He’s heard more than a few horror stories of cleaning catastrophes involving costly stuff ups with carpets when stain removal attempts have gone horribly wrong.
With more than 30 years’ industry experience, there’s not much Charlie Lodge doesn’t know about carpet care. He’s a master technician and a certified Instructor for the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification.
Charlie shared his knowledge with Crest business owners attending an upskilling course in carpet care.
Over the two-day course, held in Christchurch, he took the six participants through the skills they require to clean a wide of range of carpet types and floor coverings. Health and safety, different cleaning techniques and stain removal, were among the topics covered.
He also taught them how to correctly identify different fibres in carpets so they know what to look out for and to avoid any problems when removing stains from carpets and upholstery.
“You’ve got to know how to test for colour fastness and understand about not leaving any chemical residue in the upholstery as well,” says Charlie.
“I’ve seen a few horror stories in my time. I’ve seen people bleach out nylon carpets by putting chlorine bleach on them. There is a lot that can go wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing when cleaning carpets.”
Also at the training event was Adam Hodge, CEO of the Master Cleaners Training Institute (MCTI). All CrestClean personnel have undertaken full training in commercial cleaning from MCTI before they are selected to become carpet care specialists.
“Carpet care is a very specialist role as we know the consequences of getting it wrong can be quite severe,” says Adam.
“Gone are the days when all carpets were made of wool carpets. With the introduction of new fabrics and fibres every year the industry is continually changing.
“We need to be regularly upskilling our people so they have the most up-to-date knowledge on carpet care.”
CrestClean’s Christchurch North Regional Manager Yasa Panagoda says the company now has four carpet care teams based in the city.
“The upskilling course means our customers can be assured their carpet care requirements are in safe hands. We are seeing a marked increase in enquires from customers about carpet care.”
