June 2014

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Features:

Turkoman Rugs The Cragside Carpet Waste Disposal Regulations

ŠGalleria by Brintons

June 2014

The official journal of the National Carpet Cleaners Association

Contents

Published monthly by:

03 From the Editor 04 Cleaning waste disposal regulations 06 NCCA membership - why it’s so good for your business 07 TrustMark - excellent ‘click through’ rates for members 08 Fibre identification 10 The successful drying of water damaged carpet 12 A guide to customer complaints (part five) 14 Who is responsible?

16 NCCA Felbrigg Hall and National Trust Conservation Studio tours 20 Turkoman rugs (part five) 22 Underfoot and overlooked, cleaning the Cragside carpet 25 Carpet pre-clean checklist 26 Wood floor repair 28 Misuse of NCCA logo by non-member companies Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Association or it’s officers or members. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the statements within this publication, we cannot accept responsibility for any errors, or omissions, or matters arising from any clerical or printing errors, and whilst every care is taken of manuscripts and photographs submitted to us, we can accept no responsibility for any loss or damage. ©Carpet Cleaners Association Ltd 1994 (Trading as the National Carpet Cleaners Association). No part of this Newsletter may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Carpet Cleaners Association Ltd.

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The National Carpet Cleaners Association, 62c London Road, Oadby, Leicestershire, LE2 5DH. Tel: 0116 271 9550 E-mail: admin@ncca.co.uk Website: www.ncca.co.uk

Editor Nicky Law Editor in Chief Keith Robertson Design Editor Nikki Law CEO/Technical Director Paul Pearce Vice President/Admin Director Nigel Lay Company Secretary/2nd Vice President/Training Director Glyn Charnock Membership Director Martin Johns Marketing Director Keith Robertson Corporate Director Allan Simmons Events Director Billy Russell Co-opted Franchise Director Denise Pitt www.facebook.com/NCCAFloorCare www.twitter.com/NCCA_floorcare_

CCC 2014 - just under three months to go!

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o you fancy taking a break from your busy schedule in September? Well… don't forget that the Carpet Cleaners Carnival (CCC) is running again this year, on 20th September.

Taking place at Wicksteed Park in Kettering, the event will include an exhibition with demonstrations of the latest industry products, together with seminars and various activities to run throughout the day.

We've already got some great exhibitors lined up this year, many of whom will be offering discounts on orders placed at the show. Signed up so far are: Dry Fusion, Cleaners Warehouse, Columbus Cleaning machines, Sebo, Chemspec Europe and Dri-Eaz Products, Alltec, GetBookedUp, Woolsafe, Prochem Europe and Chemspec Ltd, together with Kirsty's Kids, a charity run by NCCA member John Bryden… and that's just the start!

Unlike previous years, this year we are also holding a number of seminars to help you in your business. The topics arranged so far include: The Use of Bleaches in Carpet Cleaning (including demonstrations of oxidising and reducing bleaches), Marketing, General Equipment Maintenance and Carpet Repair. Further information on seminars will be included in a future edition of Newslink, so keep an eye out for this.

Along with the exhibition and seminars, the Carnival will feature children's entertainment and women's interest areas, providing attractions and activities for everyone in attendance. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the many features within Wicksteed's acres of beautiful parkland.

To find out more about Wicksteed Park visit: www.wicksteedpark.co.uk

In the March issue of Newslink we included our first four-page pull-outand-keep guide to CCC 2014. On the back page of the guide was a voucher Nicky Law Newslink Editor for collecting tokens for FREE ENTRY TO A £100 PRIZE DRAW which will take place at the Carnival. To get you started the first two tokens were fixed to the voucher and, since then, a further two tokens have appeared in Newslink each month. All you need to do is cut out all the tokens provided from the April issue of Newslink onward and place them on the voucher together with the first two, then bring your completed voucher with you on the day.

All tokens have been clearly numbered and you must gather all 10 to be eligible for the draw. If you are not in possession of all your Newslinks from March onwards, or you have all these editions but would prefer to keep them intact, please do not hesitate to contact me on: nicky@ncca.co.uk and I will email/post you the tokens you require.

Below are the NEXT two tokens to cut out and place on your voucher. The final two tokens will appear in a future issue of Newslink, so keep an eye out for these.

THE NEXT TWO TOKENS FOR YOUR PRIZE DRAW VOUCHER

WIN £100!

WIN £100!

A ALL NIIVV IZZE E RN AR C CA RI PR EP EE RE W FFR AW RA D DR

A ALL NIIVV IZZE E RN AR C CA RI PR EP EE RE W FFR AW RA D DR

TOKEN SEVEN

TOKEN EIGHT

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Cleaning waste disposal regulations

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e were recently contacted by NCCA members, Annie and Steve Pitts of All Seasons Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Specialists in Leicestershire, who asked us whether carpet cleaners with Truckmounts need a waste license.

Well, to my knowledge, we have never been asked this particular question before, although I do know that in the past we have been asked how to get rid of wastewater - a question that has previously been answered by local councils and water authorities.

In response to Annie and Steve's question, I decided to call two local authorities in my area and ask if there was any new legislation regarding carpet cleaners carrying wastewater from a site after cleaning. Unfortunately, however, I didn't manage to obtain a conclusive answer to this question as the information I received from each authority was different! On reporting this back to Lewis, in the NCCA office, he informed me that Annie had been back in touch and said she had contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They had advised her that a waste carrying license is required for carpet cleaning and that it is FREE to obtain.

I then contacted the EPA myself to clarify a couple of things and find out exactly how to acquire this license. I was told to register online and was informed that it was a very easy process.

A waste carrying license is something that ALL carpet cleaning companies need to have; if you don't register for a license you can be fined ÂŁ5000!

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Paul Pearce

All you need to do is go to: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/environmen t-agency and, once there, click on 'Business and commercial waste', then in the next menu click on 'Business and commercial waste' AGAIN, then click on 'Moving waste' and 'get a license to transport your own waste'. On the next page it will have a large green button with 'Start now' on it. Click on this to proceed.

On the next page you will be asked what type of business you are. You will need to choose the option that is relevant to you and then tick 'Waste from other businesses, organisations or households'.

