Thank you to all of you hard-working industry pros who took time out of your busy schedules to participate, and a special thank you to our wonderful survey sponsor, Legend Brands, who helped spread the word and make this the most participated in survey in recent years!

You’ll find a detailed, by-the-numbers look at the industry on HERE. But my favorite part of our surveys are the open-ended questions, which can’t fit in these pages. I love these questions because they give me a chance to hear, in your own voice, what really matters.

When taking the survey, you might have figured we wouldn’t bother reading typed-in questions. Perhaps that explains two of my favorite responses to the question “What technologies and/or industry advancements have been the most helpful to your business in the past few years?”

One respondent answered, “my wife,” and another said, “snack sticks.” But even these less serious responses have their merit. We understand how important it can be to a business’ success to have the right people in place, especially a partner — spouse or otherwise. You need someone you can count on. We also understand that your work can be hectic, especially if you’re the leader and working on the truck. So, yes, even having the right snack around to keep you going on a busy day can be make or break.

Many of you praised the industry advancements in cleaning equipment, methods, and chemicals. Some spoke generally, while others added specificity — naming counter rotating brushes, encapsulation, truckmount improvements, better deodorizers, and more as the biggest helps to their work. There was also a lot of praise for the internet and the advancements it has brought, from forums and online groups for sharing industry knowledge, to social media marketing, to online payments and appointment scheduling, to various kinds of online training.

A couple of industry pros themselves even received shoutouts for playing a significant role in improving respondents’ work: Jim Pemberton of Pemberton’s Interlink Supply and Robert Allen of Truck Mount Forums.

Another respondent pointed to Cleanfax articles, as well, and we are glad to have made an impact on your work. Beyond providing you with data for informed business decisions, these surveys also help us decide what articles to create for you. So, I thank you again if you participated in this year’s survey, and if you didn’t, I personally invite you to take part next year.

I really love hearing from every one of you. And I wish you all the best of luck in the coming year.

Email comments to Cleanfax Managing Editor Amanda Hosey at amandah@issa.com.

The post Industry Advancements appeared first on Cleanfax.

Carpet Details naturally releases dirt and oils from surfaces utilizing a proprietary process and blend of pure, natural minerals and has been providing custom spotters to flooring retailers since 1991.

• Neutral 8.1 pH
• Mill approved for stain-resistant fibers
• Healthier for you and your customers
• Not heat activated
• No acid rinse needed
• No VOCs, 100 percent odorless
• Non-allergenic, no solvents, no polymers
• No foam = No sticky soap
• Effective fiber-penetrating encapsulation
• Indefinite shelf life
• Freeze-thaw stable
• Will not corrode metal
• 100 percent made in USA

Prespray entire areas for faster cleaning (no worries if it dries before getting to it)

Contact: 800-693-6464 (Call or text) | Info@CarpetDetails.com

[infobox title=’The Best Electric Heaters for Restoration’][/infobox]

• Colorado Tri-Flo Systems creates American-made heaters that meet the highest safety standards.
• Dual airflow ports deliver heated airflow for drying and mold mitigation.
• Metal construction, one plug per heater.
• Portable, weighs as little as 16 lbs.
• Uses power available onsite.

Prices for Colorado Tri-Flo heaters start at $995.

Contact: 866-731-5153 |

[infobox title=’A New Standard in Truckmount Life and Value’][/infobox]

The 2018 Peak 500 truckmount from Prochem and Sapphire Scientific is the is the lowest cost, liquid-cooled, large class, CARB-compliant, high-efficiency machine in the market.

The unit easily maintains full heat even with a six-flow wand for maximum cleaning performance, and the unit boasts numerous key features for serious professional cleaners:

• A 31-HP Kawasaki engine with electronic fuel injection
• One gallon of gas used per hour
• Maximized engine cooling and solution heating
• Corrosion resistant and vibration/noise-dampening frame
• Cerakote-treated exhaust system for reduced radiant heat (up to 30 percent)
• Gardner Denver TriFlow 406 blower with vacuum to 13 inches
• Up to 406 CFM, 3.5 gpm, and 1,500 psi
• Suitable for all carpet and upholstery as well as hard surface cleaning
• Lighted bezel with large pressure and manual temperature control gauges
• Easy-to-access maintenance points

The Peak 500 is designed for years of life with minimal maintenance,
reflecting Prochem’s core DNA: Simple, durable, and reliable.

Contact: (800) 932-3030 |

[infobox title=’Fit 2 in the Space of 1, and Be Everywhere at Once With the Phoenix DryMAX XL and DryLINK’][/infobox]

The groundbreaking DryMAX XL is the smallest XL LGR dehumidifier on the market and can remove 125 ppd at AHAM while taking up half the space of other XL category LGRs. Fit twice as many XL units on your vehicle.

