Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Daveyboy on August 23, 2007, 04:13:07 pm
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What is a good/cheep carpet/upholstery stain protector, and how does one apply it?
Thanks.
Davey Jones
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Davey
You'll get lots of different opinions on this. Some guards are applied via the rinsing with the machine and others applied on their own. Personally I apply mine myself. Use Fluroseal plus (prochem). Its about £30 for 5 litres, is ready to use and covers 50m2.
I have two young girls and can tell you that this gear really does work.
You apply after cleaning a carpet (ie while it is still damp). If you are not cleaning a carpet first you need to condition the carpet first by spraying a woolsafe solution down fibre & Fabric rrinse or similar. When applied the guard you use a pile brush to brush in guard to ensure even smooth covering. You really to need to tell custy to stay off while it dries.
Pete
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Thanks for the reply, Pete.
Do I need a special applicator/sprayer to do this?
Cheers.
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You need a pump action fan sprayer. If you are not cleaning before, you also need to fan spray the pre-conditioner too (very imp) or it will just be a sticky mess and will not soak onto fabric properly.
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i also use fluroseal plus :) do you know of any that go in the tank with the soulutions and if so do they work :)
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Is it important that you do not walk over ares that you have already done? ie work backwards towards the door. Been interested in adding protector as a sell on but still havent found one which ticks all the right boxes.
matt
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I don't but I know Fresh Clean uses that method so he might be able to shed some light. It would be interesting to see how they compare because obviously the rinse tank method is no work at all. Personally I can't see that method being as effective but I should'nt really comment because I don't know and he knows more than I do generally.
Pete
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I'm not aware of any protector that is applied via the rinse solution.
Could there be confusion about adding an acid rinse as the pre-conditioner for a protector via the rinse tank?
Apart from systems like Dry Fusion, I think that all on-site applications of protector are done as a spray application (whether new or just cleaned carpet).
Safe and happy cleaning :)
Ken
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Am I right in thnking the the CFR Shutout ASIST is an in tank protector... never used it but seem to recall that it has some protecting qualities.
Andy
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What percentage of the clean cost would you charge for protector guys?
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50%
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Pro mite is good,plus you can sell it as a dust mite repellant too,maufacturers say upto 14 months protection against dust mites.
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I use fluroseal too :) i am not aware of any that are applied via the solution tank.
I charge half the amount of the clean to add protector.
Mark
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You cant apply protector via your rinse tank !!
A carpet needs to be free of any chem residue before application , then follow the instructions off your chosen product.
Mike
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Thats not strictly true Mike. If you are applying a guard to a carpet not being cleaned then it needs to be conditioned first. I use Fibre & Fabric rinse which is woolsafe but of course leaves a chemical residue and besides there is no way that rinse/extracting removes all residues anyway.
I can't comment on guard in rinse tank other then what I have been told by other CCs. I would'nt do it that way but hey thats just me.
Pete
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It's teh high ph that kills the florocabons in the protector most should be applied after the item has a ph value of under neutral I believe it is ph6.
I have never known of a protector that goes in the solution tank but if there were it would be a great idea as it would coat the fibres better.
Silicone protectors like Guardsman can be applied to carpets that have been cleaned with a high ph cleaner but these products stink the house out and can make you feel sick if inhaled.
IMO the cheapest on the market and also will be one of the better ones is from Hydramaster but I can't remember what they call it, I am still using 3M scotcgard bought from Spurgeons in W. Sussex.
Shaun
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Sorry Pete , I mean cleaning residue needs to be rinsed either with water or acid rinse as you say depending on the protector you choose. ie you dont just clean the carpet with formular 90 , double clean or whatever then spray on your protector.
I personally prefer Solugard from Solutions or as Shaun mentioned Repel & Protect from Hydramaster.
Mike
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Mike,Shaun
So if you are rinsing with water (ie pre-treating with M/S) and you live in a hard water area what guard should I use because I'm sure the PH level of the carpet won't be left at 6 or under. I'm sure that Fluroseal has florocarbons in it (don't they all)?