Next you will be asked what kind of business you provide (the answer is quite obvious if you are a carpet cleaning business). You will then be asked if you deal with waste from demolition work. The answer would be 'No' unless you are moving rubble etc. Then you must click on the green 'Continue' button to 'register in the lower tier'. From here you will need to answer your company name etc.

The whole process is extremely simple (and won’t cost you anything). From start to finish it only took me ten minutes, including receiving my online certificate. I have been quite explicit in my instructions as I wanted give you as much of a head start as possible. Remember, if you don't register you could be fined. So, don't waste time (pardon the pun), get it done today.

I would like to finish off by saying 'thank-you' to Steve and Annie for bringing this matter to our attention and to the EPA for making this such a simple process.

NCCA membership - why it’s so good for your business Martin Johns (NCCA Membership Director)

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hen I joined the NCCA Board of Directors I was originally given the role of assistant to the Membership Director who, at the time, was Glyn Charnock.

Glyn now oversees training and I have completely taken over the role as NCCA Membership Director.

In recent years the procedure for application for membership has changed. In our efforts to raise industry standards even further, the exam sat by prospective members who have completed the Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning course is now harder than it was previously. Also, following the exam, we now assess the suitability of everyone who then applies for NCCA membership; the course tutor will pass on his comments regarding each candidate and I will then phone them to determine whether I feel their company is suited to joining the NCCA. We have all heard of the carpet cleaner who cleans carpets at ÂŁ20 per room without using a pre-spray or stain removal and, of course, never conducts a full carpet survey. Fortunately, however, all the membership applicants I have spoken to since becoming Membership Director seem to have a genuine desire to provide good customer service as well as go that 'extra mile' to stand out from the crowd.

Since engaging in my new role I have also spoken

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to many ex-NCCA members who had previously left the Association for various reasons (some due to financial hardship at the time and some who had felt their business was long-enough established not to need us any more), but subsequently decided to re-join. They all told me that they had come to realise that they had made a mistake in leaving the NCCA in the first place.

Every one of them said basically the same things; that without membership they generally found it harder to market their company, that they had underestimated the prestige which membership had provided for their business in obtaining and retaining customers (in particular potential new customers seeming less convinced of their ability to do a good job) and that they felt they no longer stood out from their competitors. They also said that they had missed the benefits they had received as members, such as the technical helpline, the monthly magazine and the support network.

As a carpet cleaner myself, I know from experience that NCCA membership really has benefited my business and, personally, I would not like to be without it.

See you all at the carnival this year!

TrustMark - excellent ‘click through’ rates for members Glyn Charnock

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he figures from the TrustMark website speak for themselves. In May - only our second month with the category of Carpet and Upholstery Cleaners up on the website - there were 5,123 clicks through to members' details. Yes, that's not a mistake… 5,123!

That's over 5,000 people that now know the NCCA exists 5,000 plus people who now know the NCCA is recognised by the government as THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR OUR INDUSTRY, and that NCCA members are experts who can be trusted.

This is fantastic public recognition for all our members, not just those who have joined TrustMark. Only NCCA members can join TrustMark, any competition has been locked out of the Carpet & Upholstery category.

We currently have 31 TrustMark members, so on average each member's details will have been viewed 165 times via the TrustMark website in May. It is difficult for us to obtain information on how much business members have gained through TrustMark, but I would expect that most have had their membership fees back already.

As I said last month, TrustMark have two PR companies promoting them to the public, and the number of clicks through to members' details has increased over 60% year on year. This is fantastic for us, as the NCCA would never be able to fund

promotions of this magnitude.

Other 'trusted trader' schemes like Rated People and Checkatrade actually DON'T provide any protection for consumers. Any untrained, uninsured carpet cleaner can join.

These schemes are having to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on TV advertising to promote themselves. Guess who pays for this? Yes, the traders who join.

Membership of these schemes can cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds a year. TrustMark is just £150 + VAT a year. That's just £3 a week!

Consumers consider revues and feedback to be very important in choosing a tradesman, so TrustMark are introducing a consumer feedback system in September which will further promote members.

Another advantage of achieving Scheme Operator for the NCCA is that we are now kept informed of changes to government policies and legislation, first hand, from the TrustMark Board.

This may not sound very exciting, but it has already enabled us to update the NCCA Code of Practice with changes to the Consumer Protection Regulations which came in to force on the 13th June. The advice we supply to our members is more up to date than that provided by my local Trading Standards office!

For information on how to apply for TrustMark membership, please contact the NCCA office.

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Fibre identification

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Paul Pearce

nfortunately some professional cleaners cotton and rayon blend can be made to look do not take the time to go through the exactly like silk. Nylon and polypropylene are also various necessary tests to identify very difficult to distinguish in bulky weaves.

Burn Testing fabrics prior to upholstery cleaning. However, it is hugely important to know as much as you can This is more accurate than visual testing, but can about the fibre content to help you in choosing still be tricky. Blended fabrics, which most fabrics the best techniques, chemicals and temperature are, can present conflicting information during ranges to use. testing. Although the burn Over the years, experience test is fairly simple, and is will allow you to identify the most commonly used many fibres and fabric test for on-location cleaning, construction techniques by it does rely on an individual's sight but, be warned, even sense of sight and smell the 'Old Hands' that have which can vary and may lead been around forever can be to mistakes. fooled.

The equipment you need to Visual Identification carry out a burn test includes the following: This is the least accurate Some fabrics, such as wool, are easy to identify visually once you’ve had some experience method and the one that is ŸSmall scissors - To clip a yarn sample from an most likely to fool you. For inconspicuous place, usually from inside the example, acrylic is manufactured to look like wool, cushion, where you should find a selvedge edge however acrylic fibres can also be manufactured in along the zip area. a velour finish and so could be confused with cotton velvet or perhaps chenille. Generally, it is ŸTweezers or pliers - To hold the fibre while burning (the smell of burning skin can confuse easier to visually identify a fibre after a problem your results!). has surfaced. Then, of course, you have a rayon velvet or velour, which crushes with use and even ŸAshtray or comparable tool - For containing ash. worse things happen when you wet clean it. Some ŸButane lighter - Use of this type of lighter is recommended as it is odourless. Matches fabrics are easy to identify visually once you've produce the smell of sulphur and burning paper had some experience. Haitian cotton, raw silk, or wood. glazed chintz and wool are pretty easy. After that, Technique - Burn the yarn sample observing the however, picking out fibre content by looking at it flame colour and action, smoke, action of burning is very difficult, in fact almost impossible to do. A

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material, odour, ash shape, colour, lustre and consistency.

