Q. I have a rug full of cat urine. Can ozone remove this? If not, what's the best way? Jeffery. A. Hi Jeffery- Re- The wool rug full of cat urine odor. You say you cleaned it 3 times. Was that a flood/shampoo/scrub/rinse system, steam, or just how did you clean it? Did you clean both sides? Cat urine. Boy, that's a toughie. Lemme see. First- the Alpine machine should eventually remove the odor. How long, is a very good question. I have these, and use them for odor control and elimination, too- but their output is limited to be safe for home use, and it sounds like you have a pretty severe case of mal odor, and it needs more power. Perhaps a big ozone unit like the ones used for whole house fire/smoke damage would be better, because these large capacity machines will put out 10 to 50 times the ozone that an Alpine will put out. Other than that- it sounds like you have done all of the right things, for the best possible results. There are limitations for everything. So...... consider this- what is the value of this rug? What is the replacement cost to the customer? Wouldn't they be better off replacing it than spending another dime on it? What will happen the minute you return it? The dog and cats will go right back and contaminate it again. Right? I can see the future. Look into your own crystal ball, and see if I am not right. So........ Where are you now money wise? Are you in the profit position, or in the loss position? If you are in the profit position, keep working on it with digesters/enzymes. If you are in the loss position, return it as is, and tell them you have done your best, and let it go. Don't put any more of your money in it- if anything, let the customer put their money into it. Some things are simply not worth doing more on. Look again into your crystal ball. What do you see the pad looking like, and what is the pad smelling like? Same for the floor under that pad. AAAAAAACCKKKKKK !!!! I can smell it from here. Forget it. Take it back. I know that's not what you were wanting to hear. Sorry. The law of diminishing returns comes into play here. You have a living to make, and hopefully some profit. When there is no profit, give it up. Think about this- the customer must LIKE it the way it was, otherwise it would not be in the condition that it was when you picked it up. Here's an idea for the times when you are doing the drying of a wet carpet, and have to put a turbo drying fan on a hard surface such as a kitchen or bathroom floor, blowing under a carpet. Many times the turbo fan will slip on the hard surface, and not stay exactly where you want it to be. Try this- put a piece of non-skid pad under the turbo- the same type of pad as is used under a scatter rug on a hard surface- the thin rubber kind. With the turbo on top of the non-skid pad, it won't vibrate, or wobble or slip from where you want it to be. The non-skid pad will also prevent any possible scratching of soft vinyl tile, or linoleum from the base of the turbo. ------- Q.I have an old Axminster rug with mildew in it. Can ozone help? Jim A.Hi Jim- Washing that 40 year old wool Axminster rug will probably help more than steaming it. I have a couple of suggestions. 1. Anything you can smell is a gas. That gas is being given off by something. If it is a mouldy smell, then that is what's giving off the gas you smell. The mold needs to be killed, and/or removed before the odor goes away. One way to kill mildew is by ozone. You would have to make a tent of plastic sheets, put the ozone machine so it blows into it for at least 24 hours- maybe longer, depending on how bad the odor is. Then wash it. Not before. Perhaps you can rent/use Tim's ozone machine. Another way is to saturate the rug with Bio-Stat, or other liquid mildew killer. Let sit with that on it for 24 hours, then wash it. I would not recommend Microban, as it has an odor of it's own, that is worse than the mildew odor. Plus, it is difficult to remove 100% of the Microban. If the customer is chemically sensitive, the Microban can cause a problem with her. I have been down that road, to my cost. What everything depends on is- how much is the rug really worth, and how much money will she pay to correct the problem. When you wash the rug, do the back first, rinse, then do the face, and rinse that. Hang it to dry. Axminsters have been plant washed for a hundred years, or more, and I have done many hundreds myself, so there is nothing to worry about in the washing. They can shrink, though when fully wet. You may have to trim