Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Birchdalecleaning on December 18, 2016, 08:03:43 am
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Hi all,
I am doing a property this week which contains three large rooms of sisal. It's not something I have done before and was wondering which chemical and process is best? Thanks
Jon
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Petrol and match ;D
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cut and run!!
seriously... sisal can shrink if you sneeze too much...... It is horrible stuff. Your first task is to make sure that it is firmly fixed all round the room, I would only LM clean it, and then I usually refused to do it. Some people say just go for it, as nothing bad has ever happened to them cleaning it, but I suspect that is mainly due to the fact that it is very firmly fixed down..... One little bit that is not fixed down securely will move like an express train to the middle of the room.....
Did I mention it needs to be firmly fixed to the floor??
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Leave well alone, just not worth the hassle
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Sisal is quite good for making rope.
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Don't go near it with water, I use sebo duo P (powder) sprinkle it on, agitate it in, leave for 30 mins then vacuum away, even then the best you'll get is removing soils that sit on the top of the sisal, as far as I know there is no way to deep clean segrass type floor coverings
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Thanks for the advice guys under normal circumstances I would keep away from this but I've quoted £500 for 46 m2. They are happy to pay so I just got to find a way to clean it. I was looking at the host Chems do you reckon I could scrub it in with my duo or oreck then just vac out? I also came across craftex ecotex has anyone tried this before?? Do you think it is advisable that I get a disclaimer signed before hand?
Thanks
Jon
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Sorry to say it but a disclaimer is not worth the paper it is written on... any legal person would say that as a professional, you should know what you are doing, and if there was a chance it would shrink or not clean properly then you should know about it.
As an aside here, the customers are generally never happy with sisal that has been cleaned, as you cannot clean it properly..
To be honest.... I think that you should walk away, after all a potential £500 for cleaning it, as opposed to a several grand claim for killing the stuff..
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Whether it's £500 or £5000 you still need to clean it to a standard that will satisfy the customer, if this carpet is dirty then getting it clean will be a challenge. I have used sponges and not being impressed and getting them out of a heavy patterned sisal carpet will be difficult.
I wouldn't use this high value job to learn how to clean sisal
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You could spend a half a day with the sponge tub sprinkling and scrubbing it in and vaccing and end up with a lot of grey sponges vacced up but the bad marks will still be there and the rest of the 'carpet' wont look very different from how it started - unless you have a misting/spray/chem system of some sort to clean the bad marks how are you going to prepare a customer for that sort of outcome after they have spent £500 - that's the challenge...
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Thanks for the feedback guys. Definately food for thought. It seems that the only safe way of cleaning is by using the sponges with limitations on the quality of the clean. I guess I will just have to be honest with my client and make her aware of this. At the end of the day she doesn't want to replace and wants a clean. I'll do what I can get paid and get the hell out of there. Ill let you know how it goes.
Thanks
Jon
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Sponges are the only safe way, although there is a guy in Scotland who cleans them with a dry cleaning extraction machine. Think he charges around £65 per square meter.
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Dye stability might be another factor on some , you can actually suck the brown totally out of a spot with a handtool (don't ask how know :) iv found even the host sponges can extract some color if too much agitation in one area .
But many are cleanish to start , just go through the motions with the sponges ...make the room smell nice , collect 500
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We used to 'clean' a group of very high end clothes shops that had this installed in all their sites, it does look fantastic when newly fitted but it is virtually non-cleanable and very quickly soils especially with high footfall.
I classified it as very high maintenance with limited results at high cleaning cost and got into trouble with the manufacturers and suppliers as a result ;D
Some of you might remember that in the roll they used to have slip of paper that recommended cleaning with white vinegar, it was complete nonsense of course but it allowed them to able to state that it was cleanable, I think now they recommend the HOST system which goes right back to what we used to say in that it is very limited in its results and will not remove the vast majority of stains.
I remember one particular famous large restaurant on the Kings Road that had a major refit and had Sisal fitted through out , we were asked to go in and 'stain protect' it. It looked fantastic but I knew spraying down some old slop was not going to do a thing to protect it and told them so. Within a month we were back while still looking okay had lots of red wine, coffee ,tea, etc stains on it along with loads of cigarette burns.I told them what to expect and what I had said previously, we cleaned with no real difference other than removing top soiling they were very disappointed of course and within 6 months the carpet was up and replaced with wood flooring.
The problem is Sisal when soiled and stained will pull down the appearance of any place that it is installed and so any kind of maintenance goes out the window because very quickly they know there is no point in trying to keep it clean.
Who ever does come up with a system of effective cleaning will make a fortune by the way and could get exclusivity as a result,I think just about every body has tried and given up.
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You've quoted £500 to clean 46sq mts .....but you have no idea how to clean it ......Classic ! :o
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I still wonder how these products are ever on the market. Not really fit for purpose which is a cornerstone of consumer law.
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Just an update on this sisal clean. The good news is it worked. Well at least I think it did. I used craftex ecotex and followed the instructions on the bottle. Once dried I thoroughly vacuumed out with my sebo followed by my Henry. To be honest the sisal looked no different at all when I left. My customer called me this morning to say that it looks much brighter and smells much better. No shrinkage to report. 3 hours start to finish and most of that was hovering and drinking tea. I honestly don't know what all the fuss was about!
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Why the Henry
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I had to do something in between drinking cups of tea + It's surprising what gets stuck in the grooves in the sisal.
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I honestly don't know what all the fuss was about!
;D
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Thats great to hear that you had some success with Ecotex.
I anyone has experience or recommendation for tea stain on sisal. I have a customer who had an electrician spill his cuppa on their brand new sisal.
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Tell the Leccy to replace the carpet.
Else use paraffin and a match.
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No its no fuss just ask Mr Birchdale - although by his own admission " To be honest the sisal looked no different at all when I left" so that may just present some problems when it comes to getting the bill paid!