Chemical Testing This is generally the most accurate test, but is not often practical. The chemicals required to do this

test are sometimes hard to find and hazardous to store and handle.

Finally, whichever tests you carry out, remember that the actual cleaning test is still the most important.

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The successful drying of water damaged carpet Peter Collins (NCCA Honorary Member)

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he restoration of water damaged carpet can often be a painstaking process and almost impossible if you are untrained in this area.

Synthetic carpets are usually easier to restore than natural ones, however both can fall victim to off-gassing and, if left wet for more than a few days, can develop fungus, mould and mildew. So, when tackling this type of work it is important to get started as soon as possible.

When you arrive on site the first task is to assess the situation. If the carpet can be saved, remove all the furniture and contents from the room, including the curtains. If these are also wet then prompt action needs to be taken. They will need to be sent straight to a dry cleaner who, using specialist cleaning techniques, will ensure that no water marks appear during the drying process.

Whether the furniture and contents are being moved to your workshop, or simply being stored in another part of the premises, you must make sure

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Open windows to assist drying where possible

that the legs of the furniture do not make contact with the flooring. This is because damp furniture may cause staining. You will need to ensure that you are in possession of some carpet protectors.

On removal of all furniture and contents from the affected area you can lowpressure spray or fog the carpet if contaminated.

When safe to do so you can then extract the water from the carpet; the use of a heavy roller can help in this process. Once this is done it can be carefully removed from the grippers. If you are drying the carpet at the customer's premises, remember to take the underlay out; failure to do so will result in longer drying times.

The carpet can now be rolled up for removal, or left in situ for controlled dehumidifier and air mover drying; it very much depends on how contaminated the carpet is. Removal is a better option, as the underlay has to be replaced anyway. When rolling up the carpet it is good practice to lay a roll of polythene over the face of the carpet, so that it is sandwiched (surface not touching surface). However, never leave this in place longer than is necessary. As soon as convenient unroll the carpet and start the drying procedure.

The sub floor and skirting boards will certainly be affected during flooding. However, today's equipment for drying floors and structures performs very well and, depending upon the amount of water present, affected areas can be dried out in a matter of days or, as some manufacturers claim, within twenty-four hours.

Place dehumidifiers and air movers around the room making sure that air-flow is at a maximum.

If you are sure that the security of the building will not be compromised, and weather conditions permit, sometimes 'open drying' can have an advantage. You will need to leave as many doors and windows open as possible to create a through-flow of fresh air. Once the area is dry it is wise to clean and disinfect thoroughly before reinstallation of the carpet.

Remember, your work as a restoration technician relies on detailed preparation, procedures and continual documentation of the work being undertaken. Failure to keep up to date with necessary paperwork could lead to a whole host of problems.

Very important Notice Our bank has informed us that they are reluctant to accept cheques that have been made payable to: NCCA. Please note that if you are posting a cheque to the NCCA office, in order for it to definitely be accepted, it needs to be made payable to: Carpet Cleaners Association Ltd.

... And another job well done!

Last month we published a letter we had received praising the services of NCCA member, Mark Blazey, of TopMark Cleaning.

Mark’s company is based in Norwich and joined the NCCA just over one year ago.

Well... during the last month we received yet more positive feedback from another very satisfied customer praising Mark’s services!

The call came from a gentleman who had spilled some Port during his afternoon tipple.

The customer told us that Mark had successfully removed the offending stain and that he was he was extremely impressed, not only with the cleaning results but also with efficiency with which his problem was addressed.

Well done Mark!

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A guide to customer complaints (part five) Lewis Scroby (NCCA Standards and Fair Trading) NCCA Standards and Fair Trading Officer, Lewis Scroby, continues his series on dealing with customer complaints. This month focuses on Advertising. embers use a wide variety of methods to advertise their company and services. Marketing is number one on the priority list for many companies when starting and developing their business and the right strategies can be incredibly valuable, ensuring the growth and financial security that is essential to a successful venture. Unfortunately, the flip side is the wrong strategies can be very damaging to reputation and finances. Words and images need to be chosen carefully, offers and incentives considered from all angles and outlets researched and reviewed.

Your Association membership, used together with confirmation of your training, should be enough to convince a customer that you are the right technician for the job. Though there is a limited amount of information you can get across in an advert and the difficulty is in articulating the right things in the right way to interest a potential customer and get them to consider you in the first place.

It is generally understood that customers are rarely fully aware of the reasons they should or should not employ a tradesman. So, strategies are used to entice them and get them to make first contact.

Once they have expressed their interest in your services it is much easier to market to them, explain all the benefits of employing you and hopefully confirm a booking.

M

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Members use many different methods to attract customers. Some successful, some not and a select few that have the potential to lead to problems. A relatively common reason for customer complaints does not necessarily relate to something going wrong during or following the cleaning. From a customer perspective it is a broken promise - an offer, guarantee or other declaration advertised by a company and not fulfilled or provided as stated.

If you specifically mention something in advertising, and don't provide or abide by it, even due to circumstances outside your control, you are setting yourself up for complaints. Customers see a service advertised and expect to receive it exactly as stated. If you offer or guarantee something, you have to honour it. If you describe your methods/processes you have to follow them - all of them, every time. If you promise something you are expected to deliver it. If you don't (or can't), your customer has reason to complain.

No situation can be completely understood and with so many variances in the types of jobs taken on, it is vital you don't promote things you may not be able to provide. Best practice is not to make specific promises or guarantees at all. Some regularly used offers and incentives which can set you up for problems are listed below: 타Best cleaning results or it's free - Results will be subjective. You may clean a carpet to the best of your ability and be delighted with the result only to find the customer disappointed and expecting no charge. If you work a miracle on an irreparable carpet and your customer expected it to look like

Diary Dates 2014 NCCA COURSES

new, this guarantee will be used against you. ŸAll stains will be removed - If there are any members that can confidently guarantee to completely remove any stain they may come across regardless of the circumstances, we would be very grateful for their secret. ŸCarpets will be dry in… hours - With the variances in fibre types, cleaning methods, indoor atmosphere and weather, drying times can be greatly affected and almost impossible to accurately predict.