the pad it sat on. What about the pad for it? A jute/hair pad, I will wager. If so, and it is as old as the rug, it should be replaced when delivering the rug. The pad may also be full of mildew, being below grade, just as the rug is. Get a rebond, or Durahold pad for replacement, as these won't mildew. The Durahold is polypropylene fiber with a vinyl coating. These jute/hair pads are washable, and I have washed hundreds of these, too, but it will be a waste of time and money if it has mildew in it. Replacement will be best. Thanks for the kind words about my manuals. Re Mr. Extremely Long Winded Jeff Bishop. He will tell you EVERYTHING you could possibly want to know, EXCEPT exactly what you want to know. ----------- Q. Can a portable be made better than it comes from the factory? Jim A.Hi Jim- I have a portable that I have modified a bunch- like Tim Allen on TV- souped it up. The portable is a 1980 model Cleanmaster with a clear plastic bottom that has both tanks in it, and the powered top with the pump and vacuums in it. The top lifts off for maintenance. It is one great portable. I love it. I modified it several times. Basically it is a bucket both ways type. I rigged a pump-out for the dirty water, and a direct faucet hookup for incoming clean water. I made a separate pump that attaches with a short pressure hose from the existing pump for more pressure when I want it, and a separate 3- stage vac motor to add to the 2 already in the top for more vac power, especially when doing flood work. When I want hotter water than I can get from the faucet, I have an in-line heater that connects after the pump, the pressure line to the wand goes into that. What have you done with yours? Re the What's New @ Heacocks- since Tim has told you some of it, here is the rest. For now, it is a SECRET, that I don't want you to tell others in your area, because this will really give you an edge over the competition, and why help your competition? 1. Turbo Truck Powered Cleaning System 1. You need a truck mount. I assume you have one- the brand and type does not matter. 2. You need a turbine vacuum cleaner that is powered by the air stream of the vacuum from the truck mount. (They cost about $125 to $150.00) I can get you one if you don't have one, and your supplier does not carry them. 3. You need a pressure washing gun, or a Hydro-force gun, or a dyeing gun with a maximum size jet of .06, and .04 is better. Dry vacuum the carpet (loose rug, walk-off mat, etc) in the normal way, using the turbine vac. Inject water into the hose to trap loose dirt, etc, so it does not go through your blower. (There are injectors for this purpose, too.) Apply spot removers, traffic lane cleaners, pre-sprays, whatever, same as usual. Apply with your gun- using whatever you have for cleaning detergent onto the carpet with the gun. I suggest a neutral pH cleaning formula, or self-neutralizing cleaning formula, so you don't have to fool with an acid rinse that is needed for an high alkaline cleaning formula. You can apply the cleaning formula to the carpet with a Hydro-force, or electric sprayer, but the neutral, or self neutralizing is easier. Wet out a 10 x 10 to 12 x 12 area, maximum. A small bedroom, a hall, a bathroom, closet, etc- wet out the whole thing- stop at the doorway. Apply with the gun about the SAME amount of water/detergent from the TM as you would, doing cleaning strokes with your wand. Lighter in the lightly soiled areas, more in the heavily soiled areas. SAME as with a wand Connect the turbine vacuum to the vac hose, with the TM running, and run the turbine vac over the now wet carpet area. The turbine will dig out, and loosen the soils MUCH better than any number of strokes with the wand. More agitation- see? When you have run the turbine vac over the wet area, it will pick up pet hair, and loose lint MUCH better than the wand. The turbine will suck out some of the water/detergent/dirt mix, and loosen the rest. Now, using the wand, without applying ANY more water/detergent, just extract the now loosened soils with the water that is there. Just like a flooded carpet extraction. One drying stroke will be all that is needed in the lightly applied/soiled areas, and a second drying stroke in the heavily applied/soiled areas. Now, you have cleaned say a 10 x 10 area, or a small room- go onto the next 10 x 10, or small room, and repeat. This process will remove a higher amount of whatever soils are present in any carpet, loose rug, walk-off mat, etc than any other process I