Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: BEN DAVISON CLEANING on April 02, 2011, 06:28:14 pm
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Hey,new to carpet cleaning and was wondering wat the best action is for cleaning stairs.Just doing family and freinds at the mo and am having mixed results.Cheers Ben
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Same procedure as general carpet cleaning. Pre vac, especially edges and where riser meets step. Careful if you run your fingers in there, there may be grippers! Pay particular attention to the noses. pre-spray with your weapon of choice and aggitate with a medium stiff brush, again the noses will need attention. Allow dwell time and give a quick dust over if it starts to dry out. I use a 4" hand tool on domestics and a larger twin jet on wider commercials. Techniques vary, I do the noses first, the reason is there will be overspray which will go onto the tread and the riser below. Then work on the tread, then the riser. The tread I do edges first. Dry extract and dress the pile with a pile brush when finished. A couple of things to bare in mind. There is concentrated traffic and wear in the centre and if it's worn you will never get it to look as good as the edges and risers, the other is the noses often expose the backing on cheaper carpet so even after cleaning they can stilll appear dirty.
If results are poor be sure you are not expecting too much from worn carpets or review your pre-spray choice. I use microsplitters, powerburst or multi pro with correct rinse.
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Cheers Simon,thats a big help.Did my stairs first left them in a bit of a mess.Going back over them tonight using your method.Did my parents today and they were much better wat you said about the wearing on the carpet was evident but they were chuffed all the same.Would proberly get better results still if i take my time abit also.Cheers again ben
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Try not to rush, your speed will increase with time, folks who clean 4 houses a day are few and far between. Allow your chems time to work, aggitation is really important, stairs and entrance ways/thresholds take the most punishment. Should of said use plenty of dry strokes and avoid over wetting trying to get them cleaner. When you are pricing with customers it's important not over sell results just be honest and explain results can be limited by wear and tear. If you under sell and they look great you'll be a hero!
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Remember that as you clean them, from
top bottom, they will get dirtier, the bottom
3 or 4 the worst.
Start with the top nosing at the top of the
stairs then the first riser then tread then riser.
That way any loose soil falls onto the next area
to be cleaned.
John
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Realy appriciate the advice lads.All advice welcomed very early days for me so things are a bit hit and miss
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Question about stairs with that name :P
Is it just me that finds that funny ;D
Maybe it was intentional, if not then just my weird sense of humour. ;)
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Whats Ben got to do with stairs?
Anyway what tool do people use for stair noses? I had a 3 inch extracta tool that was superb for stairs, but was only good to about 150psi. Now I use a normal upholstery type tool at 250psi, but miss the extracta.
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Gary
I think Paul thought it funny that Bens screen name is bungalow Ben and as you well know bungalows dont have stairs lol
Paul
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Ben-stairs, you not get it Gary ;D ;D ;D
I use an upholstery tool as well, 4.5 inch with internal jet. Used a stair tool before and the upholstery tool is much better.
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Prspray from bottom to top then clean from top to bottom to maximise dwell time.
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And get wet knees or sore back..............That's why I hate stairs :'(
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Ha ha nice one lads.Yeh bungalow Ben.Iv been cleaning windows in kenelworth for about ten years.Bungalow ben was just a joke between me and my bro.Taking up carpet cleaning as something extra for the business.The i see it im 33 so iv got another 30 years working so it wont hurt to branch out a little bit.
purchased a powrflite 600psi think its the 1085 with wonderwand,carpet dryer,sebo vac,stair tool,uphostry tool,extention hoses,stain kit ect ect all for £2500.Its only 3 monthes old.
I no i have to get training done and will do so but any advise while im doin family and freinds would be really helpful,want to make make a good go of this and be the best ican at wat i do.cheers again lads.ben
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And get wet knees or sore back..............That's why I hate stairs :'(
Good point I forgot about that.
We have a stair wand so that really isnt an issue for us.
Most commercial stairs have nosings on em.
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doing stairs is tuff on your back let the chemicals do there job and dont rush get a good technique goin top to bottom and charge more
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cheers lads,that all helps alot.was gonna do my stairs again lastnight but had a two hour powercut :-\.Will do them inthe week and let u no the results
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This it what i use when doign stairs:
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=11247555&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=knee+pad&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&isSearch=true
Saves the wet knees.
Tony
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The kneeling pad looks a hell of a hassle! Why not just use kneepad trousers?? The outsides of them get damp but it doesn't go through the kneepad and get your skin wet. The trousers dry off quite quickly too
They're also fantastic for doing suites.
I have a bad back, very bad at times but you can do stairs kneeling with your back dead straight and it doesn't tweak it at all ???
You get a bad back from stooping, when you try not to kneel because you don't want to get your knees wet!!
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Hassle? No its pretty straight forward, you just move the pad as your going, takes 1 second.
I have tried padded work trousers before but found them very uncomfy and clumbsy couldn't get used to them.
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going back over stairs now using microsplitters and will post results :)
What part of "keep off the stairs im cleaning them"dont my kids understand ::)
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A combination of all the above advice and the microsplitters has got my stair carpet spottless.Nice one fellas ;D
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is it me? never felt the need to kneel when cleaning stairs. surely it depends on which step you stand on when cleaning as to whether you are high/low enough not to kneel,
colin
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I always clean with a straight back. One foot on the step above the other foot, and clean the step above that.(if that makes sense)
Tony
Do you get the knee pad with flowers, might be tempted.
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ha ha nope, its yellow like the link i posted.
Straight back, one foot here and another there, standing on the correct step etc etc but your still hunched/bent over. Best to kneel on the step to avoid a crooked back in later years IMO. Each to thier own tho.