benthic layer (pooty sand to you)
Doesn't mean its no good for carpet cleaning though.