Encapped Out...

[rhino1]

I cleaned a commercial carpet last night, one of those sculptured nylon carpets. I encapped them about 6 mos. ago (they looked pretty dingy) and had great results.

I tried encapping them again and they looked Worse than they did before. Areas that were clean looking now appeared dingy, as if the soil was just getting smeared from the traffic lanes all over the place, and yes - I did prevac.

So I had to break out the TM for HWE, they did lots better, still not up to my standards, but they looked good again. I noticed as I was cleaning that a little water that dribbled from my jets just STOOD on top of the carpet in beads until I hit it with my prespray. I can't remember if I applied protector last time, that may explain the water resistance.

I have never seen this before, it seems as if the soil was getting emulsified pretty good in the soiled areas, but since the cleaner portions of the carpet refused to reabsorb the soil it just got smeared all over and stood on the top of the fibers. That might be OK if it would vacuum right out, but I can't imagine the client understanding this and being OK with it.

That kinda made me think, I know the carpet isn't truly clean when it is encapped until it is vacuumed but I had not really visualized all the soil being smeared around until it sunk into the fibers of the cleaner areas and was hidden away.

I don't think I'll be encapping much since I got the TM.....

 

[Jeremy]

Run a bonnet over it...

 

[Derek]

i hope all the CC'ers in my area follow your lead :shock:

:arrow: --- Derek.

 

[Clark]

Some polymers are not good for cleaning. Most of these are polymers are used in printing ink and paint (acrylic). They form nice crystals in a dish and bond well with soil. They have a long half life and they create surface tension. They will not vacuum out well. They will at some point be easy to remove. Maybe on your next visit. I would pre-spray with a high PH cleaner(11 to12). This will help the polymer fracture. It will also release the soil bound up in the polymer. Your TM is your only savior. Now you have to HWE the soil and the polymer.

 

[Greenie]

"That kinda made me think, I know the carpet isn't truly clean when it is encapped until it is vacuumed"

Who in the hell got that nonsense into your head?

Ever vacuum the next day? ain't sheeet in the bag but skin cells and ghost turds.

Call it soil capture, dirt management or something but for gods sake don't call it cleaning.

I'm with Clark, thankfully you have a TM.

 

[TimP]

From my experience encaping there is a limit to what you can do with it. Nothing beats HWE for cleaning period. Yeah you can make the carpet look better with it but it's not a match for HWE when done properly. On some carpet that we have in our store I've encaped about 3 times and it wouldn't even budge one spot and I cleaned it last friday HWE to see if I could get it up. It came up with no effort at all. And I can honestly say it looked way better after a HWE vs an encap.

 

[Clark]

When you are a business man you have only one function. That is to make a profit with the resources you've been trusted with. When you are a cleaner your function is to prepare yourself as a professional. Most of you wear both hats. So, how you make money in your business is important. We average in a commercial account 32 cent per foot per cleaning. Spotting and Encap cleaning is about .50 to .60 cent. HWE is about 15 cents. We can spot a 30K store in 30 minutes. 15 to 20 big spots with a CX 20 and SnapEncap. Cimax is about the same. The store is happy and we get paid. We know this is not going to last. We are the PROS right? So we tell them it's time to clean this shit up. My wife handles this part for the obvious. We HWE with high flow. We make a hell of a mess. Water marks and wick backs everywhere. We'll be there 8 hours. You can make a garden with the soil we remove. I'm with you die hard HWE farts but my business man side says to make money and present myself as a professional. If you just want to be a cleaner you need to work for a Business Man. If you want to be in Business you need to open your eyes to making money and providing professional service. Encap is a money maker. But it is not the answer to all cleaning problems. I see it as a maintenance program. Some of the products labeled Encap is crap. The only way to sort these products out is on this board. Every other place is FOR SALE.

 

[hogjowl]

GREAT post, Clark!

 

[ron markam]

Kinda fired up ain't ya Clark? Btw I agree with what you said.While some carpets need to be flushed some can be e-capped.We can all sit here and be self righteous but if the truth be told at the end of the day MOST guys main concern is how much did they make.Not how they made it.Peace!!

 

[Greenie]

ya know what is funny is he ain't fired up, that is just Clark. I think more cleaners could use a wife to do the PR work.

 

[Derek]

i would say the only way to sort these products out is in the field, not the internet.

i've found what works for some doesn't work for others. some products work great for me that others have poo-pooed - and vice versa.

ya can't listen to anyone and expect the truth 100% of the time (no one on earth at least). try it yourself is the only answer.

thanx --- Derek.

 

[ron markam]

Most of what I have tried that was recommended by regulars of THIS BOARD has been right on.Bottom line you either trust suppliers who want your cash or trust the cats in the field er day.Are all suppliers created the same, nope some are honest and have integrity others could'nt spell integrity if you pointed it out to them in a Websters.We can front all we want but we know at some time or another you WILL NEED extraction capabilities. If you clean enough commercial you will run into it if not good for you.