[rs_cleancare]

Hi,

I cleaned a four bed house last thursday the job went fine, lots of draught marks all came out.

Got a phone call today from the customer to say that where the furniture had been moved it has left indents in the carpet. I had put foil protecters under everything and can't understand why.
I asked if they had tried gently teasing the pile back with there hands but to no avail.
The carpet is 100% wool loop so it has not got a thick pile to it.

Going round tomorrow to see what i can do but thought i would seek advice from anyone who has had this problem.

Rob.

[derek west]

thought all furniture left indents in the carpet.
derek

[gwrightson]

Didnt you notice if the indentions where their in the first place ?

did you place the furniture in exactly the same place ? I always try to ensure replaced in same place ?

Geoff

[Bob Robertson]

It sounds as if you have moved the funiture away from its natural position to clean behind it. If the funiture has been left in the middle of the room it may have made some indent marks.


Bob

[Mike Osbourne]

Sell them some castor cups with a good markup.

[rs_cleancare]

From what i can gather the main problem is with the dinning room chairs.
They not that heavy so can't understand why.

I do always put furinture back where it came from except for the chairs as it's easy for the customer to pick up foil protectors instead of crawling under tables to get them.

Mike thats a good one! Never miss a trick..

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Put some ice cubes on the indentations and let them melt.

[clinton]

Steve

Does that work

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Certainly does mate.

The bigger the indentation the more ice cubes you use - works better on twists, but it's worth a try on this loop pile problem.

Steve

[daysdeepclean]

Surely they'll go back to their original state after a short while

As for the ice cube trick, I've tried it and it does work, but I prefer mine in  a tumbler with a Vodka and Iron Brew....

[Jim_77]

If the furniture didn't leave permanent marks when the carpet was dry, they won't be permanent now.  Dining chairs shouldn't be a problem, unless they're really heavy.

As said above, heavy stuff like big tables and 3pc suites etc should go back exactly where they came from.

Don't forget that indentations are a 3-layered sandwich.  You've got the crushed pile, then below it the backing will be stretched and finally under that the underlay will be crushed.  Temporary indents from light furniture on a 100% wool carpet will look quite severe, as you've bulked the pile of the carpet back out when you cleaned.  The difference will be more pronounced.

One word of warning about ice cubes...  I'd be very wary, either of of doing it or advising your customer to do it.

Quick quiz:

Wool + wet for a long time = ?

Ice is made of water.  The temperature doesn't do anything, therefore just dampening the area in a controlled manner and leaving it to dry will do the same thing.  Personally if I had to take any remedial action at all I'd set up my machine with a hand tool and simply extract over the depressions, making sure the carpet isn't left any wetter than after a normal extraction clean.

[Roy Edwards]

When furniture was in middle of the room did you use polystyrene blocks or foil protecters.
They must be heavy dining room chairs 

[John Kelly]

Ice cubes can also cause browning problems as melted water can wet the backing.

[colin fitch]

Rob,

I have had a very simular problem to your customers.

To correct there problem, take your spotting machine in [for quickness]
and rinse over the depressions with hand tool and an extra dry pass to finish.

Colin.

[clinton]

Some god replys above to use

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Jim

I appreciate what you are saying about caution using an ice cube, having said that there is not a lot of water in an ice cube.

You would be amazed at some of the tactics that were employed in the past when fitting the old body width carpets - when the pattern wouldn't match no matter how much it was stretched, the seams would be soaked to encourage shrinkage !

Fortunately in these days of broadloom carpet, such extreme measures are no longer necessary.

[Jim_77]

It's not the amount of water Steve, it's the uncontrolled manner in which it's administered.  The idea is that you dampen the pile, not wet the floor underneath!  Introducing water to the woollen fibres is what bulks them out again and reduces the depression.  You actually need very little water to wet the tufts covered by one dining chair leg!

Given that many of our customers put more vanish on to do a better job, could you really trust them to stop at one or two ice cubes and not 10?

As John and Colin already said before me ( )  browning could bite you on the bum, and if you're going to do anything wouldn't it be far better to use a professional looking method?  Just my opinion

[rs_cleancare]

Thanks for the advice on this one chaps.

I think i will try extraction method.
If that dosn't work then try the ice trick followed up with a hair dryier.

Personaly I guess the customer might be a little fussy as I have been cleaning carpets for 5 years now and never had a call back for this problem.

Going round tonight lets hope i can walk away with a happy customer!

Rob.

[John Kelly]

Forget the ice cube you'll be there all night, just wet it thats all the ice cube is doing. The ice doesn't actually do anything. Wool absorbs 30% of its weight in water and it is this that bulks it up. Put a couple of drops of water on, gently tease up with a fringe comb or blunt spatula and dry off.

[benny d]

Just a quicky as im off now.
I had the saame last year when an ex customer called to complain that the indentations are worse now than before the cleaning.
The cleaning had brought the pile up "nice and fluffy", and because of this it made the indentations look deeper.
Went back to re do, and then got a call to say I had damaged some furniture which was not the case.

Some peope are uber fussy.
Good luck.