Grease Busting

[Bryce C]

Hey y'all. While I'm not approaching restaurants for commercial work, 2 of them fell into our lap by befriending the owner while my wife and I were having breakfast there a few weeks ago. Thankfully they are each breakfast/lunch joints that close at 2pm.

The owner admittedly neglected the carpeting in the smaller diner that we just cleaned. Not the nicer one I met him at. This was a great place to practice and pull out bigger guns. So I used full strength Saigers Code Red boosted with Bridgepoint's Citrus Solv 2. I think it was pretty effective. Had the heat on my PEX portable at full blast and the psi at 250 hoping to not overwet the low pile carpet while trying to penetrate several years of impacted grease.

Wondering what techniques you would use to effectively clean greasy and neglected carpets without overwetting them. I'm guessing extended dwell time, fiery chemistry, and mechanical agitation would help a lot but I don't wish to taint a shiny crb with ancient restaurant grease that we bring in to high end residential. We setup air movers and hung out an extra 30 minutes when it was done to help accelerate the drying process. The owner was impressed and told me the carpets were dry the next morning, that was a relief. Anyways, any thoughts or tips?

 

[BIG WOOD]

Bump that pressure up to 500. The carpet will survive.

And you bought the crb for a reason. Use it

Besides that, you’re doing great job

 

[Bryce C]

Bump that pressure up to 500. The carpet will survive.

And you bought the crb for a reason. Use it

Besides that, you’re doing great job

Good tips thank you. I appreciate the encouragement as well!

With the lower psi I wasn't concerned about damaging the carpet as much as shooting moisture down through the backing and onto the floor possibly extending dry times until the next morning when the employees arrived. But also concerned about the backing and possible damage to the carpet in that sense.

I was also thinking about potential wicking causing spots and dinge everywhere for the same reason but wondering if the impacted ancient grease still at the bottom of the carpet fibers would act as a barrier to prevent wicking in environments like the greasy diner. Maybe I should've gone there for an early breakfast the next day to check it all out.

If any of these things are a potential issue (which seems to be the case in much of what I read), I suppose the solution to all of it when using 500 psi on a low pile carpet is to do extra dry passes between each wet pass.

 

[BIG WOOD]

Nah. No need to worry. My avg pressure is 600.

As for wicking, yes. On any heavy spots, you certainly need to double the dry passes over them. But you’re learning

 

[hogjowl]

But from who?

 

[Luky]

Hey y'all. While I'm not approaching restaurants for commercial work, 2 of them fell into our lap by befriending the owner while my wife and I were having breakfast there a few weeks ago. Thankfully they are each breakfast/lunch joints that close at 2pm.

The owner admittedly neglected the carpeting in the smaller diner that we just cleaned. Not the nicer one I met him at. This was a great place to practice and pull out bigger guns. So I used full strength Saigers Code Red boosted with Bridgepoint's Citrus Solv 2. I think it was pretty effective. Had the heat on my PEX portable at full blast and the psi at 250 hoping to not overwet the low pile carpet while trying to penetrate several years of impacted grease.

Wondering what techniques you would use to effectively clean greasy and neglected carpets without overwetting them. I'm guessing extended dwell time, fiery chemistry, and mechanical agitation would help a lot but I don't wish to taint a shiny crb with ancient restaurant grease that we bring in to high end residential. We setup air movers and hung out an extra 30 minutes when it was done to help accelerate the drying process. The owner was impressed and told me the carpets were dry the next morning, that was a relief. Anyways, any thoughts or tips?

View attachment 127010

When you said low pile, you've meant CGD? If you don't want to use a new CRB
( rightfully so) buy used one if you're planning to continue to service greasy restaurants. You can get a
used Oreck Orbiter for now, it wil help you with tough traffic lanes and if you get brown, black, blue and orange brushes, you can hack your way in the world of tiles&grout and hardwood floor cleaning as well . The main takeaway from your experience is that you have to convince owner of the diner to commit to scheduled cleaning, monthly- best scenario, or quarterly. If diner is busy, it shouldn't be a problem . Otherwise, you're going to have the same problem, a trashed carpet.

 

[Living The Dream]

I'm not a fan of using a CRB on CGD. I instead opt for something heavier like a 175 or Mytee ECO with a red fiber pad. Saiger makes some great products, but if you get a chance try some Prochem Ultrapac Extreme. It cuts the grease like non-other and because it cuts better you use less water.

I am also a advocate for post VLM using an encapsulation product. This always yields great results.

If it's a really greasy place nothing beats Rotary Extraction followed by Encapsulation.