Although it is a concern many customers have, and a guarantee that may assist in converting enquiries, it is recommended to provide general drying times (for instance, 6 - 12 hours). ŸCarpet Protector will prevent stains - Although carpet protectors can be proven to prevent solutions being absorbed by fibres, the circumstances of the spillage are uncontrollable. Carpet protector certainly may prevent a stain, but not if a spill is left on the carpet for hours before being attended to.

Customers have been very easily convinced that protector offers an impenetrable stain barrier for their carpet, regardless of what is spilt, where and how long it has been present. It is the responsibility of the technician to ensure they are educated on the limitations of protection, as well as the benefits.

Don't over-sell yourself, if anything you should 'under-promise and over-deliver'. This is a quote I have heard many times, particularly from past and present members of the NCCA Board. It is guidance that should be followed and something that would have helped avoid several complaints we have received during my time here.

The series continues next month with more on advertising, along with company policies and presentation.

Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning 12th - 13th September 21st - 22nd November Hard Floor Cleaning 28th - 29th August Leather Identification & Cleaning 11th September Advanced Spot & Stain Removal 10th October All above courses held at NSPCC Training Centre, Leicester unless otherwise stated. Visit: www.ncca.co.uk for booking forms and further details.

CARPET CLEANERS CARNIVAL 20th September at Wicksteed Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire

IICRC COURSES (HERTFORDSHIRE) Carpet Cleaning Technician with Paul Pearce 16th - 17th September 25th - 26th November Upholstery & Fabric Cleaning Technician with Paul Pearce 23rd - 24th September 2nd - 3rd December Commercial Carpet Maintenance Technician with Paul Pearce 30th Sept - 1st Oct Held at Alltec Network, Royston, Hertfordshire. Tel: 01763 208222

IICRC COURSES (SURREY) Carpet Cleaning Technician with Adam Jankowski 15th - 16th October Upholstery & Fabric Cleaning Technician with Adam Jankowski 23rd - 24th July 28th -29th October Held at National Flood School, Surrey. Tel: 01252 821185 Visit: www.iicrc.org for further details on all IICRC Training Courses.

Who is responsible?

Derek Bolton (Honorary Member)

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problem that seems to emerge on a regular basis is that of dye transfer onto carpets or soft furnishings from clothing, other , ss ne st to fabrics, and even a n rf eo lou dy If wooden furniture.

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N f e o s O f n th art N ds tra lea p How many of you EA dar ay lly een er L s C tan m cia un ail Y s es e n et have come across DR igh xtil (esp n a ur r le. h te y e o yo sib s r n t c s e d this? Dye transfer ee ure lst pie y a spo t m lo ho is er re uc g co r up b th olst eld from wooden d o u ru ph e h n pr ro lo u is st co ubt r tb furniture, in Th but ight do you nno l in of ca particular, is a far Dye transfer is unfortunately an all too common problem from uncommon problem and often Manufacturers’ labels can sometimes be misleading this is a manufacturing fault (and occurs because a should therefore be the customer has spilled manufacturer's responsibility) something onto the you need to be aware that dye carpet, wiped it up transfer from furniture is a and then promptly potential problem when cleaning put the offending and that, if it does occur, you will item of furniture back almost certainly be held into place. responsible.

I have always taken Dye transfer from furniture is the view (rightly or often instantaneous and can be removed if wrongly) that dyes on all purchased items should immediate and appropriate action is taken, but if be dye-fast - therefore any transfer is the fault of the manufacturer - and that any item which causes you fail to notice what has happened straight away the staining can become much harder to remove. this problem is obviously not 'not fit for purpose'.

You can, however, avoid this problem altogether by Regardless, however, of whether you agree that ST

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the careful placement of protectors/fibre blocks beneath furniture; the use of sliders can also prove very useful.

There is also another potential problem for the carpet and upholstery cleaner which, again, is linked to manufacturing. And that is the issue of often misleading cleaning instructions placed on upholstery by manufacturers. As mentioned in one of my previous articles, some of these labels should be taken with a large spoonful (not just a pinch) of salt. Do not be tempted to follow, to the letter, these instructions. This has been known to have disastrous results.

Remember it is up to you, as the cleaning technician, to determine the appropriate cleaning method that will produce a safe and effective result. It is no use blaming bad/misleading labelling when it all goes ‘pair-shaped’. Trading Standards made it perfectly clear to me some years ago that as 'professionals' it is up to us recognise any potential problems, irrespective of labels, and deal with them accordingly.

If you don't feel it is possible to clean an item without causing damage, then walk away (we are talking 'the last person to touch it' syndrome here!). In these situations I have always referred my customer back to the retailer. The retailer has then either replaced the offending item or paid for any remedial treatment. Allow the retailer to take responsibility; do not try to be 'the hero' and attempt to clean the item anyway. If your attempts fail it will be your customer who picks up the bill for replacement… or even you!

Remember, you must assess every situation on its own merits and deal with it appropriately. It is

no use blaming a problem on a manufacturing fault or misleading label. As the 'last person to touch the item' you may find that the finger of blame is pointed entirely at you if something goes wrong.

And on a different note entirely…

I recently had cause to telephone a couple of NCCA members, initially with a query that I believe may well have ended up being quite a lucrative job for one of them. In both instances I left answerphone messages. I subsequently had a call back from one of these companies, but the person I wanted to speak to was out so I was put on to someone else.

I explained the situation and was asked if I had a photograph to illustrate the problem associated with it. I said that I was able to obtain one that evening and asked if a message could be passed to the gentleman (who I had originally phoned to speak to) requesting that he send me an email so I could reply and forward the photograph to him.

Would you believe it, I didn't receive anything… no email! I called the company again and spoke to a receptionist who said she would pass on a message. I am still waiting! The second message, which I left with another company, went completely unanswered.

