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It seems like almost always when I clean berber with heavy traffic I just can’t seem to get it as clean as possible. I use a mixture of 1.5 cups 101, 10 oz. citris booster, 2 oz orange deodorizer and 2 oz quick boost. I apply, let dwell 5-10 min and scrub with dirt napper following up with white bonnett. In the end it looks 10 times better but I always notice soil especially at the transition areas. If I want it to blend to make it look acceptable then I have to always hand scrub with towell and pro-spotter and I get lots of soil transfer. Any comments?
Ed,
I recently started trying the fast acting enzyme (FAE) on heavy traffic lanes with good results. Once mixed, it is only effective for a little while, so I haven’t used it much due to that mild inconveneince. However, I gave an estimate at a home with virtually black traffic lanes throughout the house. Having experienced some difficulty getting traffic lanes to look as good as I would like and facing those black traffic lanes, I tried a full dose of FAE and it worked great.Also, I followed someone’s recent bulleting board (I forget who posted that, but thanks!) tip of applying it to the trouble areas first, and then going about my work elsewhere, letting the FAE (or perhaps pro-spotter in other cases) dwell for plenty of time. I was really pleased with the results as was the homeowner.
Of course it goes without saying that those heavy traffic lanes require carefully setting expectations lower before starting the work.
Mike
I run into this quit often. I start out by cleaning the traffic area normally. If I can’t get it clean enough then I’ll go over it with a finishing towel and then maybe again with a finishing towel but the 2nd time I’ll spray it down a little with the pro-spotter. I haven’t used FAE on Berber traffic patterns but I’ll try it.
Ron’s comment reminds me that I used the FAE on non-berber carpets so far. I had remembered that it had a secondary use for heavily soiled areas and traffic areas. Those recent black traffic lanes prompted me to try it as I mentioned, but I haven’t had a good test opportunity yet on berber.
By the way, I have also used Ron’s tips on berber traffic lanes with good success. However, it seems that sometimes when looking at berber traffic lanes, it is hard to predict (in your mind, not to the customer) which ones will do well and which ones will give you fits. I’ve had a few that looked pretty bad come clean easier than expected.
On new customers when I don’t know if they previously had protector applied (sometimes they don’t know or remember), I have wondered if the easier carpets might be easier due to protector being applied at the previous cleaning.
Mike
I don’t know about anyone else but any time after I do our normal process and if I bring in the ninja on any job with traffic lane soiling I see lots of soil being extracted that was left behind and extracting it makes a huge difference!
Do the traffic areas come back? I’m not sure that I can use a HWE machine raving about how well low-moisture works.
The tight weave of berber carpet makes it difficult to get extremely dirty areas clean with the buffer alone. A quick hit with the extractor (using heat) on the very soiled areas can save a lot of time.
As a test. extract one strip down the middle of the traffic area and then see how long it takes to match the clean area with the buffer.
On berber, we usually always use a dual method on the traffic areas; a quick extract job (don’t soak the carpet), followed up with a bonnet to absorb as much residual moisture as possible. The bonnet gives the carpet a final “scrub” which also helps lift the fibers. We do charge more for berber carpet.
That’s good news Lara. Yippee, we get to now invest in another expensive piece of equipment.
I have used the upholstery mate on berber carpet and it always looks better when I do. I don’t like to because of the inconvenience, but it realy works better than buffing alone. I was amazed at how much dirt came when I extracted. I was kind of embarrassing.
Fast Acting enzyme has worked for me on all light colored carpets. I have been using it more and more. On one job with a very pickey customer, I had gone over an area five or six times and he kept telling me it looked dingy. I had tried a lot of pro spot and it didn’t work. Finally I tried FAE and I couldn’t believe how great the carpet looked when I was done.
Ron
No system is perfect. Be very glad we don’t hang our hat on HWE alone.
The fact of the mater is this.Our cleaner #101 works better than anything else. Period.
The method of extraction, be it pads or HWE or osmosis or whatever, is a non issue. The cleaning product IS the magic.
Let me repeat.
The cleaning product, #101, IS the magic.No one else can leave a carpet as clean as we can. You know it.
You don’t need to use a Ninja or whatever. You can, but you don’t need to. You do need to use #101. It is our rock. Believe it. Let me hear you say it. Sing it out!!
Hot
Water
Extractionaka “steam cleaning”, “flood & Suck”,
A Ninja is a portable Extraction unit that is made by a company called Esteam
The corporate office has the Ninja (Century) unit available.
I hated cleaning berber when i first started, now I don’t mind them at all. I prefer to clean berber over Olefin carpet. I tend to have more problem with wicking on olefin and seem to have more call backs as well. When I clean berber I prespray fast acting enzyme, use a dirt napper with a wet bonnet, and if it is real dirty i will even mist the area lightly with a citrus boost/water mix just to speed up the process, I follow up with a brown striped pad until I can’t pick any more dirt up. Works great. Any suggestions on cleaning olefin would be of help to me.
Joel
I think Dave Devlin may have some good info on this, but untill then, I will offer some other info. I think Olefin is a brand name of a type of carpet fiber. Olefin or some form of it, is used in some(most?) berbers. This is why some berbers are so much harder to clean than others.
Olefin is very attracting to oils and oily soils and as we know, tough to clean. My mixture is a scoop of quick boost and a glug or 2 of orange dedoerizer. lots of dwell time and plenty of aggitation and elbow grease.YMMV
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