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UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Paul W Jones on July 18, 2008, 03:22:29 pm

Title: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Paul W Jones on July 18, 2008, 03:22:29 pm
This is my first post.  I've been cleaning carpets for two months using a Powr Flite perfect heat with a Sebo B36 and Sebo duo.  I've just won a contract to clean a small business centre.  The first stage is 60 sq. metres of carpet tiles in a completely empty office.  The tiles are bitumen backed and are in good condition with areas of soiling in traffic lanes and around desk positions.    I've been told that Ultrapac Renovate would be the ideal pre-spray but I wondered what I should rinse it with.  Would Fibre & Fabric Rinse be okay?  The tiles appear to be well laid but I've got some spray adhesive just in case.  Is there anything else I should be looking for?  I'm keen to get good results as there are three more offices after this one.  Just one more point; should I agitate with my Sebo Duo?  If I do, should I rinse it or take any special precautions following use?  I'm just a bit concerned about the Ultrapac.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: davep on July 18, 2008, 03:25:11 pm
If you are soon to be cleaning large areas of low profile tiles then get something like this

htt p://www.cleansmartsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Craftex_Thermadry.html

Much quicker than hwe..

Where are you based?
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 18, 2008, 03:53:03 pm
Welcome to the forum,
Ultrapac renovate would be ideal on these tiles, i would rinse with something with a bit more kick, maybe doubleclean or crystal green, as davep says if your looking to get lots of this kind of work it is worth investing in a LM system of some kind.
Mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Paul W Jones on July 18, 2008, 04:14:46 pm
Thanks for the help.  I hadn't been looking at getting more of this work it sort of landed in my lap which I'm not complaining about!  Just thinking about the rinse, Prochem suggest Fibre & Fabric with Ultrapac.  Would the other two suggestions give me better results?  Also I'm still a bit concerned about agitating with the Sebo Duo and any precautions I should take.

I'm based in Staffordshire by the way.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Doug Holloway on July 18, 2008, 04:31:30 pm
Hi Guys

I would use Texatherm but if HWE then Ultrapac is a good option.

Fibre and fabric rinse will neutralise the Ultrapac but something stronger will give you a better job.

I wouldn't even bother with Sebo Duo on tiles, just give it a  reasonable dwell time.

Cheers

Doug
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Gerry Styles on July 18, 2008, 06:40:49 pm
If the tiles are in good condition and I do not see the need for ultrapac. I would use either traffic lane cleaner or powerburst then rinse extract with fibre and fabric rinse.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 18, 2008, 07:21:41 pm
Gerry,
If you dont see the need for ultrapac renovate why suggest powerburst and trafficclean when they are both higher PH ??? ???
Ultrapac renovate is now recommended by Prochem for cleaning polyprop carpets and tiles
Mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Dave Roelants on July 18, 2008, 07:28:34 pm
The ideal would be a low moisture system, but ultrapac would give a good result. Rinse with fibre and fabric, crystal green will resoil very quickly(I can't believe people still use it) so you'd have an unhappy client soon after
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Paul W Jones on July 18, 2008, 07:31:19 pm
Thanks again Guys.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 18, 2008, 08:14:54 pm
The ideal would be a low moisture system, but ultrapac would give a good result. Rinse with fibre and fabric, crystal green will resoil very quickly(I can't believe people still use it) so you'd have an unhappy client soon after

In a commercial environment the carpets will re-soil quickly no matter what you rinse with so i would use crystal green and get a better initial result
Mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Len Gribble on July 18, 2008, 08:48:56 pm
Jonesboy

I haven’t won the contract yet (but will! been after it for two years) tomorrow using fibre shampoo/citra boost or Craftex multisolv using brush or red pad rotary and extract double clean with porty, profit think about 20% last company big PLC used which I call shake and vac system (so the crud needs to come out) customer not at all happy I know. Will be looking again at the LM systems if I get it? What one I don’t know but the cost of it will be included in the contract.

Chris

Thanks for the loan of your machine changed my mined will use it for extraction mine as pre-spray machine.

