pre vac, do you do it everytime? or not at all?

how do you guys feel about the pre vac and be completely honest.  

We stopped doing it for several reasons,  none of which have to do with banging out jobs as fast as possible.  

About 6 months ago we changed the way we prep the customer on what needs to be done and its working so good I dont think I will go back.

we ask them to have all the areas,  "cleared and ready to go"     this means everything out except the larger furniture and we ask them to give it a vacuum before we come if it has been a little while since the last time.     many of them have weekly house cleaners so the vacuuming is always done once a week,  these obviously are no problem.  

the others that dont so far have had no problem with them giving it a quick vacuum before we come,    a few have asked if we do it or if they should...   and 1 so far has said the last company did it for us.      our response is always the same..    we dont run vacuums anymore inside our customers homes because we dont want to spread fleas,  hair,  etc from other peoples homes,    our steam cleaning equipment is self sterilizing which is our main concern when coming to clean your carpets,  sterilization.    

havent had a customer yet in over 300 say anything negative about it,   most of them agree and think it makes sense.    

so what do you guys think?       or better yet,     if you were not in this business and were calling a carpet cleaner out to your house,     would you want stanley steemer using a vacuum on your carpet? be honest,          we all know that no matter what anyone says our vacuums get used on piss carpet,   nasty homes,   etc

we tried for a long time to have 1 dirty house vacuum and one newer clean one....   problem is clean people have hairy dogs too

I have come around to viewing this issue like going to the dentist, you always brush your teeth first even though you are going in for a cleaning. Is it that different from cleaning a home?

I like your sanitary reasoning and it makes sense. I just started charging extra for the vacuum and that ended that step in my cleaning process pretty darn quickly. Let's face it, how many didn't already vacuum before you arrived if for no other reason than to avoid embarrassment?

I used to be a fanatic about it and will still carry one in the van for those houses that need it, but it is getting rarer every day.

There is just one exception to the above rule, I always bring in a small hand vac to clean out the floor registers...especially in the kitchen. Kids will always toss crayons, vegetables, chips, etc. in those registers and they often create a subtle odor that permeates the home.

You show up and suck that junk out and you will be a hero as the owner stands there shocked at what you discovered. I used to throw peas and lima beans in those vents as a kid....always refused to eat them.

Most of the time but it sure is a time saver when the do a good job and you don't have to.

Seems like there's missing choice here?.......Like "Vac as/when needed", as most do need it wither just done by the customer or not.

The problem is with relining on the customer or house cleaning service is most of there vacuums are clogged (most women don't realize they need to be emptied and filters cleaned, very often, or simply don't do it which results in their vacuum sucking, in a bad way), or just they're crap vacuums and just not doing a sufficient job.......

In addition to that, a vacuum set to the right height is not easy to push across the carpet, and people like easy, so you will see a lot of them set too high to really be effective.

If you need proof of this, just use your good working vac on 10 jobs that they "just vacuumed", and see how many of them you get a ton of debris, pet hair, and silt out of! Most of the time it's like 7 or 8 out of 10!

Don't want to do that, too much work?...........then just look at their vacuum, it's usually pretty apparent by a quick look.

I know we are suppose to but it really depends on the job, my higher end clients pre vac before I get there, the apartments If it needs it due to debris just sitting on top of the carpet I just hook up my vac to my truck mount and vac/pre srub at the same time.
It turns a pos bissel into the vac from hell.

Vac when needed. Crb when really needed.

with a holed glide you really have to because it doesnt pick up anything

otherwise with a good amount of vac power and a good filter on the tm then either way I feel like everything is coming out just probably have to change your filter more often

if its really hairy or obviously has been a long time since a good vacuum then you have to of course

we tell them to give it a really good vacuum before we come.... so far it leaves it in a condition that doesnt really need to be pre vac'd..    Im sure at some point well come across a customer that has a clogged vac etc.      

Even when you vac with a nice vacuum youll always get more doing it a second time

I used to lose my tech for an hour while he vacuumed the large commercials due to popcorn and sunflower seeds that were everywhere.

