FAQs - Spotting Products Questions

Q - Hey Jim, I'm going to try that Stain Zone, Boost All and the Avenge. Is the Boost All worth the money?

A - Boost All is one of those products that is considered to be "magic" to those who know how to use it. Many cleaners ask me not to teach everyone how to use it, as they consider it their "secret weapon" that helps them get results their competitors cannot match. As I mentioned previously, it removes many stains during cleaning, and limits "post cleaning spotting" to very few stains.

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Q - The Boost All works great. My toughest carpet is my parent's house and they have 5 dogs and a cat and their carpet gets trashed every 4-5 months and I go and clean it. I used Flex with Citrus Solv with Boost All in it. The carpet is cleaner than I could ever get it before. Do you think that I would need Buff All for anything since I don't clean older area rugs. Would you recommend Buff All for anything other than that?

A - You only need Buff All if you are hand shampooing or dry foam cleaning natural fiber upholstery or rugs.

Remarkable Class at Pembertons on May 29th

We had the opportunity to have a leading expert on water damage restoration, Chuck Dewald, speak to our customers on May 29th.

I had heard that he was an outspoken, somewhat controversial character, and that in some cases suppliers and other industry leaders found his comments and approach to be negative.

We did not find any of those concerns to be valid!

Instead, our customers had the opportunity to hear one of our industry’s most innovative minds share his insights about both the technical and business aspects of the water damage restoration industry.

While the technical information that he shared was very useful, perhaps the best parts of his presentation was his passionate belief that water restorers need to have a better understanding of what they are doing. He also spoke from his heart about the deep regard that he has for those restorers both in the audience and throughout our country.

His passion, his mission, is quite obviously to bring up the level of professionalism and education of the restorers, and for them to best serve the public/the insured, and to help those restorers stand up to insurance companies that truly do not have their interests at heart.

We at Pembertons highly recommend that any restorer who wants to "be their best" take the time to attend a class taught by Chuck’s team at their home base in Morristown, Tennessee.

https://www.americandryinginstitute.com/

American Drying Institute
5740 West Andrew Johnson Highway
Morristown, TN 37814

Chuck Dewald III
Phone: (423) 312-6777
Fax: (423) 318-0672

FAQs - Pet Stain & Odor

(Several of our Blog participants have asked for ideas for consumer type articles, and a recent interview I participated in seems to be just what might be needed!)

CHECK THIS OUT:

Q - WHAT ARE THE FIRST STEPS A PET OWNER SHOULD TAKE TO MITIGATE ANY POTENTIAL DAMAGE FROM A PET STAIN TO CARPET OR UPHOLSTERY?

A - GREAT FIRST QUESTION!
Unlike most household spills, body discharges from pets can permanently discolor carpet or upholstery, especially if the fabric contains wool, silk, cotton, or rayon. Even nylon, a more durable fiber, can be stained or bleached by urine or vomit.

By picking up any solid material and using absorbent materials such as paper or cloth towels or diapers, penetration of the liquid into the backing of the carpet or upholstery can be prevented, which is where most of the odor develops later, and which can be very difficult to treat, even by a professional.

WHAT CAN HOMEOWNERS DO THEMSELVES?
After picking up and absorbing, fresh body discharges are best removed with clear, cool water alone. As long as the urine or other material is fresh, it doesn’t necessarily need a household spotter to remove it. If you own your own cleaning or spotting machine, just rinse the area with water.

WHAT PRODUCTS?
There are some products available in stores and pet shops that are specifically designed for pet spills. These products are usually safe to use, but not often necessary if the above recommended methods are used. If there is a residual odor, look for a product that claims to contain an enzyme deodorant.

WHAT MISTAKES?
The two most common mistakes are neglect and misuse of products.

If an animal continues to contaminate a carpet, rug, or article of upholstery, urine often will damage the dye. Continued saturation of urine will also create a severe odor that penetrates to areas of the upholstery or carpet that are not readily accessible to be treated by the consumer. For a cleaning professional to treat such areas may require time consuming procedures that may become very expensive.

The other problem is misuse or improper choice of cleaning products. As mentioned before, absorbent material and clear water are the safest things to use. Avoid the use of disinfectants, strong chemicals, powdered deodorizing products, and bleaches. Such products are not only likely to be ineffective, but they may also damage your carpet, rugs, and furniture. They are also likely to interfere with the products a cleaning professional would use, and therefore make the odor or stain more difficult for even the most highly skilled professional to solve.

