Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: M.Acorn on January 31, 2008, 11:48:15 am
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Hello again folks
The time has come for me to buy a turbo dryer :D, is there anything i should watch out for when using one ?
is it possible to do damage with one i:e is it possible to shrink a carpet through drying it out too quickly through not moving it around enough so it dries some parts quicker than others ?
Where is it best to position it,i assume i should place it at one end of a room and have it blowing on the entire carpet.what about the stairs is it possible to position it so it dries them out ?
Cheers for the advice Mark
Also going to set up another website this week, i found a company called 123.reg.co.uk that do the whole bundle domain names for £9.00 a year (cheap)
they also have something called insta site where you can set up a site from a choice of 400 odd templates add flash vids photos ect ect for £2.99 a month all looks very good they also have dedicated servers if you wish.Was going to give my current site a revamp but i can build a much better pro looking site with their console ect from home for much less money,and also alter and add stuff myself,
my web guy has not responded to my e-mails for months and he costs me about £80, an hour so time to take thew bull by the horns and do it myself 8)
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Never had need for dryers but from what i hear ............ beware pot pourri, loose wall pictures, lightweight ornaments, soot in fireplaces and dust behind radiators :o
ps ......... i do know that you aim airflow across surface cleaned and NOT directly at it ........... especially pertinent to upholstery cleans.
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Mark,
Always turn blower on before pre vac as it regularly blows loads of fluff/dust out from behind radiators, As Chris said check mirrors, light ornaments, pictures and never direct at an open chimney.
Also sit it on a folded ground sheet to prevent indentation marks in the carpet and this also stops the vibration spinning it round.
Regards,
Gary
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When you lift them bend zee kneez. They aren't too heavy but for some reason I've tweaks my back a couple of times.
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what kind of turbo dryer would you recommend
bill
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Thanks once again everyone for all your very helpful comments ! ;D Yep my nearly 38 year old back gives me jip sometimes mainly find it`s my shoulders that take the brunt of it though :P
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Does anyone do a warm air blower?? I presumed they would be warm air, been thinking of adding a honeywell heater to the mix!!
Been using a turbo dryer for about a month, sofas are near on dry by the time I leave.
Fluff, dust and crud gets blown everywhere, especially from behind radiators.
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Possibly try one of those big space heaters from screw fix type they use for heating workshops etc ?
might be a bit overkill turning up with a huge butane space heater though 8)
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ONE is not enough TWO minimum FOUR perfect really great when doing a whole house. TWO when doing sofa and chairs. ONE just aint enough and the quicker you dry thwem the less chance of shrinkage.OH! and get them with three speeds.
CHEERS TONY
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Possibly in the future only have the funds for 1 at the moment and one is better than what i have at the moment :) going to get the blue powerblo one £175 + vat
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Amtech have them on special at the moment £124+vat if I remember correctly
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Not a good idea moving them around when they are turned on.
Beware the room with lots of Birthday or Christmas cards etc are on display. Usually a good idea to take them all down and place in a safe pile rather than trying to rescue them.
I quite often take down pictures from the wall if I am leaning upholstery against the wall as the upholstery diverts the airflow up under the picture which then swings against the wall.
Blowers can help you keep cool as well when the well meaning custy has turned the heating up specifically becasue you were coming round to clean!!
Finally, some models allow you to tip the blower to different angles to achieve different results eg for blowing air up a flight of stairs.
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I bought one when i first started out and after a few months put it in shed where it gathered dust. Sold it on ebay a while back and bought an inline water heater with the proceeds....a much better investment!
For me they just dont dry quick enough, that was my main gripe with it...oh yeah...and the dust!
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Gary J,
Regarding warm blowers, not a good idea, they would raise the relative humidity levels in the room therefore slowing down the drying process.
Regards,
Gary
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Cheers, thought it would be something like that.
As my dryer is only a couple of months old I'm going to carry on using it before it's bunged in the back of the shed. I am going to start carrying around a bit of old carpet to put it on though as it is leaving indentations in the customers carpets which are a bugger to get out.
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Also any heaters burning gas or fosil fuels give off 18 litres of moisture for every litre of fuel burned unless they are indirect and the fumes are vented out of the property. Thats why you get those big vapour trail behind aeroplanes.