The DryMAX XL is the first dehumidifier with built-in Bluetooth, and our free mobile app, the world’s first restoration app with Bluetooth connectivity to smart dehumidifiers, is included with the unit.

• It’s free to download, with no usage fees, and compatible with iOS and Android.
• Get accurate data with no transcription errors.
• Easily identify which unit you are connected to.
• Save time and automate a collection of dehu readings.
• Log events like dehu turn off.
• Easily create drying logs.
• Capable of remote monitoring, works with teams, and has advanced graphing features.
• “Find My Dehu” will show the last know location of the unit.

Now you can control and locate your dehumidifier from your phone!

Contact: 800-533-7533 |

The post Best Buys for 2019 appeared first on Cleanfax.

Rugs may shed for a variety of reasons. The shedding may be due to poor fiber quality, poor construction quality, or poor homeowner care. Here is an overview of common instances of rug shedding and whether there are any tips to help.

Wool and silk woven rugs

Tufted rug shedding.

Hand-knotted rugs are often sheared after the weaving process in order to create the ideal pile height for the style. The shearing process itself can leave small fibers that can “shed” when the rug is new.

The best-quality production houses wash rugs after they are created to remove this residue, but even with this attention to detail, small cut pieces can be missed. With the best-quality rugs, shedding will stop shortly after the sale because any loose cut threads will be vacuumed up.

Rug shedding problems happen when the shedding does not stop. This is often the result of poor-quality fibers or poor-quality construction in the rugs.

A good-quality, standard pile height, hand-knotted wool or real silk rug should not shed.

It takes a certain strength in wool and silk yarn to twist and hand knot a rug. This means traditional, hand-knotted rugs will not shed unless there has been some type of serious damage to the rug (for example, very heavy traffic, water damage, or moth damage).

Sometimes, in a rug with good quality wool, the shearing process is not high quality, and the makers miss some strands in the process. These missed strands can pop up with general use and vacuuming, and these areas look as if a cat has clawed at the rug.

Poor shearing results in pulls. Poor construction fibers pull out.

To know whether a rug is made of bad, brittle wool or has just had a bad haircut by the shearing tool, tug at these fiber pulls/sprouts. If bad wool is the problem, it will pull apart and pull free. If bad construction is the issue, the entire knot will pull out. However, if it will not easily pull free, then there is simply a missed strand that needs to be cut. Take your scissors and give the strand a trim.

Shaggy and chunky wool

People who buy shaggy wool or large chunky wool rugs come to believe that all wool rugs shed.

Wool begins as short staple fibers that are spun, twisted, and plied together into yarn. However, at the core, wool is short strands blended into these longer strand creations. This means the longer and bigger the wool construction, the more likely the owner will to have short strands pull loose.

The quality of the wool in these rugs may be very good or may be very poor. Very good-quality rugs will stop shedding after several months, as all “loose” short strands pull free and away with use. The very poor-quality rugs will shed for their lifetimes and will wear down thinner in high-use areas because they break with use.

Shedding in bad shaggy and chunky wool.

One tip for shaggier wool rugs is to use a horse hair brush to groom and pull away the loose strands, as vacuuming can be a problem. A beater bar brush vacuum is never a good choice for these rugs, and any vacuuming is usually by hand tool.

Another shag and chunky wool rug tip is to take the rug outside when the landscapers are around and have them use their leaf blower to fluff up and blast away the dust and “stuff” in those fibers. (It works much better than a vacuum on these rugs.)

Tufted rug shedding

Tufted rugs are rugs that are held together with a latex glue backing. These rugs have a material covering up the back side.

In India, the wool that is not strong enough to use in hand knotted rugs is used in lower-quality production wool rugs like “hand loomed” rugs and “tufted” rugs. These are the rugs being sold through online rug stores for hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars.

With these rugs, if you take your thumbnail and strongly scratch the front wool fibers, you can break them apart, and the texture of the wool is scratchy instead of soft to the touch.

Whenever I receive an email from a consumer complaining about a new rug that is shedding heavily or having odor issues, nine times out of 10 it is from India. (The tenth is from Morocco.)

Shedding in a bad tufted wool rug.

High-quality tufted wool with breaks from wear.

Shedding traffic area on a looped wool rug.

There are extremely high-quality wool and silk tufted rugs produced by companies such as V’Soske, Edward Fields, Custom Looms, and other high-dollar custom tufted rug creators. When these rugs have fibers that pull away, it is due to heavy traffic, aggressive beater bar vacuum damage, or moths.

Some tufted rugs are constructed with a hooked style, and loops in areas with heavy foot traffic can break and pop up. Poor-quality fibers obviously break more frequently with less friction, but even the best-quality fibers can break with constant friction. It is extremely important to not use beater bar brush vacuums on hooked-style rugs or any rugs where poor-quality fibers have been used.