have tried, and I have used them all- even plant washing of rugs. The proof is here- just look at how dirty the waste water is. I will guarantee that the waste water will be dirtier than you have EVER seen it before, using anything. Now- some explanations. I thought this idea up in April of this year. I bought a turbine vac, hoping that it would also extract all of the water, along with the soils, But because of the large vacuum orifice in the turbo vac, compared to the one in the wand, it won't. Does this process leave the carpet/rug/mat any wetter than regular wanding? No. Try it on a loose rug, or walk-off doormat, etc, to see if the water penetrates the backing. It does not. Does it dry faster, or slower than wanding? I find it dries the same. It will take a little practice, the same as with anything new, to really get the hang of it. I find that the Turbo Process cuts down on the time of cleaning about 1/3. I find that it cuts down on the sweat factor about 50%. Because it is easier to run that turbo than several strokes of the wand to do the cleaning. Try it out in your house, and see. Then when you have done it enough times, that you have confidence in it, and that the process does work, and it is really a good process, now you can advertise, and promote- Turbo Truck Powered Steam Cleaning !!! AND, nobody else has it. Just you. That means you are different, with a process nobody else has, and can CHARGE MORE !! Now, you have an edge over other cleaners, you can charge more for a better process, and make more money for doing less work. Sounds good, hey? There are a couple of reasons to not spray out too big of an area at one time. If your TM has a catalytic heater, it may overheat if left running too long. If you have a propane or other fired heater, it may cool off too much. If you have a CDS TM, it may overheat if left too long. The solution in the hose may cool off if left too long. When I was working out the dynamics of this process- I have a CDS TM- if I did too large an area, I was concerned that some moisture may migrate to the backing, and tried several sized areas to figure out the practical maximum area without heating or cooling problems. A 10 x 10 in any shape is pretty well the maximum that I use on a regular basis. I have used this process about 50 or 60 times, on all kinds of carpets, rugs that I bring in to wash- I do this instead- Chinese wool, Belgian wool, nylon rugs, polyester store rubber backed walk-off mats, a hook rug, etc- so it seems to work on everything. You will find that you will use less water for the entire job- your waste tank will not fill as fast, and you will use less cleaning product, because you are using less water on the job. Therefore, there is also a saving on the chemical bill. In homes that are kept well vacuumed, and do not need a pre-cleaning vacuuming, I just do the spot removals, then start spraying. In homes and apartments with very large amounts of pet hair, this process removes so much, that your incoming lint filter can clog- so keep an eye (an ear) on the air flow. I have had 2 cases now, of this. The vacuum to the wand dropped noticeably. When I shut off the TM, and looked at the incoming filter, I removed a huge amount of pet hair. One job required emptying the filter TWICE !! I have a pocket screwdriver that I use to remove any clogging lint or hair from the turbine vac brushes, and housing, and turbine. Clean this out after every job. This process really is not a benefit on very lightly soiled areas, or rooms. I can do regular wanding on these. Where this process really shines is on moderate to very heavy soiling, and large amounts of pet hair. It also shines on larger areas, where regular wanding gets very fatiguing, because it is easier to run the turbo for agitation than many cleaning strokes of the wand. I have also discovered that if the turbo is left wet, it can freeze up when you want to use it next time. Now, when I finish, I give a little shot of WD-40, or silicone spray onto the brush and turbine bearings. Let me know how it goes- good parts, and problems, and feel free to ask any questions- 2. Drying walls with added heat. This is not yet ready for the general flood restorer. I still have some bugs to work out. But the idea is to add heat to the walls instead of opening them to dry, or just leaving them to possibly mildew inside. I have a wall that is closed on the garage side with fire-stop sheetrock, and behind that is my laundry room, so I can see both sides. That is where I