I was finally able to convince the Building Manager to vacuum the building at the end of each day to prolonge the life of the carpet and make my cleaning more effective by preventing build-up.

Since then, I have a tech helping me with set-up instead which saves me both time and effort, so yes, I prefer to let the customer do the vacuuming.

The exception would be on homes with pets, ridding pet hair is beyond most cheap vacuums ability that you buy in box stores.

Im switching to a slot glide, for this reason,

I pre vac when it's clear that it has to be done, other wise No,

With VLM I always pre vac like a mad man.

I recall cleaning for a former VP of Hoover. He said he pre vaced with his Hoover I vaced with my Kirby and got more hair out. He vaced again and got more hair out. When it comes to pet hair you could never vac enough.

On large commercial having the staff pre vacuum is a negotiating point for me. They get a discounted price if the vacuum

I do not pre-vac all jobs- just those I have to. Rarely on wall to wall unless a pet hair situation. Most area rugs I do.

No vac in the van, so no pre vac.
I'm a hack.

if its golden retriever hair or really long dog hair I prefer crb over a vac anyways

Most of the time I use a good stiff broom along the edges and around door frames before vacuuming to not only kick debris out where it gets vacuumed up but also for heavy dust. Just running the vac hose along the wall often leaves heavy dust behind, tangled up in the carpet fiber. I then vacuum with an Oreck. I like the Oreck since it's light weight and does an excellent job. I also use a hole glide with slots cut on both ends to suck in anything left behind. I seldom run across a customer that does a thorough vacuuming.

I didn't realize how much easier it was to clean baseboards using a broom as opposed to wiping them down until I did it at my house

You mean you're not sposta spray the hell out of the baseboards with your Hydro Force to clean them while pre-spraying? :geek:

I actually know a guy that does this!

Now you know two guys who do it. Not all base boards. Just the white painted ones. Seem to have a lot of them over here. Always covered in dust and lizard crap.

if the customer has bad filtration lines and MDF baseboards we tell them they are out of luck

be careful with cheap new construction MDF baseboards,   they will swell up easily from a very little amount of moisture.       If you hydroforced them to try and clean the filtration you better get ready to do an insurance claim.

mdf is like cardboard, so cheap I cant believe they even use it for trim in a home.. I had some swell on me but luckily there was urine treatments going on and the areas were already bad.. really glad we learned that lesson without having to pay a penny.

Yea, that was a stupidly joke.

Everytime, all the time.... without exception!

I believe we are short changing our customers if we do not prevac. As mentioned in a previous post, a customers idea of vacuuming and our idea properly vacuuming can be two different things. We've been hired to clean their carpet. Removing as much dry soil from their carpet with a vacuum is easier than trying to remove it once the soil gets wet (Soil + Water = Mud).

Prevacuuming also gives me a chance to spot any areas beforehand that might need some extra attention.

Asking the customer to vacuum would be like taking your car to a detailing place and them telling you to wash your car before bringing it in.

If we ask the customers to vacuum, why stop there, set up the truckmount, crank it on, and hand the customer the wand!!! Geez guys, who's supposed to be the professional here!

Doing the extra things that others do not, separates us from the pack of bait and switch rug sucker hacks that unfortunately, outnumber the quality service professionals who take pride in their work.

Going on my 40th year in this business, I can't tell you how many times I've heard over the years how appreciative my customers have been by the fact that I prevac before cleaning, by saying "You know, you're the only one that has ever vacuumed before, i always wondered why the others never vacuumed and always asked me to do it, shouldn't that be part of the cleaning?"  

Guys, the customer doesn't always say what they are thinking. Don't make them question your service.... make them rely on it!

mark d. wrote:Everytime, all the time.... without exception!

I believe we are short changing our customers if we do not prevac. As mentioned in a previous post, a customers idea of vacuuming and our idea properly vacuuming can be two different things. We've been hired to clean their carpet. Removing as much dry soil from their carpet with a vacuum is easier than trying to remove it once the soil gets wet (Soil + Water = Mud).