Plant fibers

Plant fibers, like jute, sisal, and nettle, do not have the longevity of wool, cotton, or real silk. These fibers also do not have flexibility and durability, so they will break and shed in higher traffic areas.

Jute sisal breaking and shedding.

New sisal jute rug with breaks.

These fibers splinter and fray in the process of creating braids, basket weaves, or large knots used in the typical styles of these rugs. The fibers have a texture of straw, and they snap and break easily in traffic areas.

Use a horse hair brush to loosen up small pieces and then follow up with a hand vacuum tool to help pick up the tiny broken pieces. Using an upright beater bar vacuum can sometimes cause too much damage to these rugs.

These are rugs that will shed and wear down consistently if under regular heavy foot traffic. It is important to rotate them to even out the wear and shedding.

Artificial silk

Viscose and all its fake silk derivatives (e.g., bamboo silk, banana silk) are the weakest fibers in the rug world today. They are chemically processed wood pulp and cotton waste byproducts, so they are essentially pressed, high-gloss paper. This means that, of all the fibers out there, these are the most likely to shed and have fiber pulls. These rugs, usually in the higher-traffic areas, look like they have cat pulls when the fibers break. You can easily pull these strands apart because they have no strength.

Shedding viscose rug.

Another negative of these fibers is that, when wet from a spill, just like paper they easily stain and can turn to “mush” if not cleaned up immediately. Plain water spills can sometimes permanently damage the texture and shine on viscose rugs.

Viscose rugs will shed continually and are considered “disposable,” decorative rugs because of these problems. One tip to help protect viscose rugs is to have fiber protector applied to them when brand new to help boost repellency of any spills and prevent customers from having to buy another rug when the first spill happens. Protector will not bulletproof the rug, but it will help lessen the extent of the damage.

These rugs are also easily damaged by most durable vacuum cleaners. A better choice is a light-weight cordless vacuum to help pick up and remove surface dirt and grit without tearing apart the rug fibers. Artificial silk fibers have no ability to hide soil, so they dirty quickly and show it. Vacuuming should happen as often as the counters and floors need to be wiped off and swept up.

With this overview on the most common shedding scenarios, cleaners can give their clients the best advice on how to minimize the problem or recommend they buy a better-quality rug.

Lisa Wagner is a second-generation rug care expert, NIRC Certified Rug Specialist, and owner of K. Blatchford’s San Diego Rug Cleaning Company. For online rug course and training event details, visit
.

The post Shedding Rugs: What You Need to Know appeared first on Cleanfax.

“Good morning! Thank you for calling Premier Carpet Cleaning. This is Bob, how may I help you?” Who knows what you might have been doing when you answered the business phone. You might have been in the middle of a cleaning job or sitting in your office reading the latest issue of Cleanfax. But the instant you picked up the phone, you were launched smack dab into your prospective customer’s concluding sales process. One thing a customer is sure to want before booking your services is for you to quote the job.

The customer’s process might have been going on for hours, if not days or weeks, before you were pulled in. This consumer has realized their need for the service you provide and spent time researching which company would be the best. They may have found you by asking for recommendations, searching the internet, or finding one of your ads. They are now ready to act and have chosen, from among many choices, the company they feel is most likely to meet their needs. Their objective is to get a price and establish a date to get the work completed.

Your job is to immediately get caught up with the consumer’s search process and help them get onto your schedule book. In most cases, the sales job already has been completed. You only need to confirm their positive assumptions about your company, quote the job, and schedule the service. This should be a relatively easy task to do.

In my August 2018 Cleanfax article, I laid out the basic strategies for effective sales calls. In the September issue, I suggested specific lines to use in order to help the customer through the scheduling process. In this third article in the series, I would like to discuss the pros and cons of going out in person to quote the job, room pricing for advertising, scheduling a window-of-time arrival, and confirming the job.

Phone versus in-person quotes

For both the company and the consumer, quoting jobs over the phone is the most efficient way to provide a job estimate.

For many consumers, especially those who are event motivated, setting up a separate appointment just to get a price for a cleaning job is not an acceptable option. If they hear this is required, these people will just move on to the next company on their list of options.

Repeat and referral customers are generally quite satisfied to get an estimate over the phone. Either they already have trust based on your past work or they feel confident in a recommendation they received.

Using incentive “room pricing” in advertising, such as three rooms for $139, generally makes it easy enough for consumers to calculate on their own what the cost of the job will be. The ensuing phone call then only needs to deal with scheduling.

There are times, though, when going out to quote the job in person is preferred. Unusually large or complex jobs that cannot be easily described over the phone almost always require an on-location appointment to determine an accurate price quote. Also complex add-on services such as delicate upholstery cleaning may require a visual appraisal to price accurately.

Room pricing for advertising

Incentive discounts that offer a single price for a set number of rooms cleaned can greatly streamline the scheduling process for new customers. For example, offering three rooms for $139 gives prospective consumers a very good idea of what it will cost to have their cleaning job done. Assuming the supporting information about the company, either with the ad or on the website, is adequate, there is little left to discuss other than finding a cleaning date.

