Knowing Stuff

I always enjoy the feeling when Cleanfax publishes an article that really gets the attention of the industry and helps out its subscribers.

That happened a few months ago with Fred Geyen’s Commercial Cash Flow article about carpet warranties and rotary cleaning systems. If you missed it, click here and you can read the article.

Fred spent quite a bit of time interviewing carpet mills and manufacturing experts involved with commercial carpet warranties, getting to the bottom of what cleaners should do when it comes to cleaning commercial carpet under warranty coverage.

Many of you spoke up in person, by telephone and by email about Fred’s article . Why? Because it got to the bottom of an issue many of you have faced or at least have wondered about: What do the mills really have to say about cleaning methods and commercial warranties? It’s a great topic because no cleaner wants to get in the middle of a warranty-claim war.

As one subscriber said, “All these years we have cleaned commercial carpets with buffer and pads, not even thinking about the carpet warranty.”

Another added, “I just finished reading the commercial carpet warranty article in the May 2016 issue. Thank you for hitting the nail on the head.”

The point of all this, to my simple mind at least, is there is always something to learn. You would think carpet warranties are fairly transparent. Not always so. Fred dug into the details, and the information he provided to you is invaluable.

Carpet cleaning today is more than just showing up at a job, spraying stuff, starting a machine and moving it over the carpet. Don’t laugh. As I write this, just yesterday I spoke with a veteran cleaner who had some trouble with a carpet cleaning job, and I asked him, “Which prespray do you use?” To which he said, “I don’t know the name, but it’s green.”

Professional cleaning involves investigation — choosing the best equipment, tools and chemistry, ensuring you are following recommendations by the carpet mills… and at the same time, doing the absolute best work for your customers.

It means obtaining an education on the science of cleaning and keeping up to date on changes in cleaning systems, methods and technology.

It means knowing stuff. Thanks, Fred, for helping us know some stuff.

Please send your comments, thoughts or article ideas to Jeff Cross, executive editor of Cleanfax: [email protected].