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Also any heaters burning gas or fosil fuels give off 18 litres of moisture for every litre of fuel burned unless they are indirect and the fumes are vented out of the property. Thats why you get those big vapour trail behind aeroplanes.
Vapour trails are smashed molecules caused by the aircraft wings, don't think they are anything to do with fumes ???
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I too have inline heater but driers make a massive difference, and when doing sofas invaluable.I also find the customers like the quicker drying times.
CHEERS TONY
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"Vapour trails are smashed molecules caused by the aircraft wings, don't think they are anything to do with fumes" ??? ??? ??? ???
And I always thought they were condensing CO2, ie carbon di-oxide from the exhaust.
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When I do a suite (without a turbo dryer) it usually takes a few hours to dry. They are well on the way to drying brfore I even leave the house.
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THINK YOUR MISSING THE POINT DRYERS SPEED UP THE DRYING TIMES FACT!!!
WHEN DOING A WHOLE HOUSE WITH ALL THAT MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE THEY ARE AS I HAVE SAID INVALUABLE.
CHEERS TONY
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PS. and to answer Marks ORIGINAL QUESTION no THERE ARE NO REAL PITFALLS just a bit more effort.
CHEERS TONY
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I have a air mover, but never use it, causes more probs than it solves, blows dust everywhere, from behind rads etc, and moves pictures about. also unless there positioned properly dont speed drying by that much. On Upholstery you can force moisture deeper into the cushions.
Also carpets are generally dry within 1 to 2 hours after I leave, so not worth the effort or van space.
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surly. spick & span ,every effort , if it makes a difference is worth it :-\
and drying upholstery , very benificial.
On another note, I read some wereMr. straker doesnt use air movers , Is that true ?
I thought every c/c worth his salt would have an air mover ;) :)
geoff
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airmover equal faster drying times, if you don't use them I would assume that you also just use a single vac machine, ( why bother using 2 or 3 vacs, you are;nt bothered how fast the carpets dry)
there are no reasons not to use airmovers, only excuses.
Mike
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Also gives you a selling point, you can take an air mover in and tell the customer that you are drying whilst cleaning.
The next guy they ring may not offer this service and you can justify a slightly higher price.
one of a customers biggest concerns is how long everything will take to dry.
By having an airmover you overcome one of their hurdles.
I have found it improves reccomendations when they tell friends and family how you opperate and how dry the items where when you left.
Every one seems to have a friend or member of family that had a carpet or suit cleaned that took ages to dry.
John
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Geoff, Mike & John. WELL SAID ;) ;) ;)
CHEERS TONY
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My air drier has not been out of the van for years.
I use a two jet wand with twin vacs never needed to dry anything looks like you guys using to much spray?????????? and not one complaint in ten years.
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Mr Wrightson
That was a pathetic comment and not worthy of anyone who is really " worth his salt " and does this job without the need of airmovers.
Like many others I have them but only ever use them in extreme cases, perhaps you need to examine your techniques, before making such remarks.
It's just possible the people who don't use them are ;-
more experienced
more competent
more confident
or just better than you
rob
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Rob, agree with your coments on use. I used to use them alot with a porty but now with a truck dont bother, they tend just to sit in the office cupboard and only come out for floods.
However they do excellerorate drying.
ps Rob, how did you get on with present?
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Depends on how you are selling your service, I sell mine (apart from being cleaner) on drier so carpets are alot drier, with a TM carpets are drier anyway but sometimes a clean can be a bit too quick so I get the turbo out and the carpet is drying while I pack away and customers see a bit more for their money and also it's a 'recommendation factor'.
Shaun
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PS. and to answer Marks ORIGINAL QUESTION no THERE ARE NO REAL PITFALLS just a bit more effort.
8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Paul
I would never dispute that anything that increases air movement will speed up drying times, I was responding to a sideswipe and as someone who has experimented for 20 odd years I know as many others do, that " there's more than one way to skin a cat "
Why waste time and effort dragging more into a house than you need.
No chance to try out your " item " yet but will soon let you now how it works out for me
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Interesting comments, if the rh of the room is high and cannot accept moisture from a carpet or fabric then using a blower or any high powered machine will not make much difference , there are many ways to increase drying times, most come experience and knowledge as suggested by Rob.