I gave up in the end and found someone else… an EX NCCA member! This was very disappointing. I was convinced that there was a lucrative job at the end of this for somebody, and ideally I wanted it to go a current NCCA member of course. It did make me wonder how many other jobs are lost because calls are not returned and enquiries are not followed up.

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NCCA Felbrigg Hall and National Trust Conservation Studio tours Glyn Charnock

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n Friday the 9th May twenty two NCCA members met in Norfolk for a tour of Felbrigg Hall and the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio.

Normally closed to the general public on Fridays, the volunteers at Felbrigg Hall opened up the house and provided us with an exclusive tour.

Divided into two groups we were given a potted history of the house lasting almost an hour and a half.

Although some parts of the tour were fascinating, like the Savonnerie carpets, the 19th century linoleum in one of the bathrooms and the ornate plasterwork (which is too delicate to be cleaned), the house isn't as spectacular as Blickling Hall which we visited last year.

We had arranged a fish and chip lunch at the Aylsham Lodge Hotel, as last year it was a shame that everyone went their separate ways for lunch and missed out on some interesting discussions.

We also invited Ksynia Marko, Senior Conservator for the National Trust and manager of the Textile Conservation Studio, to join us.

My wife Maureen discovered a 1960's film called from 'Glasgow Green to Bendigo', a short film

about the Templeton's carpet factory in Glasgow.

We kept this as a surprise and showed it after the meal, with several people remarking on how interesting and enjoyable it was. The National Trust Textile Conservation Studio has what is thought to be a one hundred and forty year old Templeton's carpet from Cragside House in Northumberland, currently undergoing conservation. Apparently there is some doubt as to the carpets origins; according to Kysinia, a representative from Templetons went to look at

the carpet in the sixties and he discounted it as having been made at Templetons as it was not one of their pattern designs. But, as she says, he was a salesman so nobody is sure whether he was telling the truth or if he was just out to sell a new carpet.

They are researching other possibilities.

Even if the carpet doesn't turn out to be from Templetons, the video gave us an insight into how this Chenille carpet was constructed. I was extremely honoured to be invited to help them find a safe way to clean this fragile 9mtr x 6mtr

carpet in March of this year and delighted when they asked me to help them to actually clean it.

The entrance to the Textile Studio has a small library of conservation, chemistry and other books that were eagerly perused by enthusiasts, like Paul, Pawlo and Agnes (from WoolSafe), whilst we waited a few minutes for the conservators to prepare for our tour.

The Studio tour began in their specially designed wash room where Senior Conservator Rosamund Continued on next page

Continued from previous page was in the middle of doing numerous dye bleed tests and cleaning tests on some embroidered dining chair seat covers. At least one of the dyes was proving to be a little unstable. She had three of them laid out on the table, one upside-down to show the embroidery backing. One of the covers had been cleaned elsewhere already, with very little improvement.

There was also a satin curtain lining laid out (from the Spangled bed at Knole in Kent), which had already been cleaned. The curtain itself was being worked on by Claire was in the main room.

This is over four hundred years old and made of silk with inlays of sparkles. Several old repair patches were being removed rather gingerly and an old protective mesh, which Ksynia said was too tight, was also being removed. The mesh turned out to be the only thing keeping it together on its hangings. Ksynia told us how the bed at Knole appeared to be very close to the bowing ceiling.

She said they could only get a credit card between the top of the bed frame and the ceiling in places and, once the curtains were removed, they could see the bed legs were bowed and they realised the ceiling was being supported by the bed. They have asked for a scaffold to be put in place to support the ceiling before they do any more work on it, just in case!

Another conservator we met on the last tour has almost finished a tapestry that we saw last year; it now just has a frame to be sewn in place, which had already been made in advance. Two other conservators were working on a Norfolk tapestry that depicts a map. Normally they don't reweave

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missing areas of tapestries, but they were making an exception in this case as they had been requested to re-embroider some of the missing place names. They have an expert on maps who comes in every now and again and checks the names are correct.

During the tour the conservators also kindly unwrapped the piece of the carpet (mentioned earlier) which I had helped to clean under their supervision. Everyone could then see how beautiful it was. Ksynia explained how she and Aimee had taken a week to prepare it for removal from Cragside. She then asked me to explain how we did the tests before the carpet arrived and how it was subsequently cleaned. I won't go into details here, as I have already written a series of articles especially for Newslink recording the process from start to finish. (This series starts in this issue with my search for inspiration on how to tackle the work to be done - see page 22).

Later in the tour, there was some discussion between Aimee, Paul Pearce and Paul Bakker on how best to remove what was thought to be a latex glue from jute. Aimee had already tried all of the various ideas suggested except one, so she is going to see if it works.

At the end of the day, we were offered a very welcome cup of tea, before saying our goodbyes and going our separate ways.

Maureen and I would like to say thanks to everyone who came along for supporting our event. We thoroughly enjoyed your company and an even bigger 'thank you' to the Studio staff for allowing us to see some of their fascinating work.

Turkoman rugs (part five)

Peter Collins (Honorary Member)

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lesser known Turkoman rug is the Beluchistan (or the Baluch or Baluchi) rug. These rugs are hand-woven by the groups of nomadic Baluchi tribes who inhabit the border regions of north-eastern Iran and western Afghanistan. They are generally of excellent quality and are extremely hard wearing.

Baluch rugs are usually small (no more than eight feet), reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of the weavers, with larger carpets being quite rare. They are typically heavy in tone displaying dark reds, blues, purples and browns as their dominant colour, with splashes of lighter colours, such as yellow, orange, camel, beige and occasionally ivory. Dark colours (such as very dark brown) are used to outline the various patterns within these rugs and, because of this, the dominant colours which create the main body of the rug can appear even darker than they actually are. These carpets therefore possess a sombre charm that appeals to many connoisseurs and collectors.

Because of the prevalence of ornaments (such as rectangles, hexagons and octagons in rows) Baluch rugs are described as being geometric in pattern.

Repeated or alternating lozenges and medallions, in regular or offset rows, play an extremely important role in the design of these carpets.

Frequently the rows create a honeycomb pattern, so that the ground colour of the field is no longer as distinguishable. Indeed, this feature is characteristic of Baluch carpets. Plant and animal life motifs also occur in the Baluch repertoire, but they have been rendered angular and geometric.