 

[Dolly Llama]

. I instead opt for something heavier like a 175 or Mytee ECO with a red fiber pad

don't know what an ECO is, But Nick is spot on regarding a rotary.
Rotary blows away CRB for pre-scrubbing.
anyone that says different is ignorant af or lying to make a sale ..period!

it's 500 miles to my house.
Make plans to ride the roller coasters at Cedar Point .
On the way there, stop by and get a good 17" rotary if you don't have one. FREE

Prochem Extreme is a great pre-spray
Prochem Powerburst is better


..L.T.A.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

don't know what an ECO is, But Nick is spot on regarding a rotary.
Rotary blows away CRB for pre-scrubbing.
anyone that says different is ignorant af or lying to make a sale ..period!

it's 500 miles to my house.
Make plans to ride the roller coasters at Cedar Point .
On the way there, stop by and get a good 17" rotary if you don't have one. FREE

Prochem Extreme is a great pre-spray
Prochem Powerburst is better


..L.T.A.

Go see Uncle Larry when you come to the class in June. He is only a couple of hours from me, and worth the visit outside of his generous offer.

He’s a real mensch Bryce

 

[Bryce C]

When you said low pile, you've meant CGD?

I thought CGD only came in tiles and planks, didn't realize rolls are glued down as well. So I don't know. There weren't any sections to it though.

You can get a
used Oreck Orbiter for now

That's a good idea. Inexpensive beater machine for grungy environments. That's brilliant thank you.

 

[Bryce C]

Saiger makes some great products, but if you get a chance try some Prochem Ultrapac Extreme.

I'll try that one eventually thank you. For now my next attempt in a situation like that will be Bridgepoint Flex powder that Jim set me up with. It is 1-1.5 ph stronger than the code red with it's own various goodies. I've used Code Red here and there and wanted to see how it performs in a more trying situation.

I am also a advocate for post VLM using an encapsulation product. This always yields great results.

If it's a really greasy place nothing beats Rotary Extraction followed by Encapsulation.

After I finished this job I realized that simply post bonneting with some kind of orbital and absorbent pad would probably help big time pulling more soil and moisture. Although an entire second treatment doing encap vlm style sounds even better!

 

[Bryce C]

don't know what an ECO is, But Nick is spot on regarding a rotary.
Rotary blows away CRB for pre-scrubbing.
anyone that says different is ignorant af or lying to make a sale ..period!

it's 500 miles to my house.
Make plans to ride the roller coasters at Cedar Point .
On the way there, stop by and get a good 17" rotary if you don't have one. FREE

Thats a very kind off you Dolly I might take you up on it sometime, thank you! A rotary tool sounds bad arse. Didn't think I'd grab one using a crb and typical extraction wands right away but now that I've been in a truly hard to clean environment that makes sense. I'll read up on them more.

Prochem Extreme is a great pre-spray
Prochem Powerburst is better

Thanks for these recommendations too. I'll look at the specs of all these recommended cleaners and see what I learn. Field testing them when I have the opportunity will really tell me the rest. Thank you!

 

[Bryce C]

Go see Uncle Larry when you come to the class in June. He is only a couple of hours from me, and worth the visit outside of his generous offer.

He’s a real mensch Bryce

Awesome. Now I know his name too I certainly will. Had no idea I'd be in Larry's neighborhood when we come to the class. Was going to look up Cedar Point and figure that out later tonight! Thanks Jim!

 

[Dolly Llama]

Awesome. Now I know his name too I certainly will. Had no idea I'd be in Larry's neighborhood when we come to the class. Was going to look up Cedar Point and figure that out later tonight! Thanks Jim!

Get a rotary before you buy a CRB
Don't let anyone convince you different.


what days at Pembertons?
I have some other misc chit you can have with the rotary too
(brass fittings, 'n such)
a few hours and couple hundred miles extra would make it happen
zip code 44272

and depending what day/how long at Pembertons, I might drive down just to say hi to Jim and staff


..L.T.A.

 

[Dolly Llama]

Didn't think I'd grab one using a crb and typical extraction wands

I'll read up on them more.

no need to read up more than what I'm about to say

Guys love CRB's because they're light in and out of van.
Fact is, rotary kicks their azz on any carpet for shearing soil off a fiber.


15 seconds of side by side agitation of CRB vs roto scrub on soiled CGD will be all the convincing you need.
You'll see with own eyes

BTW, Bridgeport Flex is a great pre-spray too.
Citrus terpenes are great cleaners, but don't rinse so easy from my experience

..L.T.A.