Incentive discount room pricing can be used for companies that traditionally charge by the room size. The ad can state, “Additional rooms are priced at the normal square foot rates of…” You might also consider limiting the size of the room by stating, “All rooms over 200 square feet count as two rooms.”

It’s a good idea to include on the invoice the regular price of the discounted rooms. This will let the customer know what to expect for pricing the next time they call.

Window-of-time arrival

Home service companies are not expected to arrive at job locations at specific set times, but rather within a window of time. I have found that scheduling the first appointment with a 30 minute window, such as between 8:30 and 9:00 in the morning, works well. All appointments after that I schedule with a two-hour window. It was a rare day that I was not able to arrive on time for all of my appointments. I found it helpful to emphasize to customers that I would be arriving within a window of time. I would say, “I will be arriving sometime between 1:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon.”

Occasionally a consumer would ask if I could be more specific. This was usually the case when a consumer was coming from work to specifically let me in. I was almost always able to meet the customer’s need by offering to call 30 minutes prior to my expected arrival time.

Confirmation notifications

It is now expected courtesy to immediately send a confirmation of the scheduled appointment date along with any pre-arrival information that may be helpful to the consumer. This can be delivered via text or email. This should contain the date and time of the job, work to be performed, and the estimated price. This also provides another opportunity to again note the technician will be arriving within a window of time.

If the job has been scheduled more than two days in advance, a reminder confirmation should also be sent the day prior to the scheduled cleaning date. This reminder assures the consumer that you have not forgotten the appointment and also helps to prevent customer no-shows.

Making the most from sales calls

Remember the critical point that, by the time the consumer actually calls your company, the decision to schedule the job with you is almost already made. Your job is to confirm that the consumers’ decision was good, quote the job, and help them get onto your schedule.

Good responses to prospective customer calls don’t just happen naturally. They require thought, strategy, and practice. Review the concepts, ideas, and scripts covered in this series of three articles to make the most of the vital process of making a good first impression and booking the job.

Steve Marsh is a 40-year veteran of the carpet cleaning industry, an instructor, and a Senior Carpet Inspector. He helps home-service companies quickly establish profitable clienteles and then progress to serving higher-quality customers. To help companies achieve these goals, Marsh created the step-by-step programs Single Truck Success and Be Competition Free. For more information, visit .

The post Pricing the Job appeared first on Cleanfax.

While traditional restoration work tends to be about extraction and drying, others engage in various cleaning tasks. One of those tasks is media blasting.

For years now, I’ve been involved with the manufacturing, distributing, and servicing of media blasting equipment, and I’ve seen a lot of innovation in this special niche of the industry.

Media blasting is seemingly simple. You propel particles of gritty, abrasive material with compressed air against a surface to clean, de-paint, and otherwise finish it. This simple task has long been known as “sand blasting.” The problems people have had with sand blasting don’t come from the “blasting” part, but rather, the “sand.”

Silica sand, and its associated human illness known as silicosis, has long been considered hazardous. Crystalline silica dust has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a human lung carcinogen. In reaction to the greater awareness of its dangers, OSHA has targeted silica sand blasting as a primary, yet preventable, source for silicosis disease.

But all these troubles have helped to pave the way to innovation for the media blasting industry.

Alternative media

Image 1: Media blasting proponents have found walnut shell works well as an alternative media.

It’s easy to see why sand blasting has lost its appeal for most contractors. Over the years, many contractors moved away from a “sand for every application” mentality. But the switch to alternative media was not as easy as turning a valve handle on a blast unit. Sand, as it happens, is surprisingly cheap.

The new demand was for the right media for the right application. Walnut shell was selected for taking paint off brick or wood, for instance, to maximize the output of higher cost media — while at the same time minimizing damage to the substrate, a benefit that reduced the impact of the costlier materials (Image 1).

Image 2: Soda blasting has found wide success since its introduction.

More media began to surface in the market place — including oddballs like wheat starch and sponge media. These had some niche applications like stripping aircraft frames, for example, but the wide appeal and viable applications were lacking.

Some media like baking soda sounded odd but had an instant appeal with the restoration and cleaning crowd. Fast, effective stripping with little (or no) damage to most building materials and a chemical ability to deodorize soot- and fire-damaged structures made it cost effective and profitable. This example of a media-to-application coupling is still going strong today (Image 2).

Use scenario

A friend called me recently to ask if I recalled a demonstration we did together a few years ago. We had stripped pavement marking paint off a concrete curb in an upscale and very well-maintained mobile home park. We used different dry media including baking soda, walnut shell, glass, and other crystalline, silica-free alternatives.