am doing my testing. so far, I have used a hair dryer fastened to a box, blowing on the wall- 2 tests with different settings. High dries the wall and sill plate and studs in about 4 hours. Low settings did not dry the wall in 24 hours. Now I am testing a heat lamp- the same as in a bathroom, etc. It dried the wall so fast, that I was not watching it, and in 3 hours everything was dry, hot, and had scorched the paper of the sheet rock. OOps!! I am in the middle of a second test, at a further distance from the wall, watching it every few minutes, and recording the drying of both sides of the sheet rock, studs, and sill plate. More on this when the tests for time and distance from the wall are finished. I think that the infra-red lamp is the best so far. 3. Odor control. Several years back, I ran across a product called "Non-Sense" powder that is an odor adsorbent. Not aBsorbent aDsorbent. It is a zeolite, looks like sand. It has no odor, it just does a molecule ion exchange to pick up odors. Odors are all a gas, and that gas molecule ion exchange is what makes it an odor adsorbent. I got a bunch, and used it as my base for my service of Guaranteed Odor Control. The company was a multi-level outfit, and the powder was very expensive for the end user, because of all the top heavy people in the multi-level thing. You know how that goes.The stuff worked fine, just expensive. Well, they went out of business, and I turned to ozone mainly as my base for Guaranteed Odor Control. Recently, I found another source of supply for this very same zeolite powder. What's more, someone at Bridgepoint found it before I did, and they now sell it, too. The powder is sprinkled on say a urine deposit, and it makes the odor disappear in a few minutes. Does nothing for the stain, but you can't have everything. This is only for odors. I have used it in my refrigerator, I sold to a fish market, I use it in an astray, and many other places for odor control. It really works for this purpose. I used it on many occasions for a lot of different things- it will remove, or control just about any odor. I sold a lot to customers for pet deposits mainly, and for mildew odors. I have a list of about 100 odor problems it can handle- too big to go into here. Smelly sneakers is a big seller. Want some? It is sold by the pound- Bridgepoint wants about $5.00 per pound, and they sell it in 2 pound jars. My price is $3.50 per pound, packaged in 1 pound bags- plus shipping. I call it "No Smell-Z". No multi-level stuff here. Just from me to you. -------- Q.Will ozone control dust mites? A. Re dust mites. On Dan's message board is a banner ad for dust mites- have you seen that? Right under Joe Polish's banner ad. I am not sure if this whole idea of dust mites is a big issue, or a lot of hype. It only came about a few years ago, and before that, nobody ever heard of dust mites. Maybe it is a big thing, maybe not. I tried several products a couple of years ago, and was not impressed with the results. A good cleaning seemed to me all that was needed, with a TM. In my opinion, cat dander, and mold/mildew are bigger allergy prompters. A couple of years ago, I went for the home ozone machines for odor control, and they also control most allergies. I have one here in my den where I sit at my computer for several hours at a stretch and smoke. It absolutely controls the cigarette smoke gasses and odors. I also use them on EVERY water damage job to control odors. They absolutely work, despite the terror they have inspired in other people like some on Dri-Eaz's forum. It has to do with output, you see. A very small output, like that generated from a furnace electroststic filter is more than these home sized machines put out. There are several manufacturers of these home model machines that are safe to use on an everyday 24 hour basis. Yesterday, at my local marine suppliers I saw a model for small cabin cruisers. Works on 12 volts, to control mildew, and other odors when the boat is closed up. I have on my web site some info posted about the many places they are a benefit. Did you see that page? Do you want me to send you some literature about the model I use? So.... Assuming they will control dust mite allergies too, I have sold several to my customers for allergy control. I put the sale on a 90 day money back guarantee if not satisfied. So far, I have not had one come back. The machines I use have a 3 year factory warrantee. Not bad. I also rent them to customers on a short term basis for several reasons, at $25.00 per day. I make more money from rentals than from a sale, because I still have the machine. ------ Q.Tell me about the poles you use for hanging rugs. Joelen A.O.K., here is what I have done. I went to Home Depot stores, and bought 2- 10 foot, 2- 8 foot, 2- 6 foot steel galvanized fence posts for poles, as these won't rust, and they will hold very heavy weights. Some rugs, when fully wet can weigh 400 to 600 pounds, so the poles have to be sturdy. I bought 8- 1 1/2 inch screw eyes- 4 for the 10 foor poles, and 4 for the 8 foot poles. I bought 4 bicycle hooks with screws in the end, for the 6 foot poles. I bought 8 double gang pulleys- 4 for each 10 foot poles. 