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Baluch rugs are all knotted with the asymmetrical knot (the so-called 'Persian' or 'Senna’ knot) and are usually made predominantly from wool, but may include goat and camel hair and, in some instances, a few knots of silk. Newer carpets may have a warp made of cotton.

The finest Baluchi weavings are known for their use of superior quality wool; this wool is taken from lambs, generally from the throat and belly, and is extremely soft and silky. It is often unwashed, so it retains all its natural oils.

One of the most notable characteristics of Baluch carpets is the way in which their selvedges are handled. These can be up to 2cm wide; the material is dark brown or black goat hair. In rare instances the selvedges may be worked in a form of braiding with supplementary wefts. Usually, however, they are produced by passing the supplementary wefts over and under groups of four or more warps two, three, or four times, thus creating respectively double, triple, or quadruplecorded selvedges.

More next month on Turkoman rugs

NCCA Member Benefits Adelante Merchant Services: 01628 820500 BeValued - Home Options (specialist claims management - insurance work): Call Shaun Mulvey on 01323 418432 Control Account PLC: 01527 882901 Hibu (previously Yell) - ask for Corporate Advertising Department: 0808 100 7890

Member referral report Since publishing a referral statistics report in last month's Newslink there have been 59 recommendations for full members provided by the NCCA. This number is made up of 23 referrals from the NCCA office, 35 potential customers contacting members direct through the website and 1 referral to a member without an email address, which has been tracked by the office.

HMCA (free legal and counselling helpline): 0117 934 2600

New NCCA Members

HMCA (medical health cover): 01423 866985

Fibre Clean Ltd Tenterden, Kent

Payatrader: 01296 660177

Carpet Pride UK Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

SiteWizard (website creation): 08450 608860

Prynnclean St Austell, Cornwall

Thompson Local - ask forCorporate Advertsing Department: 01252 390385

GENERAL MANAGER REQUIRED An exciting new position is being created with a long established industry leader.

A General Manager with a proven knowledge of textile cleaning and a passion for service quality is now required.

Performance driven individual who can work with and manage an efficient team to deliver excellence in our field of operations.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate past successes and formulate future goals within a high end business.

Experience of curtain cleaning, carpet and upholstery cleaning are vital to this role.

Ability to motivate and manage staff to fulfil targets is essential.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record in driving sales and commitment to quality service. ******** Please apply, including C.V. to: G.W.D. Selection,15 Bonser Road, Twickenham, TW1 4RQ.

Underfoot and overlooked, cleaning the Cragside carpet Part one - Searching for inspiration

Glyn Charnock

In February this year, the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk collected a 19th Century Templetons chenille dining room carpet (from Cragside House in Northumberland) for conservation.

The carpet first needed to be cleaned in order to avoid additional damage and, following our successful tour of the Conservation Studio last year, NCCA Director Glyn Charnock was personally asked if he could undertake the cleaning work to be done.

Over the coming months, Glyn will be providing a series of articles on his time spent cleaning this historic carpet. He begins this month with an introduction and his search for inspiration on how to tackle what was obviously going to be a very challenging job. ‘Underfoot and overlooked'. This is how one conservator referred to the 18th and 19th Century carpets in British historic houses, as they pretty much are guaranteed to have never been cleaned and rarely repaired. These days there are textile conservators both here, and abroad, who understand the importance of these carpets and are looking at ways to treat them with the care and attention they deserve for future preservation.

The National Trust almost undoubtedly has more carpets under its wing than any other organisation or individual in the UK. Among them are several carpets which are believed to have been made by James Templeton & Co. James Templeton (1802-1883) established James Templeton & Co in 1839. At its peak, Templeton's

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Bridgeton factory (in Glasgow) employed 3000 people and the company grew to become one of the leading carpet manufacturers in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries. James Templeton had patented a chenille Axminster process by which he could manufacture more densely patterned and richly coloured carpets. They also produced Wilton and Brussels carpets, making carpets for state occasions, great houses and luxury liners (including The Titanic), as well as for domestic use. The factory didn't finally close until 1979.

In 1870 Lord and Lady Armstrong, the owners of Cragside House in Northumberland, commissioned a pair of bespoke carpets, one for their dining room and the second, much larger carpet, for their sitting room. It is believed these were made by Templeton's, but no one can currently be absolutely sure.

These carpets, now probably over one hundred and forty years old have, to anyone's knowledge, only ever been vacuum cleaned. Now desperately in need of conservation, Ksynia Marko, Senior Textile Conservator for the National Trust, was asked to inspect both of these carpets with the view to cleaning and conservation. The dining room carpet, the smaller of the two (approximately 6m x 9m in size) was most in need of restoration and 'small' enough to be uplifted and taken to the Textile Conservation Studio in Norfolk. The damage included pile loss due to both general wear and 'inherent vice' (degradation of the wool face fibres caused by the iron mordant

used to fix dyes when the carpet was made). In worn areas there were broken cotton catcher warps significantly weakening some areas of the carpet, wool warp and weft damage and, most worryingly from a cleaning perspective, exposed areas of fragile jute stuffer yarns which could potentially swell or even crumble and disintegrate when wet, causing extensive further damage.

Ksynia runs The National Trust Textile Conservation Studio which is a purpose built facility for textile conservation. Based in Norfolk, it has a wash pit, humidity and temperature control, underfloor heating, its own laboratory for the preparation of dyes and other chemicals, extraction systems to make the use of solvents safe, a fume cupboard and secure waste collection system for used chemicals.

I organised a tour of the Conservation Studio last year after my wife saw an article in our local newspaper. Combined with a tour of Blickling Hall, it was a great day out and the tour of the Studio, which was supposed to last an hour, finally ended as the staff left and turned the lights out! The studio staff were as interested in what we do as we were in their work.

Having researched several possible options for cleaning the Cragside dining room carpet both in the UK and abroad, none of which were suitable, Ksynia contacted me about our cleaning methods and whether they could be adapted to clean this one hundred and forty year old carpet.

The challenge was to get the carpet in to a clean enough state for the soiling not to be causing additional damage and enable it to undergo conservation. Looking for inspiration on possible

options, I decided to read up on the documented clean of the famous Ardabil Carpet (see photos overleaf), which is now displayed on the floor (previously hung) in the Victoria & Albert museum.

