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Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care

  • Posts: 489
Vacuum cleaning priority
« on: December 17, 2007, 12:37:14 am »
I had a carpet cleaning job on Friday that was requested on allergy control grounds. It was worth £300 so I spent the day doing a thorough job. I had my Kirby and used the demo jar and paper filters instead of the bag so that I could monitor when I had removed sufficient 'dust'. (Seeing as we proclaim that 85% is dry soil and should be removed as such).
FIVE HOURS LATER!!! I was happy and the client could see which part of her home was the culprit (the bedroom - particularly under and around the bed). This was followed by around an hour of Mpower and host agitation and about the same again in HWE. The results spoke volumes for the effort involved.
I know there are some on this forum that don't see the need in such prep. work but I really was bowled over by what I could pull out of an apparently not too bad wool carpet.
Alan
Experience does not qualify as Knowledge and Understanding.
Understand how and why and you'll produce great results.

IICRC, Woolsafe, Fenice & LTT trained.
Member of Eco Carpet Care, NCCA & Woolsafe.

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2007, 01:37:49 am »
Years and years of domestic cleaning taught me that no one ever cleans behind and under beds, in fact the emphasis on cleaning bedrooms or more to the point lack of same is non exisistant. I dont know why people dont want a more dust-free room to sleep in but they never do. Also if they have only a cylinder vaccum cleaner this will explain why there was such quantities of dirt in the pile. I've always said that even using a different upright cleaner to the one in regular use produces unbeliveable results. I say its down to the change in sweeping pattern.

Joe H

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2007, 07:24:14 am »
Alan,I am spending more time then ever before on preparation, that includes vacuuming, and its pay off, IMO, is cleaner carpets.

carpet guy

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2007, 08:27:18 am »
If you were cleaning on "allergy gounds"and what you posted, is what you did, you will not have resolved an "allergy" problem, simply by vacuuming, in fact, aggressive vacuuming is likely to worsen the problem, if done with a machine which has paper or cloth bags.

Sure...........you will pullout a lot of cut pile and accumulated dust, but you will also return the worst of this, the finest particles , to the atmosphre, only to land back where they started.

The only vacuum which effectively removes tiny particulates, is one with water filtration, which captures the soil and prevents it returning to the atmosphere.

Not criticising the effort, which was undoubtedly done with good intentions, but question the outcome.

To treat an allergy, you have to know the cause of the allergy, of whic there are many and it's a bit dodgy to make claims which can't be substantiated.

As I said. This is not a criticism of Alan Brooker, or anyone else who follows this route.

The specific targetting of dust mite elimination and control, is a safer approach, when offerng such a service, as there are specific products, with a proven history, over the past decade which can be used, rather than give false hope, to people with a non specific problem.


Ken Wainwright

  • Posts: 2107
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2007, 09:09:24 am »
Well done Alan.

Carpet Guy raises a valid point about the finer particles of dust becoming airborne, and I believe that the Kirby does not have a HEPA filter available. Certainly a water filter vac will excel with it's filtration properties.

But there's a flaw. The suction only water filter vacs do not remove as much soil/debris/allergens from a carpet as a high performance, preferably twin motor, upright vacuum. In this area, the Kirby will win hands down. A turbo brush attachment to a suction only vac is only, IMO, a halfway house.

The advice given to householders by many in the medical profession is, that when vaccing, keep the allergen sensitive person away from the work area. If the person doing the cleaning is sensitive, wear a particle mask. Open windows then vac. Upon completion, leave the room, leave the windows open for at least half an hour. Longer is beneficial. Many allergens will exit the house on the warm air escaping through the window and some will resettle.

For professional cleaners such as Alan, especially with the known side effects benefits of his chosen cleaning solution, the total cleaning regime he has followed is of the highest order.

Safe and happy cleaning :)
Ken

Veni, vidi vici, Vaxi
I came, I saw, I conquered, I cleaned up!

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11578
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2007, 10:40:43 am »
I would think the best option would be a brush attachment fitted to a vacuum outside the home, so any expelled air is released outside.

