[Steve Chapman]

Hi all,

Have had a call to go back on a stain i went to clear up from a water cooler spillage, which was literally clean water on a very low profile office carpet, seemed like a very easy job.

This is now the fourth time i've had to go back, as although it seems to disappear for a few days it comes right back again! mostly just leaving an outline of about 5 foot radius where the water settled  and clean on the inside.

Now i know about wicking etc and have cleaned the carpet area three times, with the t/m, porty and just the rotary machine and used a variety of chems, incl solvent cleaner but nothing seems to be shifting it.

The flood was quite a bit of water i understand left over the weekend, so im wondering if its brought up some glue etc from underneath and if theres anything that may shift. the mark is mainly a black line, like tide mark and just looks completely the same every time not even fading slightly.

I just want to go back and least try something different this time, as although they are quite understanding about the whole thing it is a bit embarassing having to keep going back!

regards
steve

[darren_metcalfe]

Why not try a poultice of some sorts, Absorb a Stain from Chempsec.  I appreciate this will need maanging re amounts and Health and Safety but that may help.

[Matt Lindus]

Steve,

With all respect Steve, why are you arsing about with this waste of space for, simply tel them the mark will not come out, then get back to where the real money is. If they insist on you coming back charge £275 per call out.
Don't let people wipe there feet all over you.
Next you will be telling us you clean suites for less that £150!!!

If you think you'll lose business with this tact, then get a job stacking shelves, you'll probably earn more than running around in a van playing 'nice guy'.
Absolutely no offence Steve, just telling you from a business point of view.

Regards
Matt   

[Steve Chapman]

Matt,
with respect to you i've been in the cleaning business for 20 years so i think i know what i'm doing!
This business customer got me a huge contract at the business park where they are situated so i am eternally grateful to them and dont want to let them down, in fact i'm not charging them at all, just doing as a favour to them for there kindness,  and thats why i wanted to be able to sort it for them.

And yes we do charge less than £150 for suites, but i'm not gonna get into that debate :

I've never come across a stain so stubborn, so is a bit of a personal challenge really.

regards
steve

[Graeme@Access]

Hi,

Are you sure that the water cooler isnt still leaking?

Its the only thing i can think of if it keeps reappearing....especially if the carpet is dry and the stain gone..only to reappear a few days later.

I guess the other possiblility is that the subfloor is very wet and your seeing the dirt coming up through the carpet.

We had a watermark boomerang problem that was sorted by lifting the carpet and drying the subfloor, then traffic clean and an insane amount of agitation coupled with acidic rinse.  We then turbo dried it to be sure.

Hope this helps

Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions

[Shaun_Ashmore]

perhaps dry granular cleaning as this will get an instant dry.

Shaun

[Matt Lindus]

Your obviously a nicer man than me, I would have told them after the 3 call back to stick there contract and carpet up there arse.
You could have earned a good £500 plus in the time you have been p**ing around with that water mark, the one that quite clearly wont come out.

Yes your right you should be grateful for being given the contract along with all the work that followed but don't forget that the money you made was the money you EARNED!
What you don't seem to understand is that the value you were given for the contracts has now declined massively because of the time wasted fuelling a van back to the scene 4 times - that's 8 trips!!, time wasted playing with something that wont happen. You could have been else where at the time earning as a pose to losing, it really is false economy.

Matt



      

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

i was told buy a top guy at a water company up here  that if the stain didnt come out after the second clean it wouldnt due to all the salts that was in the water not added ones the natral ones b4 you shoot me down 

it may not be true but he was a top enginer from the company so it may hold some value to yourself sorry i cant be more help

[Matt Lindus]

Going off the subject. If you daily charge equates to around £70 per hour on the clean and you waste about 5mins on a stain that wont budge you've just cost yourself £5.80 for nothing. If it doesn't come out after 10 seconds with what ever you've got handy then forget it and carry on cleaning.

Don't get into the habit of a YO YO with home and van during a job, it costs to much time, money, energy and shoe sole.

Matt

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Imagine if you knocked £5.80 off the profit on your bill and got a recommend everytime? well that's the way you have to look at it.

I would try cleaning an area with a low ph solution and towel wipe/dry and for good measure take a hair drier to speed up drying (obviously be careful with the heat) really make a meal of it and if that doesn't work or you get another call back then you can detail every appointment and say that you have done above and beyond what is classed as reasonable, fair and professional.

Shaun

[carpetguy]

Matt.

Are you really working in this personality oriented business, as your attitude stinks and I can't imagine you get too many recommends.

The responses from other " pro's " on here, are spot on.

A greedy and arrogant manner eventually catches up............might take a while, but it's innevitable and unlike  Steve and myself, I doubt you will reach the stage, where you don't need to advertise, as you have built a reutation, not as a soft touch, but as a reliable and honest trader.

rob

[steve horne]

carpet doctor, have you found out what the carpet was fitted with if the carpet was laid straight onto the floor using f1, etc, re: glue to the floor, on your first post you mentioned using a solvent, some low profile carpets still react like carpet tiles and will burn through a ghost like edge of the ring mark, if solvent was used.

[dirtbusters]

you could try some browning prescription ,also a bead of citrus gel along the water mark line sometimes works .
as for doing a valued customer a favour and being honest and generally nice then i am also guilty as charged. you wouldnt last five minutes in my area with the baffle them with science and take them for all theyve got attitude.

[Steve Chapman]

thanks all for the sensible replies

it doesn't matter how long you've been in this business you still get the odd job that baffles you and i'm always open to others suggestions, it just gets the grey cells working again.

I'm pretty sure the water has brought up something from underneath and think it will need some good agitation to get it moved. am going back on wed to give another try.

I guess my problem is i dont like to give up on these jobs, but can appreciate that sometimes there is nothing you can do.

As for wasting time and money, i've always believed that good customer relations go along way, and while i'm not a millionaire i am still going after 20 years, so something must've gone right.


cheers all
steve

[Charlie Payne]

a carpet cleaner could be in the cleaning business for x amount of years, and yet has not moved on from his first year since he started cleaning carpets, making the same mistakes again & again. an interesting topic that was once raised at a carpet cleaning care programme i once attended, & in noway is this statment targeting any cleaner on this topic, i thought that sometimes we can get side tracked by our longevity in the cleaning game, & thinking we can get by on it.     

[Dave_Lee]

I had a similar problem with some office carpet tiles last year. Clean water leaked from a newlly comissioned central heating system radiator. Cleaned up okay but was drying quickly with the aid of a turbo dryer and the tide mark returned. It was obvious upon close inspection that it was caused by the bitumen backing. Told them nothing further could be done and they accepted that and paid up.
Dave.

[*paul_moss]

I would try 2 L/M cleans and if it still wicked then would spray a low ph rinse and leave a heavy poltis on top for 24 hrs.If it returns then, give up you have done your best.

[Steve Chapman]

have got a feeling it is the bitumen, probably not wicking back, but just not going in the first place!

Will go tomorrow and give it one final whirl :

regards
steve

[will01]

Carpet Doctor

I know it might be a pain but immediately after extraction I would use a hairdryer in one hand and a clean towel in the other. Go at it like a bat outta hell (Im gonna hit the highway like a batterin ram...Oh  er sorry) and get that mo fo bone dry before you leave. Wick back... what wick back!!

Rgds

Will

[carpetguy]

Charlie

You are correct in what you say and this applies in every walk of life, but, in my case, I have a never ending curiousity and interest, in new products and methods and I suspect most " older" c/c's are the same.