 

[Bryce C]

Get a rotary before you buy a CRB
Don't let anyone convince you different.


what days at Pembertons?
I have some other misc chit you can have with the rotary too
(brass fittings, 'n such)
a few hours and couple hundred miles extra would make it happen
zip code 44272

and depending what day/how long at Pembertons, I might drive down just to say hi to Jim and staff


..L.T.A.

I'll be in touch tonight after the workday Larry. Bless your good heart my friend!

 

[Bryce C]

But from who?

I speak to all of my cleaning chemistry and equipment most nights.

 

[hogjowl]

Just be very careful

 

[Nomad74]

Good tips thank you. I appreciate the encouragement as well!

You can thank him by giving him tips on parking.

 

[SamIam]

I'll try that one eventually thank you. For now my next attempt in a situation like that will be Bridgepoint Flex powder that Jim set me up with. It is 1-1.5 ph stronger than the code red with it's own various goodies. I've used Code Red here and there and wanted to see how it performs in a more trying situation.


After I finished this job I realized that simply post bonneting with some kind of orbital and absorbent pad would probably help big time pulling more soil and moisture. Although an entire second treatment doing encap vlm style sounds even better!

Code red has enzymes, same as the prochem stuff Larry recommended.

Code red is also loaded with Oxy for organic stains.

You would have to ad a scoop of sodium per carbonate to power burst to equal out.

I under stand not wanting to over wet, think of it more as flushing the carpet.

Use extra dry strokes and fans to mitigate over wetting.

 

[SamIam]

I'll be in touch tonight after the workday Larry. Bless your good heart my friend!

If you're doing commercial work like restaurants that are nasty with a portable get the 175, I prefer my 10 crb for in homes.

It's light and easy to pull off the truck.

Like Larry I to have a 175 that sits around gathering dust.

 

[Bryce C]

You can thank him by giving him tips on parking.

Sure thing. I imagine most established guys with trailers aren't messing around with tricky little 5x8's, so I may have something to offer here as the world's greatest parker ever in the history of parking.

 

[Cleanworks]

I thought CGD only came in tiles and planks, didn't realize rolls are glued down as well. So I don't know. There weren't any sections to it though.


That's a good idea. Inexpensive beater machine for grungy environments. That's brilliant thank you.

Cgd just means commercial glue down carpet. It's what we find I'm many commercial establishments. It's glued directly to the floor or sub floor.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

There is certainly nothing wrong with your crb no matter what Larry says and I’m neither lying nor selling. Is it as good as a 175, no. But you’re lugging a porty getting it in and out, who wants to lug a 175, even though you can do it with a 13. You see the results you got w/o all the above. You can use different brushes for your crb to accomplish what you want without getting another tool. I’d invest in the extra brushes, find some dripods, turn my psi to 400. Maybe get an Oreck, because it’s light to post pad.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

One more thing, the ones running 5-600psi are also using positive displacement blowers and not vacuum motors. More is not always better.

 

[BIG WOOD]

One more thing, the ones running 5-600psi are also using positive displacement blowers and not vacuum motors. More is not always better.

Good input here

 

[Dolly Llama]

There is certainly nothing wrong with your crb no matter what Larry says and I’m neither lying nor selling. Is it as good as a 175, no

the rest of it is just baloney
The fact is, y'all are too lazy to want to bring in a 100 pound rotary so you justify using less than best and pretend it's just as good
which is complete and utter nonsense unless you're a 50%'er

50% are hacks and don't know it (that's includes a WHOLE BUNCH of s'posed gurus
40% are hacks and do know it
10% are the rest


..L.T.A.

 

[Kenny Hayes]

Whatever, we’re agitating, agitating with black brushes is NOT, I repeat, NOT being lazy! Just because you have some kind of prejudice one way or the other, don’t make something else Wrong! Hell, people used to use grandi groomers to agitate with, and think they were doing something.

 

[Nate The Great]

Whatever, we’re agitating, agitating with black brushes is NOT, I repeat, NOT being lazy! Just because you have some kind of prejudice one way or the other, don’t make something else Wrong! Hell, people used to use grandi groomers to agitate with, and think they were doing something.

They are doing something, better than nothing, but far from being power scrubbed..

Every tool has its place, but greasy commercial jobs would benefit more from a rotary scrub.. A rotary you could post pad with as well.. I'm glad you mentioned electric vac motors differ from Positive Displacement TM vac.. Smatty boy is tryna setup the noob..

 

[Dolly Llama]

50%'ers abound in this biz

..L.T.A.