8 single gang pulleys for the 8 foot poles. Double gang pulleys are the kind with 2 sheaves/runners inside each pulley, with an eye at the top and the bottom. I drilled pilot holes for screw eyes in the rafters of my garage, and screwed in the screw eyes. The ten foot poles are in the center of the garage, the 8 foot poles outside these- 1 on each side, and the 6 foot poles 1 at each end of the 10 foot poles, about 4 feet away from them. This arrangement in a single car garage pretty well fills it up. When I want to bring my van inside the garage, and don't have rugs hanging, I got more bicycle hooks to keep the poles as high as possible, away from the roof of the van. It will depend on how high your garage ceiling is- you may not need to do this. I fastened a pulley to each screw eye in the rafters, and a pulley to each end of the 10 and 8 foot poles. Then I threaded the 3/8 inch rope through the pulleys, leaving a fairly long tail on them, I tied a knot in each rope when the poles are down, so the rope does not accidently run out of the pulleys, and I have to re-thread them. On the wall, at a convenient location, I fastened small boat rope cleats, to hold the rope with the load of the rug on it. Next to the cleats, I put a screw hook in the wall, to hold the excess coiled rope. Now, when I am ready to hang a washed rug, I fold the rug in half, lower the pole, throw the rug over it halfway, and am ready to raise the rug. Since I do it all myself, I raise one end halfway up, tie it off at the cleat, raise the other end fully up, tie it off, and raise the first end all the way. When I am finished washing, and have hung all the rugs, I rinse them off while hanging, including the back of the rug. There is always some soap, etc on the back, and I want it as clean as possible. I did not put pulleys on the 6 foot poles, as these rugs are small, and light enough while wet, to put them over the pole halfway, and put the pole with the rug on it directly into the bicycle hooks. Depending on the height of your ceiling in the garage, you might want to use pulleys with these smaller poles, too. I did not find it necessary. My garage has a solid ceiling, finished with sheet rock, 8 feet high. I did put a waterproofing on the sheet rock, so it does not get wet, when I rinse off the rugs at the raised height. With this arrangement, I can easily raise a wet 9 x 12 oriental, or other big, heavy rug. If the rug is longer, say a 10 x 18 or 20 rug, or carpeting, I simply put 1/4th of the rug over each center 10 foot pole, and raise it so each pole is supporting 1/4th of the length, and droops in the center. I push the poles together some, so it does not droop too much in the center. The ropes allow this with no problem. I am finished now, and turn on a turbo drying fan. Depending on how many rugs I have, I can also run a dehumidifier if needed. My furnace is located in a corner of the garage, and I open a vent for some added heat when needed. The rugs dry in 1, 2, or 3 days, depending on their type, and how much water they hold. I average about 5 rugs a week, not a lot. It seems there is always a time without any, then a whole bunch at once. I have had 3 or 4 weeks without any, then get 14 all from 1 customer. that's the way it goes. I am sure it is the same on Guam. Re fringes. If they are cotton, and white- what I do is re-clean them by hand on the floor with a spotting brush and Spray Cleaner. Towel these off, then apply a 10% bleach- Purex mostly- let sit until bleached, towel that off, apply Tannin Stain Remover (Acid, dontcha know-) to neutralize the bleach, trim the frayed ends with scissors, and hang again, rinse out the chemicals, towel them to remove the excess water, and let dry with a turbo going on them. Dry overnight usually. They come out BEAUTIFUL!! Charge a bunch, of course. If the fringes are tan cotton, I don't bleach them- just re-clean them, and apply the Tannin Stain Remover, rinse trim, and hang the rug to dry. Same with wool fringes, like Morroccan rugs. NO BLEACH on wool. But sure- the bleach won't hurt cotton. If it did, your undies would be ruint. See what I mean? Cotton is cotton. I hope this helps you some. --------- Q.i cleaned a bout a thousand sq.ft of commercial carpet with lots of coke and coffee spills and they wicked back. Now this was my procedure, 1 Spayed spills with club soda(saw that on BB) 2 Worked prespray in with floor machine and carpet brush 3 Cleaned with truck mount. 