[dunny19]

because i want to do things properly, i bought a sebo so i can pre-vac, am i going to be the only cleaner that bother doing this, or do you guys insist on it!

i think its just another way of justifying my price, and pro-longing my machine, up to yet i have never pre-vaccummed,

what do you think

[conallon]

hi there Dunny
                       i bought one to never used it yet though, suppose if i offered silver, gold, platinum type services i would            
                            hope this helps

                               Conrad

[dunny19]

mmmm,
i got a feeling its gonna stay in the garage .........will have to see what the others do

[Dynafoam]

Dunny & Conrad,

Approximately 80% of the soil in most carpets can be removed without the use of any liquid - thorough pre-vac'ing can remove a large proportion of this soil and at the same time open up the pile to facilitate the following stages of the clean.

• Spray a liquid onto a dusty carpet and you make mud.
  
  
• Remove some of the dust first and you will make a cleaner mud.
  
  
• Rinse out a cleaner mud and leave a cleaner carpet.

Surely this was covered by whatever training you had before letting yourself loose on the general public.

Carpet cleaning is not a single opperation but a staged progression of processes involving a number of elements.

John.

[dunny19]

lol............... ok john, point taken, i done the prochem course, dont belive it was covered,

its amazing how one answer can make complete logical sense............yours just did

cheers john

[paulchambers]

A carpet cleaner without a vacuum is like a painter without a brush, i am amazed such a topic has been raised.

[paul@ctcs]

I'm with you John its the 1st thing i do on any job, even if the customer has vacuumed before i get there.
I too have been on the prochem course and they stressed time and time again the importance of pre-vacuuming, but its a long day at prochem and i did find keeping my eyes open tricky at times so maybe dunny nodded off and missed it?? i have been using a commercial dyson recently and being able to see all the muck shows how important this process is.

Paul

[woodman]

Yep as above

You must vacuum on every job.

Customers often comment on how long I take vacuuming their carpets or suite until I explain why   (not as well as John though)

Sebo is an excellent machine make use of it

[strakercleaning]

I vacuum, then brush with Sebo Duo then vac again
If i had a middle name..........it would be THOROUGH.  

[Len Gribble]

Chris

Say customer vac’s regular or before you arrive would you not miss out the first vac and agitate and then vac?

No need to vac Len, now have a new deep cleaning system!

[strakercleaning]

Possibly......depending on the standard reached by the customer

[Ken Wainwright]

I always pre vacuum for the reasons given above. Although it initially adds time to the job, when you start on the wet aspect it will actually save you time. Firstly, you have less soil to remove. Dry soil can be turned into a slurry/mud and will require more water & chemical to remove, which will take more time and cost more money. The more water used the wetter the carpet leading to extended drying times. The longer the drying time, the greater the risk of wick back, cellulosic browning and shrinkage. Oh, and a dis-satisfied customer.

An equally important aspect of pre-vaccing a carpet that is often overlooked is that it is the last opportunity to inspect the carpet prior to commiting to a wet procedure. How often have you discovered, sometimes too late, that after moving some furniture you found a stain, insect damage, a split seam, a tear etc. etc. in the carpet that your survey did not reveal.  With pre-vaccing, you inspect EVERY square inch of carpet.

Pre -vaccing is also an ideal opportunity to market yourself that little bit more. You can  educate and demonstrate to your customer the correct vaccing technique and machine maintenance. This will help him/her to prolong the life and appearance of their valuable carpets.  By offering little extras such as this, you are more likely to be remembered and recommended.

Safe and happy hoovering:)
Ken

[strakercleaning]

How many people who do not vacuum, go on to waste time spotting bits of fluff/grit etc  

[Dynafoam]

Chris,

Probably most of them at some time.

John.

[Mark_Jubb]

I'm with John, Ken and the others on this one.
The majority of the total time I spend cleaning a carpet or suite is spent on what I would call preparation, ie, Vaccing, pre-spraying and agitating the pre-spray, it makes the final extraction rinse so much easier and results in a cleaner carpet that dries more quickly as you use much less fluid of all descriptions.
Vaccing, pre-spraying and thorough agitation have even resulted in customers thinking that the job is finished when they have come into the room at this stage.
Just to bring it back to Pauls comment re: painters, do you think a good decorator would just slap a new coat of paint onto a dusty, grimey, smoke stained, wall?  Of course not, he'd sugar soap it, fill and sand it smooth as required, which would probably take longer than putting the new paint on afterwards.
The better the prep, the better the finish.
Regards
Mark