This carpet, one of a pair, is 16th Century Persian (1546), has a wool pile, silk warp and weft, with between 297 and 324 knots per sq. inch and its dimensions are 5.3m x 10.5m.

The clean of the Ardabil carpet was overseen by Sheila Landi, the then Chief Conservation Officer for textiles at the V & A museum, and Ksynia has since told me that she was one of the interns who helped to clean it.

Cleaning the Ardabil carpet required a water supply of suitable quality without the need of a de-ionising plant and it was thought the tap water in the Midlands, which is soft water taken from the Welsh mountains, would be suitable. The carpet was transported from the Victoria and Albert Museum to a property administered by the Museum of Fine Art in Birmingham for cleaning, as they had the use of a secure courtyard large enough to house a purpose built platform on which to wash the carpet.

The plan was that on the first day the back of the carpet would be cleaned, leaving it to dry overnight, and then the front would be washed the next day, leaving it another night to drain on a drying platform to finish the drying process.

A sloping platform was made for the clean, but they discovered (too late for it to be corrected) that the slope they had asked for was running through the length instead of width of the carpet.

Continued on next page

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of polythene, turn it over and clean the face using the same process again.

A roof was added consisting of polythene sheeting They actually had no idea how long the drying draped over scaffold poles and wooden slats. would take and the carpet ended up being rolled Once the carpet arrived, a polythene sheet was in polythene and laid onto he sloping transported back to platform, the carpet London dripping wet. was rolled out face Apparently, water was down on top of it and running out of the approximately one back of the lorry as it fifth of it was soaked was driven down the with water using a motorway! hose pipe. The Once back at Osterly surface was covered House, it was then with netting, the placed on the purpose detergent was added built rack to dry over and worked in using the weekend, with the paint rollers with long polythene sheet handles. The cleaner's suspended above it. wore wellington boots Can you imagine their with sponges stuck to terror, as some of the the bottom (to worst storms of that minimize damage year left Sheila Landi from foot traffic). and her husband Starting at the highest baling out water point of the platform which, as she put it, each time, the back of “dangerously the carpet was The famous Ardabil carpet accumulated in great washed three times.

Continued from previous page

Overnight the carpet was guarded by a warder from the museum in case of vandals. He luckily ended up preventing it from being blown away during a storm that night.

The following day they were surprised to find that the carpet was still soaking wet, but they eventually managed to roll it between two sheets

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pools in the insufficiently supported polythene sheet�?

The carpet was finally taken indoors, into a large shed, where it eventually dried out.

Needless to say, this gave me little inspiration for cleaning the Cragside carpet!

Next month: The pre-clean testing begins

Carpet pre-clean checklist

Win a place on a training course!

Many complaints of poor workmanship result from insufficient attention on the pre-clean survey.

Win a FREE place on a floor sanding training course at The Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.

Below are the things that you should always test for before carrying out the cleaning of carpets: ŸType of carpet: velvet, twist, cut/loop, etc. ŸConstruction: woven, tufted, bonded or needle-

punch. ŸFibre content: wool, nylon, polypropylene, polyester, blends, etc. ŸType of soiling: light, medium or heavy. ŸStains: coffee, tea, fruit juice, wine, etc. ŸSeams: secure, weak, split. ŸFitting: gripper, glued, loose, secure. ŸBuckling: check cause, wear and tear, etc. ŸSub-floor: wood, concrete, asphalt, etc. ŸFiltration marks: edge of room, kicker marks, others. ŸDye stability: dye test especially on rugs. ŸInsect damage: moth, carpet beetle. ŸFading: sunlight, fume fading, tuft loss. ŸDelamination: see buckling. ŸBrowning: previous cleaner, home stain treatment, water-leak. ŸPile wear: main traffic and use areas. ŸPile distortion/reversal: natural phenomenon or distortion through use. ŸDimensional change: shrinkage (water leak, previous clean). ŸOdour sources: pet accidents, food spills, body fluids. ŸFringe integrity (rugs): incorrect vacuum use, pets, etc.

Just log on to their website and sign up for their monthly newsletter. To be sure they know who you are please put NCCA after your name.

Log on to: www.ultimate-floorcare.com The winner of their last competition was Steve Wilkins from Ideal Upholstery Cleaning in Cheshire. Our congratulations to Steve; Terry at The Ultimate Floor Sanding Company is looking forward to seeing you on his course soon.

Important Notice The NCCA are increasingly contacting members via email to circulate relevant Association information. As such, it is more important than ever that we have your current email address logged on our database.

If you change your email address at any point could we ask that you please notify us immediately so we are able to update your details. This will ensure that you do not miss any important information circulated by us.

To inform us of any changes, please email Nicky on: nicky@ncca.co.uk or phone the NCCA office on: 0116 271 9550.

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Wood floor repair

Terry Guilford (The Ultimate Floor Sanding Co.)

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subject that I am getting asked about on an increasingly regular basis is that of wood floor repair. Like most things concerned with all flooring disciplines, an article can largely only tell you what is possible rather than how it is possible due to the very nature of what is trying to be achieved. So let's start by defining the scope of the article.

First off I am mainly concerned about damage that either requires the removal or repair of an individual or group of boards, panels or staves due to damage that cannot be repaired or disguised using any other method. To begin with, two things need to be assessed. Firstly the type of floor we are dealing with, is it on battens or joists? Is it an engineered or solid wood? Is it a floating floor? Is it a bonded down floor? Is it made up of individual staves unconnected to its 'neighbours' or is it staves glued together to form panels (like a Junckers floor)? Some of these types of floors are obvious and others less so, suffice it to say that again it is outside the scope of this article to cover how you go about determining the nature of the less obvious ones‌. but that's what phones are for!

The second thing that needs to be assessed is the extent and nature of the damage to the wood.

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As with all repair work, the less destructive you can make the repair work, the less there is to go wrong and the higher the likelihood of a successful outcome. However, wooden floor repair, by the nature of interlocking structure of the construction, has a habit of growing!