Prevacuuming also gives me a chance to spot any areas beforehand that might need some extra attention.

Asking the customer to vacuum would be like taking your car to a detailing place and them telling you to wash your car before bringing it in.

If we ask the customers to vacuum, why stop there, set up the truckmount, crank it on, and hand the customer the wand!!! Geez guys, who's supposed to be the professional here!

Doing the extra things that others do not, separates us from the pack of bait and switch rug sucker hacks that unfortunately, outnumber the quality service professionals who take pride in their work.

Going on my 40th year in this business, I can't tell you how many times I've heard over the years how appreciative my customers have been by the fact that I prevac before cleaning, by saying "You know, you're the only one that has ever vacuumed before, i always wondered why the others never vacuumed and always asked me to do it, shouldn't that be part of the cleaning?"  

Guys, the customer doesn't always say what they are thinking. Don't make them question your service.... make them rely on it!

Thanks for the passionate response. I used to think and act that way as well, but I have also found that the customer doesn't always want the best clean possible, other wise they would stop shopping for the cheapest.

I used to do a full 7 step cleaning process and I was very proud of my quality, but I was also going broke and falling beyond the competition. In the end, the market dictated my system more than I dictated theirs.

Don't get me wrong, vacuuming is very important and sometimes darn right vital. Charge for it and see how many customers really value that step....when I started to, it was quickly lined off the quote. I will always vacuum on the jobs where it is vital to get good results, but otherwise, I let the customer dictate it.

The way I look at it, vacuuming does not take special equipment nor special skills so why would they want to pay $100 hour for me to vacuum? I let them pay for what they cannot do on their own instead. Just like I wouldn't hire a Master plumber to pour a bottle of draino in my sink....I would pay him if he had to tear into the system.

I would rather vacuum every job very slow and very throughly, but my market doesn't support it so I end up vacuuming for free and that is a huge lose of money on a daily basis....especially on commercial.

Case in point actually. I clean a lot of store fronts this time of year. When I started doing them, I would run a crb over it to loosen the fine silt and gravel and then slowly vacuum it up prior to hwe and finish with airpaths. It would take me 90 minutes for a simple store front that others used to clean in 20 minutes.

The store didn't care which cleaning they received, they just wanted it to "look better" each week and cut down on the ice melt residue. After freezing my butt off each night cleaning, I transformed into a more streamlined system that got it done at a lot faster....same price.

It just depends on your market and your over-head as to if vacuuming every job makes sense. If it does, awesome!! To get paid 100+ per hour to vacuum is one hell of a good deal.

ya but how many vacs do you have?    do you ever clean houses with pets?    

a good pre spray and powerful tm along with a quality no rush cleaning will remove everything from the carpet      

Im not saying dont pre vac when its been months since a vacuuming has been done,   but if they have house cleaners that do it weekly or its done fairly often then its fine

I dont want anyone using any vacuum in my house that has been all over town,   fleas,  bed bugs,  who knows what else.      Most (not all) carpet cleaners have a vacuum that has been used on someone elses dogs urine carpet.    

most carpet we clean these days is pretty low pile,   if its some thick nylon or really plush then the dirt hides deep..    I would say around here 80% of the carpet is really low flat pile.


If your using a portable,   or encap/vlm cleaning,   or a tm that isnt getting 15in of lift then you should probably vac everytime

high flow (10flow or above) steam cleaning on carpets that get vac'd pretty regularly and your fine in my opinion and Id prefer not to spread all the contaminants that vacs carry... those things are literally disgusting after theyve been used on 30-40 homes

ACpower1 wrote:  

a good pre spray and powerful tm along with a quality no rush cleaning will remove everything from the carpet      

There is many ways, it seems, to justify not needing to pre vac, but really only one way to respond to that.
FALSE!

i meant a carpet that gets vacuumed often, your right though but also you can always pull more even with a second steam cleaning