[William McCafferty]

According to a friend of mine, I am old fashioned by still not using microsplitters all the time, over the years I have tried it and I have seen the workmanship from his jobs, but I like my fomula 90, double clean and power burst.

At times I have had to re-clean carpet that have been clean with liquid microsplitters and I always find that my waste tank foams up, sometimes quite badly, when I re-clean my customers I don't get this level of foaming.

Yesterday I did a re-clean on one of my mates customers carpet which he cleaned 6 months ago, he was not able to do it as they wanted it done urgently as they are selling up and they have a viewing today.

The carpet was in a ok condition, but it did have some spots from food and drinks around the borders of the chairs and settees and dining table.

Anyway I did not use defoamer as I normally do on all jobs I do, I used double clean and 1 scoop of power burst per bucket of water.

After cleaning half of the 1st room I went and checked my waste tank and it was full of foam, so I emptied, flushed out with water and applied de-foamer and finshed the job.

At the end when I had finshed I re-checked my waste tank and there was a high level of foam compared with re-cleans on my customers who are not cleaned with microsplitters.

He has never used the powered microsplitter, so I was wondering if this would be better than the liquid version, by not leaving a residue in the carpet that the liquid version seems to do.

Your thoughts please

[John Kelly]

Theres nothing old fashioned in using detergents for cleaning. Microsplitters are only a phosphate salts solution. They all work in the same way by detaching dirt from fibres and holding it in suspension whether its detergent based or a microsplitter.
I see you say you put a scoop of Power Burst per bucket of water. Power Burst is designed to be used as a pre-spray not a tank detergent.
Formula 90 powder is one of the best tank detergents on the market worldwide so you will be fine using that.

[William McCafferty]

Normally I do use power burst for the pre spray but it does help by adding a little to the rank as well,

[wynne jones]

In my experience MS whether liquid or powder have never given me a foaming issue.

The only times would be when custy has used a RD or copious amounts of 1001/Vanish on spots and stains. Obviously using a detergent in your rinse is going to cause foaming whatever you are using in a prespray.

Get a tub of SPM and use plain water in your tank, you won't need the extra help from an in tank detergent or acid rinse.

[*Hector*]

Good grief....
I agree with Wynne for once.   

[Mike Halliday]

it might be the interaction of the M/S and in-tank detergent,

 i  usually never have a problem with foam using pure clean, but have for the last few months been using F90 liquid to rinse ..... I have noticed a slight foam on the discharge pipe

I believe M/S are a water softening agent so will encourage lathering up, like when using a shower with a softening unit.

[john martin]

Liquid microsplitter is probably not great  value as there is no standard concentration and you are probably paying for a large plastic can full of water with a tiny scoop of STPP in it ...

'microsplitter ' on its own is probably adaquate to get good results from most jobs ...

I prefer a slightly more complex cleaning solution ...
Example ...   Alltec Ultimate master ...  which contains

30% STPP ( microsplitter )
carbonates ( i persume thats sodium percarbonate as a ' brightening agent ' , which would make it a quite a similar formulation to SPM ( could argue that bleaching agent not desirable in all cases )

surfactant as a wetting agent
Perfume ( have had customers remark that the room smells fresher )
defoamer

The brand names/marketing  go in/out of fashion , but the product constituents are largely the same , and id say many brands are probably made in the same factory / lab

[William McCafferty]

I believe M/S are a water softening agent so will encourage lathering up, like when using a shower with a softening unit.

That could be the reason

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

Normally I do use power burst for the pre spray but it does help by adding a little to the rank as well,

Double Clean can be added as a booster

[Owen R]

Like some others, I've never had a foam issue with microsplitters - other than 1001 or similar in the carpet before cleaning.
I have nothing but hor water in my solution tank.

[Jamie Pearson]

Try boosting your formula 90 with Energizer if you feel the need.
This will give better results than adding powerbrush or double clean.