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Rob,
in reply to your answer ,
That was a pathetic comment and not worthy of anyone who is really " worth his salt " and does this job without the need of airmovers.
Like many others I have them but only ever use them in extreme cases, perhaps you need to examine your techniques, before making such remarks.
It's just possible the people who don't use them are ;-
more experienced
more competent
more confident
or just better than you
I suggest to you , that" experience "would tell you that air movers are benificial.
that " competent " is good enough, but no more.
that " confidence " has nothing to do with it , and that the redundancy of air mover
is simply........ cant be bothered attitude.
Therfore, Definatly, " Not better than me " when it comes to drying .
Simple really , Rob ;D
Geoff, or Mr Wrightson,either it doesnt bother me :)
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When it comes to upholstery, i am treating with mist of M Power, agitating with Minitex and rinsing with Drimaster tool ................ first item is already dry by time i finish last and move to carpets.
Carpets are thoroughly vacuumed and pre-treated, brushed with contra rotating brush and rinsed with Speedster, which manges to achieve drying times of up to and around 2 hours 8)
My service is aimed at the eco/green market and that is reflected in the products i use ............ also showing a minimal use of the customers power supply adds to this. I use cold water for rinsing and a Multi Sprayer that is charged in van on route ........... WHY WOULD I PLUG IN A HIGH SPEED FAN WHEN I CLEARLY HAVE NO NEED, OTHER THAN TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION OF CUTTING DRYING TIMES AT THE COST OF ENERGY ;D
Not sure what salt is worth but i do value myself and my service higher ;)
I clean some rooms on a certain job, where one end will have dried by the time i get to the other ......... telling customers that the drying will be around 2 hours is a vast improvement on the whole day they were expecting.
I also do a great deal of LM work with Charly pads ............. are you telling me that i am not doing properly if i do not use movers to cut down the 30 minutes ;D
Each CC on here will work in varied manner and offer slightly different service .......... i am happy with what i achieve in results and drying times.......and the amount of eco/green customers i am accruing, shows that that is not just MY opinion.
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With you on this one Rob, why lug an air mover around when you dont need one.
Also if you are honest with the customer about drying times its no problem, its when you say carpet will be dry in say 4 hours and it takes 8 hours to dry is when customers moan. be honest..... ;D
In the years i have cleaned carpets and upholstery never had any complains about drying times. :P
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I just find it amazing that anyone should feel the need to use an air mover on most jobs. If you really need it, how much fluid are you putting down, and why.
Are you cleaning the pile of the carpet, or are you trying to give the " deepest clean ever "and include the base of the carpet. What axactly are you doing that makes you soak carpets to the extent that they need assisted drying ?????????????????
If you prespray adequately, aggitate, as necessary and allow enough dwell time, the chemicals will have done their job, loosening the soiling from the fibres leaving you to rinse away the broken down soiling.
All that's needed then is to use the carpet wand with good technique and you will remove around 90% of the fluids, possibly more. Unless there is no airflow / heat you won't need to introduce a hurricane into the property.
On the three occasions I've used a drier in the past year, two had been flooded, the third was unnoccupied, with no airflow.
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I use my turbos to ensure it is drier, my TM has more air flow than most machines and it leaves the carpets or upholstery drier but for the sake of lifting in a 'box' and plugging it in and leaving it in a corner it's not hard work to get a customer over excited about how dry their items are, lift and jerk in and lift and jerk out :o
Shaun
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What's " jerking " got to do with it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I know if i was a customer it would scare me if i saw a guy bringing in two or three bloody big turbo dryers i would be thinking how wet are these items going to be?????
Who is this jerk out ::) ::) ::)
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I have never ever had a negative comment about turbos only positive ones, how do they know what they are until you tell them? when told what they do they are very impressed.
Shaun
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Got to agree Shaun,
only last friday landed a £200 job.
the reason for the instant response to the quote.........
not the method I would be using, not the fact I would be using a t/m, not the fact I explained in every detail the proccess, and not the fact she fancied the pants off me ;)
but I mentioned I would place air movers in the rooms I had cleaned whilst continuing with other carpets.
Yes that made her mind up, the fact that most of the carpets would be dry before leaving, :) :)
Im not saying this is the norm when winning a custy, but it is certainly a weapon, and those who disagree and say they do not need them , sorry your excuses are feeble.
if you have them use them , the benifits far out way the fact you have to do that little extra work in lifting them in.