Ultimately, all the media removed the marking paint. Some damaged the surface a little less (some a little more), but all were “acceptable.” At that time, the choice of the correct medium wasn’t based on availability, strip-rate, or even the overall cost of the process. The decision was based more on the impact to the surrounding neighborhood. Since “containment” of the dust from the blasting was not practicable, the decision of which media to use came down to the least dust-producing method, rather than the most productive or cost efficient.

My friend went on to question me about a similar, current application he was taking on. A huge online retailer leased properties from a property manager with whom he consults on paving and concrete projects. This retailer had painted everything in the parking lots, warehouse area, and more.

“This is like that curb paint on steroids!” he said, and the next tenant wanted it gone.

Vapor blasting

Image 3: Vapor blasting causes virtually no dust, making it popular.

Luckily the media blasting market has matured and developed a process known as vapor blasting. Using a slurry of blast media mixed with water, these blast systems are virtually dustless in their application (Image 3). The evolution to a low- or no-dust system was, of course, heralded by the popularity of dry ice blasting, but new systems eliminate the extremes in cost and logistics of dry ice, as well as the limitations of the medium (i.e., its poor stripping ability).

Image 4: Vapor blasting uses these easily accessible blast media.

Further, unlike dry ice blasting, the vapor blasting process uses commonly available, shelf-stable blast media like baking soda, walnut shell, crushed (recycled) glass, olivine, and garnet (Image 4) for a wide range of cleaning and stripping applications with just a minimal amount of water — about 8-12 gallons per hour.

A lot has changed in the blasting world over the last decade. When the analysis is complete, however, the message is the same — using the right tool for the application is always a great idea and ever-changing.

Wayne Lawrence has served the abrasive blasting industry since 1995. He is currently in charge at ESCA Blast Great Lakes and is involved with the manufacture, distribution, and service of media blasting equipment, dry ice and baking soda equipment, vapor blasting, and traditional media blasting equipment and supplies. For more information regarding media blasting, contact him at 317-442-3507.

The post Beyond Drying appeared first on Cleanfax.

During the summer of 2012, after several rounds of intense interviews, I accepted an offer to work for Violand Management Associates. My first day, I cleaned up best I could, put on a brand-new set of clothes, and headed off to learn what I would do for the rest of my career. Since I was working for a company that helps other companies grow, in part by training and developing top talent, I was confident I would be quickly engrossed in a training program focused on the ideas and concepts needed to fast track me to success.

I sat down with my new co-workers and the boss, convinced I was about to have my mind blown through world-class, on-the-job education.

The first training I received was how to make a decent pot of coffee.

Six years later, I understand why coffee making was the initial training I received.

The first person to show up to the office in the morning is expected to make the first pot of coffee for everyone. The coffee is supposed to taste the same way, every time, to the standard designated by the owner. That pot of coffee sets the bar for every person, every day. If something as simple as coffee is not consistently done correctly, what then becomes the expectation for everything else throughout the day? Everyone in our company knows this expectation and its importance.

Every employee hired after me who works in the office starts with the same lesson and is given the same expectation and training concerning the consistently perfect pot of coffee.

Systemization

We all know training is important, and it goes far beyond office beverages. I believe the single most important reason for training is to provide employees with the education and tools needed to perform at or above the expectations set by the company leadership and those standards set by the industry.

To do so, companies must establish their own systematic onboarding and development program and hold everyone accountable to the opportunity for improvement. Notice I said opportunity. Because if the manager or employee is not in the mindset of desiring constant self-improvement, there is no need for future employment. Assuming self-improvement is important, let’s continue.

Developing

The first step in an onboarding and development program is to create expectations and outline responsibilities for every position in the company. Identify both the technical and professional requirements needed for each employee to perform at an acceptable level.

Do you have written job descriptions for every position? Do you routinely communicate this information to everyone in the company so there is a full understanding of each person’s role? If the answer is no, stop and create them now. You cannot create a training program for a job that is not clearly defined. If the answer is yes, let’s continue.

Outsourced training

Take a look at the technical and professional requirements of each person’s role: Have you identified which are industry standards versus company standards? Knowing this, we can then decide which part of the training can be done in house and which require outside help.

In-house training differs depending on the size of the company. Larger companies may have designated human resources reps who provide their training, while smaller companies lean on individuals to piece it together. The core of any in-house training should be giving employees insight into what is expected of them and how these expectations support your company’s mission and vision. Many times, this training will include items specific to your company and its culture. It is during this time that company standards should be discussed and agreed upon.

Outsourced training is typically best for learning industry standards, earning certifications, and acquiring information your company does not have the resources to provide.

When choosing who to use for a training program, I suggest leaning on your industry networks and connections to find how certain classes and certifications have been used to achieve improvement in other companies.

Delivery

There are many factors to consider when deciding how a training program should be delivered. A recent study conducted by Axonify, an online training company, found the following:

• 90 percent of respondents said training needs to be easy to complete and understand.
• 87 percent of respondents said training needs to be available anytime, anywhere they need it, in order to do their jobs.
• 85 percent of respondents said training needs to be engaging and fun.
• 85 percent of respondents said training needs to be personalized to them.

