[Ken Wainwright]

I can only speak of my own experiences of being a Woolsafe Certified Operator, but the end result is positive and beneficial to my business.

Similar to NCCA Membership, Joe Public is not typically aware of most trade associations and similar. As far as I am aware, the only trade association that the public will be aware of is ABTA, I certainly cannot think of any outside the flooring/cleaning industry.CORGI, as far as I can gather from their website, are not a trade association , but:
"CORGI is the national watchdog for gas safety in the United Kingdom.

Our goal is to make people safer when they use trades people. We strive to improve standards in the industry and help you find and use safe and competent trades people. "

For me, Woolsafe Membership, like NCCA, is something to sell to and educate your customer/prospect about. In other words, it starts out as a sales tool which brings benefits to yourself and the customer.

When I enrolled, I sent out letters to most carpet mills in the UK informing them of my new Woolsafe Certified Operator status. The response was encouraging and continues to provide me with some  work.  Some carpet mills will not consider using or recommending any carpet cleaner who is not a Woolsafe Certified Operator.

I've recently renewed my membership and will continue to do so next year.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Mike Osbourne]

I'm glad to see there is sensible flexibility in the 5 years thing.

Lets face it there are plenty of idiot cc doing the same wrong things for 20 years, while there is someone with a years experience who have applied diligently his training and learned from his 12 months on the job.

ps would you get kicked out if a you had a major blacktop situation and agreed with custy to Blitz it? 

[mark_roberts]

Len

Spitfire advanced although after reading Pauls post Im not 100% sure its Woolsafe approved or just Alltec 'woolsafe' 'recommended'.

Good product though even on nasty polyprop.

Personally i will use woolsafe products/techniques if it gets the desired results but a 8 year old neglected wool carpet sometimes needs to be nuked to get it looking clean and i feel any detrimental effect a cleaning solution would have is outwayed by the damage done over the 8 years of neglect.


Mark

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

Thanks to Paul Bakker for giving us a few details about his organisation.

I would like to see the CC related organisations promote themselves more through this forum , as I'm sure this is the best way of having a sensible debate on a level playing field.

Cheers

Doug

[Mark Lane-Matthews]

Through the Woolsafe booklet that is given out to all the carpet retailing outlets with a  list of all the woolsafe approved operators , i have now teamed up with  carpet retailer who passes on to me all their cleaning enquires and also advertises my company in their shop window which has now become a major source of quality leads for my company  and most unexpected.The training course is top notch and one of the most worthwhile courses i have been on,so for me it has definatly worked and has paid for my membership for the next 30 years.  I would just like to add that i am one of those that has not had 5 years experience but have been self-employed for 17 years with proof of business.
                                                                         Mark

[Ken Wainwright]

Well done Mark.

Rather than sit back and wait and see what membership will bring you, you've gone out and made  Woolsafe work for you.

In two weeks time, I have a £500+ job. The lady did her research on-line and found me on both NCCA and Woolsafe sites. This gave me a big advantage when it came to closing the sale. Price was never an issue, madam just wanted to feel secure that she had called upon a high quality tradesman

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Len Gribble]

Paul Bakker

WOOLSAFE approved products for carpet cleaning
Click here for the most up to date list

One of the companies I buy from quote approved by the “Woolsafe” Organisation for use on Wool and Wool-rich carpets. Unquote and this company are not newbie’s in this field and use your logo. Do I see a court action or is it generic stamp of approval

Mark R
Thanks now I know what to use

Ken

With the up most respect what products do you use, as I can’t see any but horror on their UK web site.  Guild of master craftsmen/safe T you know what!

Back too Paul B

(Regular cleaning will extend the life of your carpet and maintain its appearance. Vacuum clean regularly and thoroughly, which removes gritty dirt that can damage the fibres.)

Can you give us the pro’s an insight to what vacuuming machine is the best for wool carpets; you don’t seem to cover this on your web site, very important methinks first line of defence. :

I don’t expect a reply to this as one businessperson to another 

What if find ironic is they are using my sign Aries the ram never a sheep to the slaughter

Len

[Ken Wainwright]

Len

I use quite a few different Woolsafe Approved products from various leading manufacturers. I also find them to be suitable for most day to day soiling on synthetic fibres.  These days, I'm loathed to mention specific  brands unless asked an opinion of a particular product/system.  But I am of the opinion that most cleaning products produce at least good results if used appropriately as part of an effective system. To mis-quote "The Pig":  All cleaning solutions are equal, but some solutions are more equal than others

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Len Gribble]

Ken

Have to say I snort a lot but the cleanest animal!

