[Simon Gerrard]

We quoted last week for a Care Home. The guy that is doing it at the moment uses LM. Can you use LM in that kind of an environment?

Simon

[jasonl]

Yes , I think it depends though on the chemical action more than the cleaning action , rinsing water through a carpet would not always rinse out drugs such as penicillin in Urine , whereas mill-kill would kill the active ingredients and remove the odour .

Obviously HWE followed by LM would be the most thorough option , but will most care homes pay , or will time/logistics allow?   Eg , I do homes at night when My TM would not be acceptable due to noise.

[davep]

No problem, use craftex catalyst.

[Simon Gerrard]

Well that's very interesting. The reason we got called in was because the owners were worried that using an LM system with a pad in the guest bedrooms and public areas where people had been incontinent was in effect spreading urine and faeces around the carpets which when you think about is alarming.
I was pretty sure that even the LM'ers would concede that padding of any description wasn't  a good idea given these deposits which aren't always apparent.

Simon

[jasonl]

I would say it is not the best idea , but like I said , the  chemicals are effective , and will the customer pay double or more ?

[Simon Gerrard]

So you do care homes with LM, regardless of the health risks / cross contamination?

Simon

[jasonl]

Yes I do , as did every Chem dry in the world  for years , the chemical action is more important than the process.

[Simon Gerrard]

But surely you are spreading urine and faeces all over the carpet and therefore cross contaminating the entire area. Crikey! I'm gobsmacked.

Simon

[jasonl]

No you are not spreading anything harmful  errrrr because there is chemical action , I think I already mentioned that though .

[Glynn]

We do a lot of nursing and care homes, some have previously used the other methods and according to them all it did was to slowly but surely start to smell more and more. HWE and as hot as you can go is the only method in my opinion and indeed our customers opinions. You need to flush out the pixx and shxt and all that goes with it, not spread it around. It needs removing. 

[jasonl]

I do agree Glynn , but if the customer wont pay , or HWE  is not practicable  then the next best is LM .

[Simon Gerrard]

Jason,
I was seriously hoping that you, or one of the LM devotees and say, 'No' because of the very obvious risk of cross contamination and the spread of bacteria from one area of a carpet to the entire carpet by using the same pad. That practically beggars belief. You seem to be justifying it by claiming that you treat it chemically first but surely given the risk that you may miss a deposit because it has dried and you haven't seen it means that there is a very high risk of you spreading it all over the place which is a totally unacceptable risk to be taking.

Simon

[jasonl]

Surely the risk of missing a bit  is better than nothing ? Is all human waste full of harmfull bacteria?

Nursing home operators are notoriously not big spenders , and often will not take the HWE option .

The first nursing home I ever cleaned was  using chem dry methods in the early 90s , one of Bannatynes homes , more than one pad was used , and believe it or not some of the dirt ended up on the pad .

[Carpet Dawg]

I'm no LM expert but as long as you extract the urine and faeces  (using a spotting machine) before padding and using the correct chems, along with regulary changing the pads then you will be fine.

Your attemps of character assassination are a bit gay Simon.

[davep]

If the carpet has urine in it then adding too much water is going to spread it further.

Keep moisture down and use the correct chems. Obviously change pads frequently.

[Simon Gerrard]

It's not character assasination, but a genuine question.
I cannot imagine running the risk of spreading urine and faeces around a carpet that someone else then has to live in and be able to sleep at night. The Home concerned are that disturbed by the thought of it that they are going to replace all the bedroom carpets and have us carry out periodic mantainance with our TM. It's nice to meet people with standards.
Simon

[Simon Gerrard]

Dave,
Surely the problem is that people can have been incontinent and the staff don't know about it so it has just dried into the carpet so when you come to clean you don't know its there so can't treat it, so when you clean it your going to spread it all over the place without knowing it.

Simon

[Shaun_Ashmore]

About 18 months ago I was doing quite a few nursing homes and doctors surgeries when they were hit with swine flu a 2 of the nursing homes did ask the question that when I was HWE that I may push the contaminate further into the carpet and backing, the way around this was to apply chemical with a decent dwell and pad then HWE, they had used Steam Pros to clean before and found that they were pushing urine into the backing, I explained the benefits of more power, one very large care home asked me to do a trial room where they had a serious problem where I tried chemical sanitiser and then HWE and they lifted the carpet back and I could see their point.

Shaun

[creighton foyle]

would dry fusion with bactoshield do the trick ?

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I think the chemical is the key because unless you go around with a water claw or a drag wand you aren't going to get enough bacteria from the carpet.

Shaun