So that we all understand this, those receiving the training prefer it to be easy, available anytime and anywhere, fun, and personalized for them to want to take it. Seriously? It sounds like they would also like to eat ice cream and pet puppies while being trained. In this case, it seems to me the wrong people are setting the expectations. It’s your company’s job to deliver the best training program, regardless of its fun factor.

Employee understanding

My advice is to demonstrate to your employees how training will help them further their abilities and advance their careers as well as how it aligns with their job descriptions to make their jobs easier to perform. Explain why continual learning and self-improvement are core values within your company. Have employees participate in writing their individual employee development plans every year. Have them explain why they want to learn more about certain subjects, how it will help them perform better in their jobs, and how achieving this training will help them move the company closer to specific business objectives and goals. Give employees a budget and have them explore options for their desired training. Challenge them. When employees have skin in the game, they are more likely to be engaged in the training program and demonstrate what they learn.

If you want to make training fun, as the survey says people desire, work with them to explore not only what they need to be trained on, but also the training they can get once they meet certain requirements. Show them how they can be rewarded for going above and beyond by having the opportunity to explore areas that are exciting to them. This will open a whole new world of possibilities to them and allow you to find out a little more about who they aspire to be and their long-term plans with your company.

One more tip: Acknowledge your employees publicly when they complete a training class. It shows everyone that training is important to leadership and reinforces its importance within the company.

Something scary also came out of the survey mentioned above: 30 percent of respondents said they have never received any training on the job they currently have. Not only is this alarming, but imagine how much more effectively they could perform if they were trained.

Once businesses and employees understand expectations, an employee development training program can be designed and implemented. The result of the training should be consistent and competent performance at every level — even if it starts with something as commonplace as the day’s first pot of coffee.

Jeff Jones is the director of sales and marketing for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries. Jones has a wide range of experience in professional sales and marketing involving all levels of decision makers. Through VMA, he works with companies to find the right mix of programs and services to help them develop their people and their profits. To reach him, visit Violand.com, or call (800) 360-3513.

The post Successful Training Expectations Begin With Coffee appeared first on Cleanfax.

Math and science have always been necessary to one another. Science evaluates and defines basic principles in the world that we live in. Math quantifies these differences. All cleaning product formulas use various ingredients at different percentages. Ingredients have different specific gravity for liquids or bulk density for powders. Solvents weigh less than water. Liquid acids and alkalines weigh more than water. Powders are absorbed into water, increasing the weight more than the volume. Some powders weigh more than other powders even when the volume is the same.

Recommended dilutions are determined by the concentration of the cleaning product formulas. Ready-to-use gallon costs are determined by the dilution and not the cost of the concentrate. There are many lab tests that also can quantify performance differences between formulas. Generally, in the field, the diluted solutions just have to pass the eye test. In short, math determines the proper dilution and the performance of that dilution.

The amount of solids in any formula determines its dilution and performance. The type of solid also determines its dilution and performance. Some ingredients do a lot more with less. This principle is seen with extraction rinses. Basically, these formulas are comprised of surfactants and builders, acidic or alkaline. Typical dilutions are 1 to 320 for liquids and 1 to 640 for powders. Solvents, hydrogen peroxide, encapsulants, and fluorochemicals are not included in extraction rinses, as they provide almost no visible performance benefits at rinse dilutions.

Different formula types will have different weights. Solvent-based formulas will weigh as little as odorless mineral spirits’ 6.33 pounds per gallon and as high as glycol ether DB’s 7.93 pounds per gallon. The weight of a solvent-based formula is not usually an indication of quality, but rather the selection of solvents. Some solvents, like d’limonene, are more expensive and more valued. D’limonene weighs 7.18 pounds per gallon, and the closer a formula’s weight is to 7.18 pounds per gallon, generally the higher percentage of d’limonene in comparison with similar solvents that are used in competitive formulas.

Some types of water-based formulas will weigh more if they have more solids, as they typically use a combination of solvents, surfactants, and builders. My company makes two carpet presprays with similar ingredients at different concentrations. One formula weighs 8.64 pounds per gallon and is diluted at 1 to 8, while the other formula weighs 9.41 pounds per gallon and is diluted at 1 to 32. Interestingly, when water (8.33 pounds per gallon) is factored into the weight at a ready-to-use dilution, they both weigh 8.36 pounds per ready-to-use gallon.