IF THE ODOR CONTINUES:
The problem may exist in multiple areas. Also be aware that the animal may have also contaminated ductwork, baseboards, draperies, and other contents of the home. Ultimately, you should contact a trained professional. You can get a list of such individuals at www.certifiedcleaners.org

FAQs - Leather Question

Q - I have a question about leather...I was ill advised (or so I believe) on a nubuck cleaner...my beautiful dansko amethyst spinnabucks look oiled from a conditioner (I should have gone with my gut) and I was hoping the degreaser would save them. Do you have any suggestions? Professional cleaning? Or am I just out of luck? Thanks you.

A - I'm afraid the application of a conditioner to Nubuck makes the oiled look fairly permanent, and our products will likely not be able to fix it.

Here's a hint that the "pros" use: Get some fine sandpaper and gentle sand the area; if your conditioner didn't penetrate too deeply, you might be able to move down to "new leather" and restore your soft surface texture. The leather might lighten, but it would get you back to the texture and look you want.

Let me know if you still want the products, but I'd say they don't give you a 10% chance at any restoration.

FAQs - Deodorization

Q – Hey Jim, what would I use a "fogger" for?
A - If you offer fire damage restoration, its a good way to distribute smoke deodorizing treatments. Actually, a fogger is great for duct sealing, deodorizing and disinfecting in many situations. They are usually suitable for applying water or solvent based formulations. A fogger with the highly recommended ULV feature means that extremely small particle sizes can be produced for very effective disinfection and odor control. The coarse setting is generally used for duct sealing.

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Q - Is the apple air worth the impression of clean to the customers?
A - I believe that it is; however, during the winter months, the Cinnamon fragrance of Spice Air is even more popular with clients.

FAQs - Upholstery Question

Q - What is the best chemical and most versatile to use on upholstery? Fiber Plus?

A - Rather than consider a different detergent, although Fiber Plus does have a safe pH range for most upholstery, consider instead a different prespray. My favorite prespray for all furniture is Avenge Fabric Prespray. If you are certain that the material is synthetic and colorfast, you might want to have some Avenge Heavy Duty Fabric Prespray for the "tough ones".

You can extract with Fiber Plus, but my preference is to use Fab Set instead. With Fab Set you'll be able to rinse out all of the prespray's residues, which leaves the fabric soft, and also bring the pH down to the acidic side of the pH scale, which stabilizes colors and prevents most browning issues as well.

Just be sure to spray either Avenge product evenly onto all body contact areas, brush it in with a soft, horsehair brush, and then allow ten to fifteen minutes of dwell time. The Avenge products are both such complete products that you'll not need any "cleaning power" in your extraction solution, just the softening, dye setting, browning preventative benefits that Fab Set can bring.

FAQs - Pros and Cons of a Truckmount

Q - I want a truck mount because they are faster and can do a lot more without all the setup. are there any downers about having a truck mount besides the cost and maintenance?

A- You're correct that the main reason to use a truck mount is labor savings both in "set up and tear down", as well as during the cleaning process itself. The analogy that I like to use regarding the difference of a truck mount and a portable is the difference between a chainsaw and an axe. Both will cut down a tree. But the chainsaw will do it quicker, and you won't be nearly as tired when you are done.

Cost is relative, of course. You will spend 5 - 10 times as much for a truck mounted unit as you will a portable machine, but your ability to produce more work in a day, and to clean more square feet per hour more than pays for the difference of that cost.

Maintenance is an issue that you must consider. Just as a chain saw requires more care than an axe, or a car than a bicycle, a truck mount needs more care as well. As with the labor savings issue, you'll spend less time maintaining your truck mount each month than you'd spend carrying, filling, and dumping your portable each day.

The only other drawback that you must consider is winter weather. You're unit will need to be kept in a garage, have an electric heater put in over night, or need to be antifreezed when not in use.

FAQs - Difficult Red Dye Spots

Q - Jim what would get out mocha-latte? The customer that asked me already used Oxy-Clean on it. Got any ideas?

A - Mocha-Latte probably has some artificial red dye to enhance the brown "chocolate/coffee" color, as well as some other dyes. The problem is that the red dye might require the use of a reducing agent spotter, such as Red One or Red Relief. The Oxy-Clean residue will inhibit the activity of either of the "Red" products, as it works in the opposite fashion (oxidizers add oxygen, reducers remove oxygen).

Remind the customer that the Oxy-Clean has likely made the stain permanent , but you can try this:

1. Rinse the area thoroughly with clear water. Any rinsing agents might create another residue problem. Rinse until any foaming and the "musty" smell that comes from Oxy Clean is gone.