In fact the only plausable excuse I have seen not to use them is Chris,s reason, which in his eyes is benificial to his way of green marketing, fair enough , he is sticking to his eco drive , but the rest of the feeble excuses . codswallop ;D
geoff
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My god what have i started off here ! :D
I am deffo going to be getting one .I don`t overwet when i clean i usually find custys have banged the heating up which i find really annoying and usually get them to turn it down again.Did a job in cambridge on thus night the custy had the thermostat turned up as far as it would go,so i turned it right down , find that i get too hot when i am cleaning.I also find that some custys want to use the room a short while after cleaning so anything to speed up drying is a bonus and also a good selling point as most if not all of my jobs want a wrough idea on how long they will take to dry.And as a customer your going to use the company that has that extra bit of kit more for your money..My machine has twin 3 stage vacs so carpets are not wet when i am done more like damp.I usually open all the doors and windows when i clean , if i carry on doing this and use dryers then it should lower the humidity by quite a bit..Got my fat cheque from the rev today so won`t be long before i am getting one will keep you posted on how i get on,think i will be running the blower before i start hoovering to get rid of any dust before i start cleaning.Some of the jobs i have done it really is apparent that custys are not at all through with the hoover some of them i have been able to scopop up big handfulls of hair from round skirting boards and on stairs , not nice, hair i find really hard to get up even after a through hoover with brushes not beater bars.Usually clogs up filter in machine too . i end up taking the vac hose of the wand and using that for the really stubborn hair
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Mr Gunn amtech are selling the shell shape turbo dryer for £175 + vat where have you seen them cheaper ? as that one looks better than the powerblo version ?
Have also found Olympic doing a 1 hp version for £163. which looks good
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Mark
The easiest way to move fur or hair when the vacuum has failed is the sole of your trainer, or one of these brushes with thick, soft rubber bristles, Ben at Furniture Clinic had some of these he was clearing out.
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Quality seen those but never thought about getting 1 will get one now.I wear hiking boots when i work prob best not to go rubbing the soles on capet,used to just wear socks then got fed up of having wet feet always end up spraying my feet with the pre spray >:( then tried those stupid blue shoe covers which are useless just gone back to boots now !
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Mark ,
try a paint roller with tape wrapped around, seems to work for me ok , suprising what it will pick up with a couple of rolls
geoff
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Mr Gunn amtech are selling the shell shape turbo dryer for £175 + vat where have you seen them cheaper ? as that one looks better than the powerblo version ?
Have also found Olympic doing a 1 hp version for £163. which looks good
Got an email from them with their special offers on if not try the auction
https://www.nsmsecuresite.com/amtechuk-ssl/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi
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I was going to buy the whole room drier the one Amtech sell for drying upholstery dont no if i will bother now.I thought all carpet cleaners use dryers.Always thought it looked profesional upholstery cleaned and dryed.
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So whats is making you change your mind darren?
dont let a couple of replys from them that dont use them put you off,
It will give you the edge when pricing against a non user ;D
geoff
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Geoff
Never mind ! Darren, taking a large machine into someones home and creating a hurricane, is NOT going to give a pricing " edge "it may appeal to some, if you convince them it's necessary.
How you present yourself, how knowledgable and caring you appear, how confident you come across in your ability to clean to a high standard and how you deal with, drying issues ( which in reality exist more in your mind than the clients ) will give you an edge.
If a drier is NECESSARY I would use one, but for 99% of the jobs, it's just not necessary.
Nobody expects carpets or suites to be totally dry, following a wet clean, in fact most clients, when new to us are surprised when we tell them, their carpets and suites will be touch dry in one to two hours and totally dry in four to six hours, occasionally longer.
This is BETTER than their previous experiences and has never been a problem in over twenty years.
So...........for people new to the business, I suggest you learn to get the best out of your tools, learn about prespraying and aggitating, find out which chemicals work best for you. I'm afraid you'll have to experiment because we all have our favourites.
Once you've mastered the tools and learned to get the best from your machines, you will find whether or not you need to add driers to your set up.