This is where it gets interesting. Chemical cost is only one variable. Packaging, labor, overhead, and shipping are the same costs despite the concentration of the chemical. The product with the 1 to 8 dilution has a list price of $19.33 and a ready-to-use gallon cost of $2.15. The product with the 1 to 32 dilution has a list price of $39.73 and a ready-to-use gallon cost of $1.20. The product with less concentration costs 1.8 times more in the ready-to-use concentration than the more concentrated product. The reason is that the less-concentrated formula has one chemical cost, but the other costs are four times higher than the more concentrated chemical. In short, the more concentrated the product you buy, the less packaging, labor, overhead, and shipping costs.

There are a few lab tests that can quantify different variables of product performance. The best available are the tests developed by the Carpet and Rug Institute. They list the variables of soil removal, resoiling, residual moisture, changes in surface appearance, colorfastness, pH, and optical brighteners. There also are some standardized tests for protectors regarding soil resistance, stain resistance, water repellency, and oil repellency.

Field tests vary by cleaner. The best field tests are those with a side-by-side cleaning evaluation of two different products. If this is repeated several times, then the cleaner generally can conclude which product performs better. Some other variables to consider are:

• Foam levels,
• Resoiling tendencies,
• Personal safety of ready-to-use dilutions,
• The “green”/“eco-friendly” status of the product,
• The quality of the fragrance,
• Product consistency from batch to batch,
• The ease of dissolving when using powders,
• Local accessibility,
• Product pH,
• Cloud point,
• Regulatory compliance, including SDS,
• Quality of label instructions,
• Technical support of product,
• Available training,
• Presence of corrosion inhibitors,
• Presence of stabilizers,
• Evidence of innovation,
• Concentration of product.

Math, when appropriately utilized, can provide facts to add logic to balance emotion, resulting in better selection of cleaning product formulas. The easiest way to quantify cleaning tests is to compare products on a ready-to-use basis in terms of cost.

Earlier in this article, one of the products had a $2.15 ready-to-use gallon cost. If you diluted the other product at 1 to 18 instead of 1 to 32, then you would have the same $2.15 ready-to-use gallon cost.  Conversely, you could dilute the product designed for 1 to 8 dilution at a 1 to 16 dilution to match the $1.20 per ready-to-use gallon cost of the more concentrated formula. A side-by-side comparison of these two products would readily reveal that the concentrated product was the best cleaner.

In short, let math and side-by-side testing provide a quantitative basis for any important product decisions that you need to make.

Tom Forsythe has worked for Bridgepoint Systems for 20 years and has developed more than 200 chemical products.

The post Math Principles Essential to the Science of Cleaning appeared first on Cleanfax.

When nature unleashes historic rage on our civilization, the restoration community mounts an unbelievable effort to preserve, stabilize, and ultimately restore billions of dollars of infrastructure, property, and life in general. The calling is heard by a unique subset of restoration professionals: catastrophic loss response providers. These seasoned, veteran contractors have become accustomed to uprooting their lives on a moment’s notice, literally leaving their families and homes in the rear-view mirror for weeks and months on end. They abandon the normal, daily regimen and dive headfirst into a world of slightly organized chaos where expectations, demand, production, and exposure are highly escalated.

Many in the water damage restoration industry have considered joining the effort in the aftermath of a CAT event. The sheer volume of potential work is an enticing proposition. Walking in blind, however, has been the death of many restoration firms. Roughly half of contractors that participated in CAT events say they wish they never had.

That’s because there are a tremendous number of complications associated with catastrophic loss response, many of which simply do not occur when working typical projects. These can include establishing and managing a base of operations, financial burdens from over extension, and the logistics of remote mobilization. Identifying and maintaining adequate infrastructure and resources in the wake of a catastrophe is an art in and of itself.

Likely one of the greatest complexities, however, is the management of people resources to do the work. Is your staff ready to leave their homes and families behind for weeks or months on end? How will you manage morale, housing, food, and the other basic needs to keep your team safe, healthy, and engaged?

Take the great north Texas freeze of 1990 as an example. The call came in just before Christmas that year, requiring those that responded to completely abandon the holiday, and a drive home for the holidays suddenly became several weeks away from home. These events aren’t planned, and it will be upsetting to many that are asked to mobilize. Anniversaries, birthdays, holidays — significant events in personal lives will oftentimes be missed.

These challenges make performing in a CAT environment difficult. Many also create risk to the contractor’s business financial health. Especially when you consider that pulling significant resources from the home market can leave the base business vulnerable and may cause regular clients to use competitor businesses. They may find good service with your competition, and you will have lost them as clients.

So, how do those that deal in this space do so successfully? First and foremost, planning is key. Each and every CAT event is unique and will require specific preparation. Hurricanes, major freezes, earthquakes, regional fires, tornadoes, heavy rain, rising water, and flooding — some will impact area infrastructure and eliminate basic services like restaurants, hotels, etc. Some will not. Decide which types of events you will respond to and which you will not based on their unique requirements.