Pete
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Guys i would be grateful if someone could explain what i am missing here!
Alot of you guys on this forum say you charge 50% of the cleaning price but say you use solugaurd or similiar it works out at about 12p a sqft for carpet and even more for upholstery, so for arguments sake say you charged 25p a sqft for cleaning and the customer wanted protector aswell, 50% of that would be 12.5p when the protector is costing you 12p sqft to buy so your making half a penny per sqft is it viable?
Now some of you might say well i charge by room price fair enough so do i, but you must know ruffly what that equates to per sqft/sqmt especially when you are dealing with protectors.
And i would like to add that many on here charge far less then that how they must make a loss applying protectors.
regards
matt
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Mat
Say you do a flat that is 50m2 in total. lounge 20m2 and two bedrooms totalling 24m2 and a hallway about 6m2. you would charge £125 for clean based on your figures. bottle of fluroseal costs £30 max and covers this whole area. You charge 50% of clean which equals £62.50. Profit of £32.50.
You earn much more guarding upholstery as you use alot less.
Pete
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Dave
why not use dry fusion on jobs that the customer wants protection? this way you dont have to charge any more.
if you think about protection should come as standard servive
this would be a great USP.
Respectfully
Ian Harper
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I dont really push protecting after clean. I protect carpets for 2 retailers , where people are more likely to pay on new carpets.
Mike
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ok pete fair enough you would make a small profit on a job of that size but if it was for just a lounge carpet then surely you wouldn't make any money out of it charging only 50%?
matt
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Minimum charge mate, would make even more.
Pete
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Hi Guys
A flourocarbon protector works by coating the carpet fibres with a thin film , which is both oil resistant and also alters the surface tension so that water based spillages do not wet out and can be soaked up.
In practice it is difficult to get the polymer particles to form a good film , and this is one reason why solvent based protectors are better, as the poymer can be dissolved rather than suspended and will therefore form a better film on evaporation of the solvent.
Solvent based protectors would be too expensive and have too many H&S problems to be generally used on carpets.
The water based flourocarbons will be small particles of flourocarbon suspended in an emulsion. The chemists who developed them will have tested the optimum pH for film formation and this would appear to be about 6, hence the need to use an acid rinse/prespray.
It's worth bearing in mind that if you clean with a lower pH solution then this will be easier to neutralise, remember pH is logarithmic so aPh 10 is ten times more alkaline than pH 9.
As for putting the protector in the solution tank, the biggest draw back is that you would remove most of your expensive protector and put it down the drain.
Cheers
Doug
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the bonnet method; catalyst "craftex" has a built in protector, pre-spray with the product work in with the b/pad, cleans as well as protecting. the cfr method; shut out assit stain blocker, intank enables you to clean the carpet as well as putting a protective coating onto each fibre in one foul swoop. fresh person!
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Thanks Fresh.
I thought as much about the CFR product.
I might get some then and see how good it is at home, if it is OK then could offer it... nice little earner for no extra work!
Also, a Mony Python fan I see... good choice.
Andy
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you'd have to be a real train spotter to have spotted that andy! shut out works very well, used it now & then no prob's, in fact i'll be using it this tues, custy want stairs & lounge cleaned plus stain protection blocker. "the life of freshi"
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I use fluroseal too. It actually works really well!
I normall tack it on the end of a quote as an "optional extra". It seems that those customers that have had it before need no convincing and request it again.
The problem is those customers that have never had their carpets protected. It's very difficult to convince a customer to protect their carpet when you clean it and remove all the stains! The attitude is generally: "It cleans up fine, why do I need protector?"
Splash and dash operators will often dilute protector before they apply it. the more unscrupulous ones will merely apply water.
It's not surprising that some custys are hard to convince when they get charged ££££s for tap water "protector" and still end up with stains on their carpets.