What I'd suggest, is, you want the minimum amount of traffic / disruption around your clients property taking into the house only what's absolutely essential. By doing so, are are reducing the risk of damage to any of their valuables.
rob
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some of the replies on this topic are absolutely laughable, I've yet to read one good reason not to use airmovers,
these are the real reasons people don't use airmovers;
they can't afford them.
they don't have the room in the van to carry them.
they are too bone idle lazy to carry them into the house.
no matter how eloquent they type about not needing them (for an example read Robs farytale answer above),
JUST LOOK ABOVE FOR THE REAL REASON.
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Not got any 50 pence pieces for the meter .......................... missed one Mike :o
Never used one before i went eco and never needed one........... flooding & drying out i understand the need but then i tend NOT to flood peoples carpets and sofas :-\
these are the real reasons people don't use airmovers;
they can't afford them................ could have had two for free last year!!
they don't have the room in the van to carry them................. more than a cubic metre of free space!!
they are too bone idle lazy to carry them into the house................. if i never wanted to carry stuff from van then i would get a TM!!
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thought of another 2
they want to be in & out of the house as quick as possible, so see carrying airmovers as a unnecessary waste of time.
once they are out of the house they could'nt care less how long it takes before the customer can re-use the room, they've been paid, f*** the customer
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Mike, thats cos there isnt one. Even if we chose not to use them we still know it is best to use them.
Rob, let me get this right. You dont think air movers are neccessary, nor to use heat to accelerate drying and de-hu's arent worth the trouble to use? Not word for word but these are your findings.
Please come to the ccdo, I would love to here your reasoning on why you think this.
I am sure you have lots of experiences in your twenty years of everything, we could all learn from this!
Best, Dave.
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Hi Dave,
Rob can't make the day as he'd busy with other projects, shame as I think he's a wealth of knowledge and experience.
We've still great line up of demo's and talks including your good self so looking forward to the day tremendously ;D.
All the best,
Jason.
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;D Shame you cant make it Mike either, are you sure our ccdo isn't more important to your trip to the states ;D. Youll be missing a great day.
Fingers crossed if all goes well we might be able to arrange another.
All the best,
Jason.
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The irony is that one of the reasons i got started in Parliament ................ i got carpets & upholstery drier much quicker than the person they were using ;D ;) ::)
Opinions on the subject are all good ....... only ones that concern me are my customers and when drying times loses me work then i may consider Mike to be right :P
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my post above might seem critical of carpet cleaners who don't use airmovers but to be truthful I guilty of one of the reason I give for not using airmovers, I carry 4 of them on the van but on half of the jobs I do I'm too bone idle lazy to carry them into the house
I know I should use them on all jobs
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im looking to buy some new dryers which is best snail dryers or whole room dryers ??????
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Dave and others
On the rare occasion I use air movers, they are left on site, in most cases, overnight, to suggest they leave an airmover in one room while they clean another room , is laughable.
The effect created over such a short period would be minimal.
As I've stated before.
There are few situations when I'd find it desirable to leave an airmover in a house, the only time I'd regard it as necessary, would be; -
When the inside air quality is stagnant due to zero, or near zero air flow
In a flood recovery situation
When the house is unnoccupied
There might be others
In all of the above, in order to get the full benefit from the driers, they would be left for at least 4 - 6 hours. This is simply not feasible in domestic work and IMO, unnecessary in the majority of cases.
Like a few other tasks, it might make the operator feel more important, or imagine it gies them greater credibility.
You are in a business, presumably to make money.............one of the first things you will learn on any business management course any where in the world, is MANAGEMENT OF TIME.
Unless a task is ESSENTIAL to the service, don't waste time, or effort doing it, instead, consider how efficiently you use your other resources.
Conflicting opinion is a good learning tool, but sometimes it's hard to listen, when you just want to talk.
This board is full of energy and enthusiasm, but you must, in this business, be prepared to experiment. There is such a huge variety of chemicals and tools available and the great thing on here, is the fact that people talk to each other,meet socially and are prepared to lend others equipment, so you can get the chance to try something out, rather than gambling considerable sums on a tool which others rave about , but simply might not appeal to you.
Airmovers are like, vacuums, or pile rakes, acid rinses, etc, etc.
Some use them, others don't.
There is no absolutely correct way, that everyone must follow, it's the end result that matters along with CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, without that, you will struggle.