Investment must be made into the necessary infrastructure ahead of time, and relationships with suppliers of temporary labor, equipment, and other resources must be vetted and locked down. Consider utilizing those resources at some interval within the normal business. This will allow you to maintain the relationship and manage through the logistics and ensure the process will flow properly when it’s “go time” for a catastrophic loss response.

The list of resources to plan for is extensive. Take any given project in your local market and think through each step of the workflow.

• What is required to complete each task?
• How many people will you need and at what skill level?
• What equipment will you need and how much power?

Document every asset that is required to complete the step, and then solve how you would supply that asset away from your home market. Resources to plan for start with people.

• Who is ready and willing?
• Will you compensate or bonus them differently for their work?
• How will you supplement your staff to meet the needed capacity?
• Where will you source equipment? How will you power it?

You won’t have house power in most cases, and fuel will be a challenge; where will you source it?

Lastly, look to the legal risks to your business. Licensing requirements, mold regulations, contract structure requirements, and other legal obligations should be reviewed by a business attorney familiar with the region you plan to respond to. Decide where you’ll respond and secure the legal instruments and licensing necessary for that area.

Then, work to presell contracts whenever possible in your target markets. Consider only responding if you can secure an anchor project: A secured contract where you know you have the work when you arrive. This may require a dedicated resource to presell contracts in the off season or to send as initial boots on the ground in the onset of the event. In either case, having an anchor project with a secure contract will alleviate much of the potential financial risk. Once you secure an anchor project you can do “missionary” projects in the area for additional work. Your initial mobilization costs will be your highest ones.

Just because the work is there doesn’t mean you want to take it either. Look for the red flags and be willing to turn down work. Look for customer issues, such as difficult or impossible expectations or unrealistically demanding timelines. Look for financial flags. Building issues are also a major red flag. Do an inspection before entering a contractual obligation. Does the building have signs of chronic water, contamination, or environmental issues that can lead to significant complications and risk? How responsive is the customer to their financial obligations within your contract, and what limitations are they suggesting or imposing?

Cash flow becomes a tremendous monster to manage in a catastrophic loss response and is one of the leading reasons many who make the attempt end up failing as a business. At the end of the day, your response must be funded, and you must have a plan to manage an extended balance on accounts receivable. Ensure your credit lines and cash reserves are healthy and that your systems to secure responsibility for payment are structured properly.

Many go into an event with a residential mentality wherein the insurer is the customer. If you’re taking on commercial work in a CAT event, you must be very clear who the customer is and get a contract. Consider running a credit report on the customer, especially for larger projects, and require stage payments to manage cash and exposure.

Then, when you do respond, be prepared to learn from the experience. It will be critical to be honest with your self-assessment. A catastrophic loss response “post mortem” at the end of a CAT season is crucial: What did we do well? What did we do not so well? Then use the answers to those questions to inform preparation for the next season.

Mickey Lee, WLS, CSDS, has over 35 years of experience in construction, structural drying, and restoration services. In addition to serving as chairman of the ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide, Fourth Edition, consensus body, he also served on the original advisory committee of RIA’s Water Loss Specialist certification program. His career has taken him to nearly 40 major catastrophe and multiple large-loss operations throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.

Brandon Burton is vice president of technical applications for Next Gear Solutions. He has spent more than 22 years working in technical roles within the restoration industry. He served as the ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide chapter chair as well as an RIA restoration council member.

The post The Dark Secrets of Catastrophic Loss Response appeared first on Cleanfax.

About this report: The data in the 2018 Carpet Cleaning Benchmarking Survey Report is based on results from carpet cleaning contractors responding to invitations for this survey. Results are not necessarily based on audited financial statements. Made possible with support from Legend Brands.

With so many in supervisory roles, the usual big challenges were reported: Dishonest competition, finding quality employees and customers, etc. But a rising concern is hard floors replacing carpet.

Most respondents focus squarely on floor care, though some provide a mix of services.

Despite a continued rise in franchising among restoration companies (up to 35% in our July 2018 survey), franchising among carpet cleaners continue to fall (down 2% from last year).

More than three quarters of respondents receive the majority of their work from residential customers, perhaps adding to the frequently lamented trouble “finding and retaining customers. “

Location matters: In the Northeast, 21-25% is most common; in the west, more than 50% is most common.

This year saw a steep rise in hard floor and water damage restoration subcontracting, with a decrease in self-offering.

Roughly 40% clean area rugs for less than $1 per square foot.

Average price rose slightly in 2018, hopefully pointing toward a larger trend.

Close to half charge more than $100 on average to clean a sofa.

More than a quarter of cleaning companies report buying supplies online more than 70% of the time.

Wages Paid per Hour by Region

Southern wages, which were the lowest in 2017, rose both in starting and average categories this year. Starting salary in the West rose as well, while the average wage stayed the same, ultimately matching the starting salary, suggesting few raises among area workers or short tenures.

The post 2018 Carpet Cleaning Benchmarking Survey Report appeared first on Cleanfax.