Are you using any of the listed products on woolsafe UK if not you are deceiving your clientele shame on you.

Do the ncca endorse WS if so why!

len

[Ken Wainwright]

Yes Len

As I stated, I use Woolsafe Approved products for virtually all my work, whether natural or synthetic fibres.

As for the NCCA, their teaching is generic and they don't recommend or endorse any products. But the NCCA training tells us to use suitable cleaning solutions for the task in hand. This means that when cleaning wool, you use solutions that are suitable for cleaning wool. It's of no use whatsoever to get a carpet really clean using, for example, SuperSuds Mega pH pre-spray if you end up bleeding the dye or shrinking the carpet.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Derek]

Like Uncle Kenneth ... I use chemicals that are within the Woolsafe criteria for the vast majority of my work

I find that by following the basic principles of cleaning I don't need to use high pH chemicals or even high heat

To coin a phrase often used by someone (I can't remember the fellows name  )

'Safe' and happy cleaning

[The WoolSafe Organisation]

Hi everyone,

I am replying to 3 questions/comments over the last few days:

Use on non-WoolSafe chemicals

WOOLSAFE appreciate that there will be situations, particularly in the commercial environment, where rather extreme measures have to be taken – in consultation with the client, of course- to get the right cleaning result. In such cases chemicals that are not Woolsafe-approved may have to be used, which is possible provided the pile is rinsed thoroughly afterwards and left in the correct pH condition that prevents colour bleeding. Failure to do so will lead to all sorts of problems – and one client less.

Using a high pH chemical such as Blitz (pH 12-12.5) may not cause colour bleeding when first used. But the internal pH of the wool fibres will be changed from around 4.5 - 5 to 5.5 - 6. When you next clean that same carpet with Blitz the pH will move further: to 7 or even 7.5. Maybe still no visible colour bleeding will occur. But the next time… bang, there it goes!


Use of the WoolSafe Marks

All WOOLSAFE Marks are Certification Marks and protected by law. Unauthorised use is not allowed and will be suppressed by all means at our disposal. This is the official position:

The WOOLSAFE Mark, a registered certification mark, and the WOOLSAFE name are owned by The WOOLSAFE Organisation and used by them and by WOOLSAFE licensed suppliers of carpet and upholstery maintenance products to advertise and/or promote WOOLSAFE-approved products.

This Mark and name can ONLY be used on product containers, associated literature and technical information, including the internet, to promote these products.

They CANNOT be granted for use or used by carpet and upholstery cleaning companies to advertise or promote their cleaning and maintenance services on leaflets, advertisements, websites, letterheads or any other method of promotion or advertising.

The WOOLSAFE Certified Operator Mark is a certification mark, owned by The WOOLSAFE Organisation, and this mark and the WOOLSAFE name can be used by them and by accredited carpet and upholstery cleaning companies to advertise and/or promote carpet and upholstery cleaning and maintenance services. Use of this Mark can also be granted to carpet mills, retailers and others for display in maintenance literature to promote professional carpet cleaning and the services of Certified Operators.

The WOOLSAFE Registered Inspector Mark is owned by The WOOLSAFE Organisation, and this mark and the WOOLSAFE name can be used by them and by carpet inspectors registered by them to advertise and/or promote carpet inspection services. Use of this Mark can also be granted to carpet mills, retailers and others for display in carpet literature to promote the professional resolution of disputes and claims, and the services of Registered Inspectors.

If you know – or suspect –any unauthorised use of the Marks, please inform us immediately and we will take action. The identity of the ‘informant’ will be kept confidential.

My email address: paul@woolsafe.org.


Advice on carpet cleaning machines
 
WOOLSAFE approval testing only covers chemicals. We do not test cleaning machines or tools and therefore cannot advise on the ‘best machine’ for any particular job. Where a specific piece of equipment is essential for the application of an approved chemical, we make sure that this equipment performs this job satisfactorily.
 
Having said that, certain types of equipment are more suitable for particular jobs than others. For instance, suction-only vacuum cleaners should be used on wool loop pile carpets with ‘singles’ yarn, to prevent excessive fuzzing.

Keep asking the questions! It's the only way to get to the truth.

Regards,

Paul Bakker