2. Use either Red Relief or Red One according to directions.


3. If there is a remaining yellow stain, rinse thoroughly. After you have removed the "Red" residue, the remaining yellow stain should come out with Stain Zone or Stain Magic, which are left to work over time, but are not to be heated.

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Q - Jim I had a customer call me and tell me that they have a Kool-Aid stain on their carpet what would be best to get that out. Guess its been there and dry for about a week.

A - First, ask them what brand of spotters that they tried already, and in what sequence. The reason you must ask in this way is that if you simply ask: "Did you try anything before you called me?", they'll lie and say "no".

If you ask brands and sequences, they'll often forget to lie and tell you. If they used anything with a bleach, such as Oxy-Clean, you might not be able to get the stain out.

Assuming they only blotted with water or mild detergents, you should clean the area first; olefin and polyester will usually release red dyes during the cleaning process; high quality stain resistant nylon that hasn't been abused should also release most, if not all, of the stain.

If there is any remaining dye, treat with Pros Choice "Red One" or "Red Relief". After treating the area, clean other rooms (if available to clean), so that you can give the treatment time to work. In some cases, the dye will fade out while you are doing something else.

If it hasn't, apply damp heat with a hand steamer or iron according to the products label directions.

You have a good chance of completely removing the stain.

FAQs - Dry Clean Only?

A quick question? What is your experience with dry clean only upholstery using the Drimaster
? I have a customer with a 2-3 year Clayton Marcus, microfiber cloth, chair and ottoman, no tags, but if his memory serves him dry clean only. I personally have done a number of dry clean only with the Drimaster no problem. We cleaned the ottoman with Prochem Upholstery Cleaner, lightened but nothing impressive. Any suggestions?

Microfibers are usually polyester, sometimes nylon, and possibly (but very unlikely to be) rayon. A burn test will confirm which it is. Don't worry about specific fibers; just make sure its synthetic, not regenerated cellulose (rayon).

Because of the very fine denier that gives them their name, they can adsorb (as opposed to absorb) several times their weight in water, so you'll likely be surprised, and perhaps frightened, at how dark and "wet" it will become when you clean it.

Don't let that bother you. Simply precondition it with materials suitable for synthetic upholstery (either Prochem Upholstery Prespray or Bridgepoint Avenge Heavy Duty), and if it appears to be heavily soiled, boost the prespray with Bridgepoint Citrus Solv and Boost All or Prochem Citrus Pro and Oxy Plus. Rinse with Bridgepoint Fab Set or Prochem All Fiber Rinse, and be very sure that you open any vacuum relief valves that you have on the tool and/or machine, as your only real risk is damaging the fibers themselves with excessive vacuum.

The fabric doesn't have a predetermined "nap lay", so instead just use a clean white towel to absorb left over moisture, and to "fluff up" the nap so that it dries soft.

Use a solvent based protector, as a water based protector might leave it feeling a bit stiff. Remember, people buy this product because they like it to feel soft.

FAQ's - Silk Walls

Q - I have a wall panel which is made of silk material and has a few greasy stains which have come from oily hair or oily hands. Please advise what technique and what chemical to use.

A - Fabric covered walls, panels, and partitions are usually cleaned with hot water extraction using a low wetting or "dry" upholstery tool.

In your case, silk can have issues that the more commonly used synthetic materials will not. Silk may watermark, fade, or stretch if not cleaned very carefully. While there are times that it is safe and makes sense to clean silk furniture fabrics with hot water extraction, I do not recommend you attempt to clean silk wall or partition materials in this fashion.

Its recommended that you clean as much of the surface as possible with dry cleaning sponges. The areas that have the greasy hand prints can be cleaned by applying a dry cleaning solvent with a towel, then carefully wiping the more heavily soiled areas. Further soil may be extracted with dry towels afterward.

Be very careful not to spray apply the solvent, especially if it is a volatile solvent. Volatile solvents that are applied by means of spraying may evaporate quickly, leaving circles or "watermarks" wherever residual soil exists. By carefully apply the solvent by means of blotting, such rings should not exist after cleaning.
If the body oil is not removed by dry cleaning solvent, you can try a neutral detergent, such as Prochem Fine Fabric Shampoo or Bridgepoint Fabric Shampoo. Mix either of these shampoos in a bucket of water, dip a clean white towel in the bucket, wring it out "dry", then fold the towel into a flat pad and carefully wipe the area in one direction.

CAUTION: The cleaning ability of these products is such that they might create areas that look cleaner when you are done. Be prepared to lightly wipe the entire panel to blend in the appearance, or the result may look worse when you are done.