[Simon Gerrard]

My understanding of LM is that in most cases it is done as a cheaper and faster option to HWE, which I presume means speed over the job is everything. If that is the case then how do you get the time to treat the individual soiled areas and do a proper job, because you are working in someone's home and you have a moral responsibility to ensure they have a healthy environment after you've left?
I can see Martin's case, where he's using absorbant granules so you can focus your efforts into those areas, but a pad going at the pace required to make LM profitable and less time consuming than HWE?
That is what worries me. Plus, no one has suggested that when they've treated a 'soiled' area they change their pad, or more importantly isolate it so it isn't used again until it has been sterilised properly.

Simon

[jasonl]

There is no need to isolate pads ,as they have sanitizer on them  as a result of being into contact with the carpet which has been sprayed with sanitizer .

[wynne jones]

Also...

Tip 1.

Do not schedule a job in a care home when Little Mo is up in front of the judge for murder in Eastenders.

We managed to remove most of the sit down protest but one was made of sterner stuff.

It ended up with four nurses lifting a chair leg each and removing said lady (still in chair) and depositing her and chair into another room.

Tip 2. Don't mix up people's chairs. There WILL be a riot (of sorts).   

You're dead right there about the chairs Garry. I remember my first care home job, the look of fear in the Assistant's eyes when she saw I'd but them back in different positions. Never again LOL

[Simon Gerrard]

Mmm, I'mnot sure about that one, Jason. We do a lot of work with the Port Health Authority with norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships and hence my concern about cross contamination, something they are red hot on. I shocked that just as a precaution you wouldn't isolate the pad used on an incontinence site.

Simon

[jasonl]

Well it certainly a good  job that I and all others who carry out such LM work are confident in our ability and hygeine practices.   Why not take this up with Lonnie Mcdonald ?

[Simon Gerrard]

Hang on a second, yesterday you said this about LM in Care Homes,'I would say it is not the best idea..'and went on to say that you only did it because the customer wouldn't pay for HWE. Now you're telling us what a great idea it is and what an expert you are in these matters.
Anyway, that's twice we've crossed swords on as many days, so I'm out of here.

Simon

[jasonl]

It is a simple concept ,,,,,, flushing a carpet with water is desirable , though if this is not going to happen , LM is ok  if done correctly , I guess that having been trained in LM cleaning ,and carrying it out since 1992  , that makes me something of an expert , without wanting to be arrogant about it.

[Simon Gerrard]

Martin,
I'm intrigued by your technique.
What brand of sponges do you use? I've got a sample bag from Sebo, plus a flexi 5, what would be a good type of carpet to try it on?
On your alcohol vomit stain you said you sprayed the area, what with? How much moisture can you put down without it affecting the granules and what would be the drying time before you can vac it all out.
hope you don't mind the questions.

Simon

[wynne jones]

I hope martin has a separate hoover for his vomit, pee and poo  encrusted sponges.

It's fair to say everyone has their own ideas about what's right and the wrong way of doing things and no arguing on here is going to change anyones position. Although I know that Simon has been very forceful in the past about how to clean a carpet and then later changed his methods after trying things out for himself.

[Jim_77]

Come on let's be honest, and a little more realistic.  We all spread bacteria around whilst we work.  Unless you very thoroughly sterilise EVERYTHING (including yourself) after cleaning each room, you are moving micro-organisms around a building.

It's just the SCALE of the problem that needs to be considered because all of us live amongst gazillions of micro-organisms which could be potentially harmful to us.  Our bodies are used to it and can deal with it.

All it takes is a bit of common sense.  You wouldn't bonnet clean a big pile of diarrhoea and then go on and use the pad in the room next door, the same way that you wouldn't extract a vomit stain and then release the dirty water out of your machine all over the front door step.

I think most of us have common sense (and dammit why has the "rolling eyes" smiley stopped working??!!)

[Colin Day]

What makes this whole thread so pathetic is, a lot of care homes use a flippin' Rug Doctor or a Numatic DT901 or whatever and are far too greedy to hire the likes of a proper carpet cleaner... Penny pinching, robbing types by all accounts!!!!

So lets get real, who gives a flying flip-flop what ya use, I would always turn down a residential home in any case, because I just CBA'd with de-contaminating my equipment for the price they expect to pay. Whenever I have ever priced accordingly, I have lost the work to some one armed spaz with a puzzi or a Vax anyway...

Which leads me to ask Simon, are you getting desperate for work or something....?

[Jim_77]

Very good point Colin.  The travesties committed by some care establishments on their own carpets put this argument into perspective very well.

Morals?  What's moral about leaving a poor helpless old person sitting in their own urine for hours on end whilst the carers go out and have fAg breaks.  Don't get me started....

[Simon Gerrard]

Colin,
No. I was asked the question by a Care Home owner when doing a quote and sought out the answer, I don't think I've found it as everyone seems to have their own ideas on how best to deal with this problem.
If we get the job I will be passing it on because these kind of jobs just ain't my cup of tea.
 :
Simon

[The Great One]

Martin,
I'm intrigued by your technique.
What brand of sponges do you use? I've got a sample bag from Sebo, plus a flexi 5, what would be a good type of carpet to try it on?
On your alcohol vomit stain you said you sprayed the area, what with? How much moisture can you put down without it affecting the granules and what would be the drying time before you can vac it all out.
hope you don't mind the questions.

Simon

Hi Sinom

I pre sprayed 1st and let dwell, took out most of the vomit (it was splattered so was little bits everywhere rather than a big splodge) with my terry towel, some staining remained so then applied the EnviroDri sponges and brushed in which captured the rest of the staining, went down to the bar for a swift cappochino, returned about 1/2 a hour later and vacced up.

Client was amazed (which was amazing as my red cape & pantyhose was at the dry cleaners  )

Still waiting for payment though, I have actually used a HWE twice this year (1st time) once for the barbenches and once for the carpet near the kitchen. Enjoyed using it actually.

Martin

[Colin Day]

Colin,
No. I was asked the question by a Care Home owner when doing a quote and sought out the answer, I don't think I've found it as everyone seems to have their own ideas on how best to deal with this problem.
If we get the job I will be passing it on because these kind of jobs just ain't my cup of tea.
 :
Simon

Fair enough Simon....

[Steve Gunn]

I have used dry fusion in many care homes using bactoshield from Dry fusion with excellent results,you can only go by what the information the supplier gives you they say it kills the bacteria no reason to disbelieve them,if using hwe in a nursing home given the temperatures in them heating on full most of the day windows closed you could be creating bacteria if carpets not dried quickly.

It would be interesting if an independent test could be done where 2 small rooms in a nursing home are cleaned using each method were bacteria/contamination levels are monitored before and after, would be interesting to see the end results.


http://www.dryfusionuk.com/dryfusion_bactoshield.html