[Dennis]

I have 100x10kg sacks of washing powder under my stairs that i need shot of if your interested 

Jeez you must have big stairs! 

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

Why buy all these expensive chems?

I use simply low odour white spirit mixed  with hot water and mist over traffic areas etc.

I use liquid detergent (as you would buy to wash your clothes) and put some fabric softener in to make it smell nice and it also stops any foaming issues.

Rinsed out with hot clear water.

I don't use anything else.

I used to use what you guys use but I've now saved a fortune and have had no issues whatsoever. The carpets are def cleaner and they look great.

I have 100x10kg sacks of washing powder under my stairs that i need shot of if your interested 

No, detergent powder is no good only LIQUID detergent, sorry  :

[dan paton]

Each to their own i suppose i wouldn't because as james says it's been developed for clothing not carpet but out of interest andrew do you put it your tank or pre-spray it and agitate . the other thing is if you damaged a carpet the likelyhood is your insurance wouldn't pay out

[Deep Cleaning Solutions]

I'd put my mortgage on it that a tub of powerburst or pure clean is far more economical than any diy products and better peforming, they are handy if you are caught short though. I bought some lavender fabric conditioner from the corner shop once near a job and the customer said it smelled amazing. 

[james roffey]

£1 PER 2 LITRES I think that is a lot


A Powerburst tub is about 4 kilos it comes with a small measuring scoop never counted how many scoops but it must be several hundred to empty the tub each scoop makes up 1 litre of prespray so it is very economical indeed. possibly between 10 and 20 pence per litre either way its very cheap so making this point on economical grounds is i think ill conceived
Also I think its impossible to determine whether you are leaving some detergent behind when cleaning a carpet, of course it is going to look much better as you said its made to clean wool and synthetics but it is also designed with the knowledge that customers who buy it are going to use it correctly  in a washing machine where it will be saturated in water at the end of the cleaning cycle, the sole intention in carpet cleaning  is to use as little water as possible to achieve the desired result.

The liquid stuff that goes in my washing machine is not at all economical and very expensive, oh i almost forgot the tub of Shockwave that i havehas the same dilution rate as powerburst and came in a small drum that weighs about 15 kilos and a small scoop of just 15 ml litres make up a litre of prespray cant be arsed to do the math but expect to be still using that tub for a year or two, if i could find a liquid detergent that was as good as Persil regarded as the best stuff around that costs £70 and last over a year i would buy it.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Andrew, white spirit is non ionic and will not mix with water?

Cheers

Doug

[Paul Moss]

I always thought it was anionic, which ever is does not mix with water.

Doug i think by the sounds of things Andrew has a thermyonic emission diode tonkle machine that he mixes the white spirit in to make it water soluble 

[peter maybury]

I have to be honest when I read that he sprays the carpet with white spirit I thought it could not be anything else other than a wind up. I thought bthat one of the regulars had created an identity just to put up a silly post.
White spirit will disolve latex, which is what holds tufted carpets together. A totally rediculous suggestion. You are obviously not doing work on any large scale or you would have encountered a problem by now. I have come accross carpets that have been delaminated by white spirit quite a few time over the years usually where people have tried to remove paint or the likes. An adverse effect is also achieved with gel back carpets. If you think you are getting good results then have you compared them to a proffessional clean becaus, I have recleaned carpets that a plonker cleaned themselves with a rug doctor and to save buying the chemicals used washing powder and believe me the result were very different.

Peter

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

White spirit will disolve latex, which is what holds tufted carpets together.
Peter

As I have already stated, I light mist over the bad areas. A light mist which would only hit the fibres  :

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

but out of interest andrew do you put it your tank or pre-spray it and agitate .

If you read my earlier post you would know the answer 

It's sprayed on separately, agitated and rinsed off with plain water.

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

Hi Guys

Andrew, white spirit is non ionic and will not mix with water?

Cheers

Doug

Whatever happens when I put the low odour white spirit with hot water I don't really know, but all I know is that after a good shake up and spray down it does the job I want it to.

[james roffey]

Using the correct chemicals is better and cheaper. Have you actually read any on the replies ?
Not going to waste any more time, horses and water come to mind

[Dennis]

Not going to waste any more time, horses and water come to mind

I know that one: You can take a horse to water but you cannot mix it and use it as a prespray.

or something like that. 

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

Have you actually read any on the replies ?

Yes, I have, but what do you expect me to do, ditch what I'm doing and go back to high costing powder's and chemicals and reduce my margins?

What I do is cheap, it works, and works well. Those who just read this forum and don't post may want to give it a go, you will save a fortune believe me 

[Mike Halliday]

Andrew, I appreciate you are on a wind up but you bring up an interesting point about homemade presprays verses professional alternative and the cost savings.

its like people saying the use WD40 for oil based stains its actually cheaper to use the professional alternative,  5lts WD40 £43 v 5 lts solvent spotter is £38 (although you save £5)  this is for pure solvent wd40 is 20% lubricant.

Prochem powerburst cost on average 12p in prespray to clean an average living room. if using white spirit was half the price you would be saving 6p.... on 3 jobs a day you are saving 90p a week

you must be raking it in if you consider saving 90p to be worth using white spirit

the main reason behind people using home made alternatives is the initial cost of professional products. they go to their supplier and buy 3 or 4 products and they have to write a cheque for £130 so would rather go to tescos and spend £20....... they think they have just saved  £110.... but they can't see the total cost of constantly popping into tescos

[Barry Livingstone]

Chemspec Enz All has done a good job for me for years. great on blacktops

[james roffey]

Mike you can save yourself £47 per year using white spirit in your prespray, i might also try running just one vacuum motor instead of three to make them last longer, carpet will still look the same just take a few more dry strokes.

[*Hector*]

why don't we just forget the last 30 years technology and advancements, and go back to the good old days of the late 80's ??

[peter maybury]

I buy a lot of chems in 25 ltrs and even buying like that white spirit is about £1 per ltr. How that can be cheaper than more effective professional chemicals I do not know.
I would suggest some training, as said being non ionic the spirit will not disperse within water. The same problem is encountered rinsing with water.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[The TACCA Scrutineer]

I buy a lot of chems in 25 ltrs and even buying like that white spirit is about £1 per ltr. How that can be cheaper than more effective professional chemicals I do not know.
I would suggest some training, as said being non ionic the spirit will not disperse within water. The same problem is encountered rinsing with water.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

Over the years I have done training with Extracta, Alltec, Prochem & NCCA 

Just finished cleaning my own hsl & lounge/diner using said product, Enrituals Passion Liquid Detergent plus the softener that goes with it. I used 10 litres of hot water mixed with 10 cupful of detergent & the same with the softener, all in all it cost me £1.00.

Sprayed on, dwelled, rinsed off. The quality of the clean is far better than I was achieving using F90 or Craftex Premium (that was 2 years ago), and the lovely smell lingers around the house for days after.

I can't fault using these products at all. I am certainly not on a wind up, I seriously use these products or similar.

To you they may seem unethical or unprofessional, but to me I use what works the best.

Don't knock it till you try it. Why not do a test on a rug or spare bit of carpet and you'll realise how effortless the cleaning will become.

Also, it probably took 30 years of technology developing the liquid detergents too, and they are designed to clean/wash nylon and wool fabrics regardless whether they are on your clothes or in your carpets!!