4 Changed over and cleaned with fresh water rinse 5 Cleaned with bonnet. 6. Sit up five(5) air movers for quick drying Any suggestions on what else I could have done? Thanks and have a nice day Tom A.Hi Tom- Well, the club soda only thins the deposits, and spreads it, but does nothing to remove it. Think chemistry. What is club soda? Water and CO2. Nothing else. OK, so now what? Well, as I see it, all of the food and beverage deposits are organic, and need Bac-Out to digest. Pre-spray and steam and bonnet formulas are basically soap. They can remove dirt, break down oils and fats, dissolve dirt, and or suspend solid particles. But do not digest. This is a different process. What to do? I am assuming the carpet in question is an olefin berber- right? going on that assumption, what has happened is the dissolved soils were driven into the backing or padding, and wicked back up as it dried. So, what I would do is a LIGHT spray of Bac-Out on the wicked deposit areas, then bonnet just like a regular bonnet job, using BOK bonnet solution, or whatever bonnet solution you have. you can add some peroxide or BOK's Oxygen Bleach to the bonnet solution for the bright appearance. The object is to NOT get the carpet wet- just slightly damp- only clean the tips of the tufts. Part the tufts in the wicked areas. I can see it from here clearly. The sides of the tufts and the base of the carpet are perfectly clean. See it? Only the top is soiled appearing. So... only clean the top. No steam. No fans, either. This does not help when steaming, since whatever CAN wick WILL wick, no matter how slow or fast. A matter of capillary action. -------------------- Q. Now the question I have is... commercial carpet very low tight loop, a wheel (plastic) from a very heavy copier was dragged down the hall causing a discoloration in the carpet, but there is no residue from the wheel I believe it burnt or smashed the fibers causing these lines in the carpet. Have you seen this before? do you have any remedies (Iron it out?) I appreciate the help... Kirk A.Hi Kirk- As for the wheel mark, yes, I have seen that before. If the carpet is olefin, it is ruined, and cannot be fixed. The friction totally melts the material, and has to be replaced. Maybe can be sectioned in a new piece, but some I have seen, the entire thing will have to be replaced. There is no solvent or detergent that can correct it. I did salvage one small track once, with fine sandpaper, and sanded off the short bit of melted carpet. Yes, it left a line that was visible, but not black and ugly. If the carpet is nylon, MAYBE a volatile solvent can correct it- that is IF the mark is from the plastic of the caster. It sounds like you already have checked that, and was not the problem. Olefin has a very low melting temp, and it does not take much to melt it. I have seen bicycle tire marks, roller skate marks, and caster marks from movers dollys with a stuck caster- no helping them. Q. 1.What is the difference between dry foam and shampoo? 2.It seems that carpet cleaning can leave a residue in the carpet which will accelerate the carpet resoiling again. There also seems to be some new products out there where this doesn't happen. From what I understand, there are products that can be used on a carpet, Electrolux sells one to use with their Floor Pro. It is a liquid, vegetable based (I believe), and it is whipped into a foam and then worked into the carpet with shampoo brushes. It is then allowed to dry and "crystalizes". Then all a person has to do is vacuum their carpet and they have a clean carpet without residue. The carpet of course is well vacuumed first. I have heard of this "crystalizing" thing before- is it for real? Is there a safe, non-toxic product that somehow bonds with the dirt, drys into a crystalized state and is then vacuumed up leaving no residue in the carpet? Because if this is really happening, this