Len
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Dave Roelants on July 19, 2008, 01:17:11 pm
The ideal would be a low moisture system, but ultrapac would give a good result. Rinse with fibre and fabric, crystal green will resoil very quickly(I can't believe people still use it) so you'd have an unhappy client soon after

In a commercial environment the carpets will re-soil quickly no matter what you rinse with so i would use crystal green and get a better initial result
Mark
Then you're doing something wrong Mark, mine don't! ;D
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 19, 2008, 08:15:00 pm
So you have hundereds of people a week walking through a company reception and they dont re-soil quickly, please let me know your secret  ???
mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Derek_Walker on July 20, 2008, 09:20:25 am
I would definately use a low moisture system to clean these tiles, as wick back is a possiblity. If hwe is used make sure you vac thoroughly and if possible use a rotary machine to bonnet mop afterwoulds to remove any excess moisture.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: carlton care on July 20, 2008, 09:48:52 am
Bear in mind, you don't have to go out and buy a "full system " to try L/M cleaning. All you need is a low speed rotary, with drive board and test a few products.

The "systems" use heat and their own chemical formulations, but you can find plenty of alternatives. I have used texatherm with astonishing results and users of the other two systems would probably claim the same.

HWE and low profile tiles is not a great combination due to restricted air flow, but this could be overcome by using glides.

Incidentally.................the suppliers of your machine also supply a product which can be used with the machine with only water in the tank as a rinse. KEEP IT SIMPLE

robert m
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: liahona on July 20, 2008, 10:29:16 am
And bearing in mind that the suppliers of the tiles recommend hwe to clean them, not any type of "dry" system.  They can be used for maintenance as they also suggest but to clean them thoroughly they only advise hwe.  Interface on their superfloor and type s i think it is only say hwe and say in similar words that thou shalt not use a dry system, ever.

Best, Dave.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: derek west on July 20, 2008, 11:11:40 am
i'll be cleaning some burmatex 4000 tiles at the beginnng of august and this thread is getting me worried, i only clean by hwe and theres a lot of conflicting messages on here, will i have problems using a trucky?
ps.. there as filthy as forks.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: clinton on July 20, 2008, 11:17:36 am
We all have our own ways of doing things derek carpet cleaning is the same.... What is ok for one is not for the other.....I use a lm cleaning system at a large company in salford queys and believe me the would not settle for second best and have been there a year or so now.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 20, 2008, 04:38:16 pm
Derek,
LM systems are fine for maintainance cleans every 3-6 months for eg.
You are looking at a corrective or salvage clean by the sounds of it and you will need high ph solutions and your trucky or porty depending of access, put plenty of pre-spray down and give decent dwell time then just rinse out as you normally would.
Mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: richie on July 20, 2008, 10:29:14 pm
I agree with Dave,  I wouldnt extract with Crystal Green as it does tend to leave carpets slightly sticky & will almost certainly cause rapid resoiling.  Pre-treat with PowerBurst then rinse with acid rinse.  Follow up with dry bonnets to remove more moisture.  Any carpet tiles that have not been cleaned for 6 months in a office i would clean with HWE then if you can sell a maintenance plan clean every 3 months with LM then yearly with HWE again.

Richie.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Paul W Jones on July 21, 2008, 04:00:29 pm
I cleaned the office today and I am pleased with the results and so is the customer.  I used Ultrapac Renovate, didn't agitate but let it dwell for some time.  I then extracted using Double Clean.  I also got the job to clean the other offices.
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: markpowell on July 21, 2008, 05:41:32 pm
Well done mate.
Mark
Title: Re: Carpet tile cleaning
Post by: Gary Webber on July 24, 2008, 07:29:08 am
The only problem is......

You have presprayed with a product with a Ph of 10.5 and then extracted with a further alkali at 9.8. The carpets are now full of alkali residue.

If you return to clean this and carry out the same procedure the alkalinity will be off the scale. How about using a rinse in the machine. If the Ultrapac Renovate has carried out the "loosening" all the areas would need is a rinse to bring out the soil and oil bond film.

The best way of testing this would be in a side area, then a high used trafficway and look at the result.

Regards  Gary