 So put your portable outside the door, fit a dustdowner and use that to vac the carpet.

what actually was the 'allergy' that needed controlling?

Mike
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

Alan Brooker. Aqualink Carpet Care

  • Posts: 489
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2007, 11:12:09 am »
Who knows?... Lady explained that she was suffering from dry throat / itchy eyes etc. Presumeably dust mite although I wouldn't say conclusively - I don't own the test kit.
I think the genuine kirby vac bags are HEPA rated and while I loosly used the term 'paper'- the disks which are piled about 15 deep in the demo jar are (at that quantity) even more effective than the 6 layer HEPA bag. When working on this sort of job in the past with a 'normal' upright I would experience the same symptoms as client during cleaning - not so on Friday.
Glad to hear I'm not alone in the long vacuum times. I've been starting to lose hope of late - jobs just seem to be getting dustier!
Alan
Experience does not qualify as Knowledge and Understanding.
Understand how and why and you'll produce great results.

IICRC, Woolsafe, Fenice & LTT trained.
Member of Eco Carpet Care, NCCA & Woolsafe.

JS2

  • Posts: 264
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2007, 04:54:06 pm »
Related Enquiry:  Who manufactures and/or supplies the water-filtered vacs ?

Regards

Pete (JS2)

Fintan_Coll

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2007, 07:00:01 pm »
Neptune UK, but I think Karcher have something similar.

Joe H

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2007, 07:08:44 pm »
Google search it.

fletch

  • Posts: 96
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2007, 07:27:30 pm »
Who knows?... Lady explained that she was suffering from dry throat / itchy eyes etc.
Sounds like all she needs to do to remedy this is, before she goes to bed open-up the bedroom window; Clean fresh-air. ::)
DIVIDE & CONQUER

Mike Halliday

  • Posts: 11578
Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2007, 09:32:33 pm »
so how big was the house that took 5 hrs to vacuum? I would think if it only took an hour to HWE then it must have been a small 2 bed house.

and do you think you were taking out contaminants from the carpet or do you think you could have been taking out carpet fibres, if the customers allergies where not caused by the carpet fibres then what you've done might have been pointless.

Until recently I was a big believer in vacuuming, but it can be taken too far.

Mike
Mike Halliday.  www.henryhalliday.co.uk

carpet guy

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2007, 11:18:04 pm »
Ken's endorsement of Alan's regime is very honourable and welcome, but might suggest that others are less professional and less effective.

The concept of thoroughly vacuuming, followed by cleaning and then applying an effective " allergy control "product has been the norm' for many, for over a decade,

The water filtration machine from Denis Rawlins is available with an electrically powered head and with 100% suction, unlike uprights, with easily clogged filters, it's just possible that the former gives a better removal throughout the area being cleaned.

Bear in mind, upright vacs choke very quickly, leaving the machines simply brushing the carpet, so in spite of some of them having more power,they might just be less efficient than you think.


Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2007, 11:35:56 pm »
It was all the dirt in the bottom of a Kirby bag that used to bother me, usually from when a bag had burst. I suppose that you lads look after your cleaning equipment better than a clinet would. As mentioned before i used to clean for two people who had Kirbys and both used to puff out clouds of dust becsause the owners let the bags burst, although on the Heritage Legend i was using the bellows did split and i guess had been split for a lot longer than i knew about. That meant a lot of rubbish was expelled into the softbag. Incidently do any of you lot use your Kirbys to agitate the pile after wetting a carpet. Obvioulsy i mean by using the appropriate rotating brush, not when set up as a vacuum cleaner.

gps01

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2007, 01:54:13 pm »
If it is dust mite allergy that you particularly need to address then please email me - premier-klean@ukonline.co.uk

carpet guy

Re: Vacuum cleaning priority
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2007, 06:03:06 pm »
There are many on here capable of dealing with dust mites and associated problems. Alltec brought out a good and effective product about 10 years ago, which I'm sure most are aware of.