shampoo or these types of products are very different than the cans of aerosol carpet shampoo I used to clean auto carpets with. Spray, brush, dry, vacuum. That was years ago. Never thought about the residue issue. Does Bio Kleen have something like this that would work in something like the Electrolux machine or the VS machine? It is interesting how they interchange the words Dry Foam and Shampoo when they talk. That is why I wanted to run the words by you. 3. Is carpet cleaning seasonal? I talked to a lady today that uses the Host system. It is an add on to a house cleaning business. She said that the summers are pretty slow for her. Most of the work is for people getting ready for the winter holidays. She started in the Steam cleaning part of the business and went to Host. She was uncomfortable with the ablility to really mess up carpets. Just some thoughts. Not interesting in using Host, just sharing that. Thank you very much, Craig A. Hi Craig- OK, this one came through all right. So... shampooing is a process. It can use wet foam or dry foam- the difference is the amount of moisture in an ounce or whatever of the foam measured on a scales. Shaving cream is a dry foam. Kids bubbles is a wet foam. Bubble bath and dish soap is wet foam. Does that help clear it up? OK, forget about Host. While it is not actually a scam, it is close. Yes it does work, but so does a cabbage, cut in half, and rubbed on dirty carpet. Carpet cleaning goes all year round for those in the actual business, and that means Anchorage Alaska, as well as all over the world- I e-mail a cleaner in Bangkok Thailand, and he says he is always busy. So, it depends on how you market your business- I am always booked up 2 weeks to 6 weeks in advance year round. Residues. Some cleaning products do leave a residue, some do not. Some are self neutralizing, some need a clear water rinse, some need an acid rinse. There are a lot of variables. I use and recommend the Bi-O-Kleen line- they are all neutral pH, self biodegrading 100%, need no rinsing or acids to neutralize. Maybe the Electrolux product does what it says, maybe not. do not take their word for it, get some, dilute according to the specifications, put in a glass, pour out all but a trace, and let air dry for a day or two, see what remains. If it is a powder, it is crystalline, and can be vacuumed out. If it is sticky, it will be the same in a carpet. Now add some more water, does it redissolve, or not, what happens to it? This will tell you what will happen the next time the carpet is cleaned. The aerosol cans are the same as shaving cream. Would you want to leave your face unwashed after shaving every day? Bi-O-Kleen does have a bonnet cleaner/carpet shampoo that is 100% biodegradable and I use it a lot. I use it for shampooing rugs, carpets and upholstery if I am cleaning that way, I use it for all bonnet cleaning of commercial and residential jobs. I use it for all plant washing of loose rugs of all kinds. I am sure it would work in a Kirby or Von Schrader, or Electrolux machine, or any type of shampooing machine. The Kirby and Elecrolux machines do not appear to be professional machines, and while they may do the job, they will not deliver the quality and speed of a professional machine. Potential customers seeing these kinds of machines used by a so called professional cleaner will probably doubt the ability of the cleaner, since these machines are readily available to any housewife. It is better to appear professional with professional equipment, in my opinion. Gary ----------------- Q. I was just going over some older posts on ICS b/b. Saw one of yours from last month. You talk about post bonneting. Well, I run a Butler TM, carry with me a 175rpm floor machine, and have a couple thousand bonnets (I use to work with a Chem-Dry guy... yea, I know, I know...) I only use the floor machine to "speed up drying" or on those rare brown outs. My question: Since I'm not use to post bonneting, could you sort of give me a quick (or lengthy if you like) crash course on this. I'm assuming that I do my normal HWE type cleaning, then to the post bonneting. Do I add soap to the bonneting, or just go over what I have already done? I am thinking that post bonneting would be for the really dirty places, where it didn't come as clean as I wanted it to. (I do a lot of rentals and move outs). Any help is appreaciated. Thanks in advance... Ken A. Hi Ken- Post bonneting- I do this not on every job, but about 1/3 to 1/2 of all TM steam jobs. Partly to speed the drying, partly to remove more soils. Depending on how soiled the job is, and type of carpet. Always on olefin Berbers, maybe 2/3 of all wool Berbers. Maybe 2/3 of all wool cut pile. About 1/2 of all loose rugs, plant washed. About 1/10 of nylon plushes, all polyester and acrylic carpets. Any and all that are full of pet urine. (Probably 1 1/10 of all my jobs.) I got one coming up tomorrow- 3 dogs, all urinate in the house. Carpet is wool Berber, plus a wool hooked rug in the dining room. So.... you can see- there are factors. Today's job was a white nylon, with a big Lab dog, who does not urinate in the house, but a ton of dog body soils everywhere it lies. even when going over the carpet as thoroughly as possible with the tm, and it looks very good, clean, etc, I post bonnet, and get enough soils on it to justify charging an additional 5 cents a sq ft. Plus I can- and the customer can- absolutely see a visible difference when post bonneting. OK, that said, I use a thin, 100% cotton bonnet- called a DirtGetter, which gets more than the thick cotton bonnets, or the nylon ones. I do not spray them, and sometimes I use it dry, sometimes damp with plain water, occasionally do it with the bonnet dry. However, with the bonnet dry, the soils it picks up come out harder than when done wet. I began doing this with the thick bonnets, and if it happens I don't have any DirtGetters on the truck, I will use a thick one, and as absorbent as they are, still does not remove as much as the DG bonnets. When I bonnet clean instead of steaming it, I always use a DG bonnet after a nylon or thick cotton. Damp, again for the same reason. Gary The Interstellar Crossroads of The Universe- http://www.heacocks.com Bi-O-Kleen promotion. Buy a case of gallons of any Bi-O-Kleen product,through Heacocks, get your choice of any Heacocks manuals free, sent by e-mail. Limit, one manual per customer. ----------------- Q. Gary, Is there a system that is fairly easy to teach to employees and with some practice can be expected to at least correct bleach problems? I sent one guy to Ernie's' class (Americolor) and had him to our place for a half day and we're still confused. Ed A. Hi Ed- Spot dyeing. Did you see my post on the ICS forum? I have taken a week long course, plus the 2 day IICRC course, plus a refresher course, and I was still confused, and had a hard time of it. Finally figured out on my own what to do. Figure out what you have, and what you are missing, and replace what's missing. So.. it does not matter what color the carpet looks like- figure all carpets are brown, since all carpets contain some of all 3 primaries in varying amounts. If the spot you are looking at is white, all 3 primaries need to be applied. If the spot is yellow, red and blue need to be applied. If the spot is green, red needs to be applied. If the spot is orange, blue needs to be applied. It is that simple. Start light, and add more concentrate as and if needed. Q. Is it possible to clean a loose rug on location without wetting the padding or flooring? Fred. A. Fred- Actually, the whole notion of steam cleaning wetting the padding or flooring is a MARKETING PLOY devised by the big thinkers at Chem-Dry to promote their process at the expense of other processes, and the only way it could possibly happen is if there were no vacuum while applying the solution. Think about this- how much actual water/solution would have to be applied per sq ft in order to have enough to reach the flooring? A pint would not be enough. Somewhere between 2 quarts and a gallon, per sq ft. Now, that does not happen with a portable or a truck mount as long as the vacuum is running, and what idiot would do that? The correct answer is- NOBODY!! So... you apply water/solution, the vac is running, the water/solution is EXTRACTED, leaving the carpet damp, but only in the pile, not in the backing, not in the padding, not on the flooring. The very simple way to determine if this is true or not is to steam clean a loose rug, look at the backing, find it is DRY. Anyway, it is the SAME as cleaning any wall to wall carpet. You don't wet the flooring or padding when doing these, do you? No. If there is any spots, spills, pet deposits, work on them prior to the overall cleaning. And yep, Fiber-Glow powder is the stuff for cleaning detergent, does not matter what the material is. One exception, polyester responds better to something somewhat soapy, and bonnet cleaning or rotary shampooing works better than steam cleaning on polyester.