Let's start with your basic Victorian pine floor; the main problems encountered here are damage to boards caused by other tradesmen and gaps between boards caused by shrinkage. In the case of the former it is normally very rough saw cuts across the boards to create small access points for plumbers and electricians. In truth, the best form of repair here is removal of the full length of board (not just the little panel) and replacement with another old board of a similar nature from either a salvage yard or maybe another room that has carpet. Gap filling in these floors should be carried out using pine strips cut from reclaimed

boards that are glued and hammered into the gaps and trimmed off once the glue is set. Small repairs to the sides of boards are best made using wooden plugs cut and shaped to fit the missing area (which itself may need cleaning and shaping) and these are best fixed in place using industrial hot melt glue guns which give strong, coloured and instantaneous fixture.

Moving on, let's talk about engineered floors.

These are normally of the 'floating' variety, meaning they just sit on top of the subfloor. The individual panels on these CAN be removed and replaced but you need three things, one an EXACT match panel, two a decent tool kit (a Fein type saw is essential) and three, balls‌ and I don't mean the games type. The key to this type of repair is clean removal of the old panel which is harder than it sounds, because once you have the old panel out you have to clean off the remaining glue from the boards around it in order to get the new panel in and this is tricky.

The new panels will need the bottoms of the grooves removed before dropping in and the whole thing will need weighting down until the adhesive is set.

The bonded down engineered floor requires an even bigger set of 'sphericals' because getting the panel out is even more difficult, as is the clean-up before the new one goes in. Both of these types of repairs are really tricky and have to be weighed against the value of the floor, which is often quite low. Clients should also be advised that an unused panel is not going to sit at exactly the same height or look exactly the same as the floor around it.

A lot of repair work can be gained from sports halls, school halls, community halls, hotel ballrooms etc.

These floors are often hardwoods laid on battens and the problems usually involve broken individual staves or broken or loose battens. We have done many repairs of this type and these jobs can really GROW especially in the case of batten repair or replacement. Whilst I don't like talking about pricing (in particular day rates), I would advise that this is a subject that should be approached with caution in these instances as you cannot evaluate the extent of the repair until the floor is opened.

However, once the subfloor repairs are done and the floor re-laid the results should be excellent and clients will be happy.

So finally, let's mention Junckers. The traditional two strip Junckers has the appearance of individual staves but is actually made up of panels that are two-staves wide and of various lengths. These floors may be clipped together floating, nailed down or bonded down and of course this needs to be determined first. If a stave is badly damaged on a Junckers floor you need to replace the whole panel, the method for doing this will depend on the nature of the fixing as above. However Junckers do have 'veneers' that can be used to cover superficially damaged staves with only the use of a router and some glue which is a lot less hassle than panel replacement.

Wood floor repair isn't going to be for everyone, it does require woodworking knowledge and a decent tool kit. However, there is a demand for tradesmen with these skills‌ so, with the right training, it could be an excellent addition to your existing business. It's definitely food for thought.

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Misuse of NCCA logo by non-member companies

T

he NCCA Logo and our name 'The National Carpet Cleaners Association' are both 'Registered Trade Marks' under the 'Trade Marks Act 1994 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.

Unfortunately both our name and logo are sometimes used by nonmember companies in directory adverts, local magazines and publications, on websites and in one case our name was even quoted in a telephone announcement for a company's advertising campaign!

Where the offending adverts have appeared in print, the editors of the journals or suppliers of the directories have been informed that their advertiser's were not members of the National Carpet Cleaners Association and were therefore illegally displaying our name or logo. All of the infringements have been reported to the Trading Standards Offices in the areas in which the offences occurred.

In several cases, both traders and companies have been summoned to attend their local Trading Standards Office and accept a 'formal caution'. This constitutes an admission of guilt.

Should the trader or company continue to offend, or re-offend, then prosecution would almost certainly follow.

One trader has already been successfully

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prosecuted for making a false statement, by means of a leaflet bearing the NCCA logo. His County Council Trading Standards brought the prosecution and the company was fined and ordered to pay costs towards the prosecution. The company was further ordered to pay compensation to an aggrieved customer.

Writing for Newslink Newslink is the official journal of the NCCA and the only publication in the UK solely dedicated to the cleaning, care and restoration of soft furnishings and hard flooring.

Contributions from Members are always welcome, as are suggestions and new ideas.

So.... if you fancy expanding your repertoire, why not put 'pen to paper' and add 'author of published article' to your skillset. Don't worry if you feel your writing skills are not up to the job, as all articles undergo an editing process before they are included. What we need from YOU is the knowledge and stories you undoubtedly have.

Contributions can be regular, or simply a oneoff, it's entirely up to you.

We endeavour to publish all editorial received and all contributions will, of course, display your name as the author.

If you feel you'd like to send something in, or have an idea, don't be shy, just give Nikki in the office a ring on 0116 271 9550 or email: nicky@ncca.co.uk We look forward to hearing from you.

Items for sale BUSINESS FOR SALE Small, long-established, reputable working carpet, upholstery and soft furnishings cleaning company. Essex based. Owner Operator retiring. To be sold as a complete package only. Mobile HWE and dry cleaning system.

Domestic and commercial clients. Genuine interested parties only please to call 07903 497298 and leave details.

CLEANING AND RESTORATION MACHINERY EQUIPMENT - ACCESSORIES Dri-Eaz Dehumidifier 1200 - as new (boxed) £450.00. DriEaz Sahara Pro TurboDryer - new (boxed) £150.00. Dri-Eaz Dri X Airchanger Dehumidifier - new (boxed). Normal Price £1900.00. Our Price £500.00. Plus much more. For a complete list please telephone: 07580 182 325 or email: restorationdirect@btinternet.com VACANCY & BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Experienced full time Carpet and Floor Care Technician required. Own van and equipment an advantage but not essential. Good business incentive package (profit share or buy in). Area coverage M4 corridor from Bristol to London. Apply by email to glynn.norcutt@gnccontractservices.com (with full CV, etc.) or telephone: 01672 871882 or mobile: 07831 172743.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Mobile container/bin (red) - comes with lid. Heavy duty container on wheels. L55” x W32” x H31”, ideal hose and other carpet clng equipment storage. List price: £199 selling for £75. Whole room drier/air mover. List price: £534 - selling for £99 (no VAT). Contact Chris on: 02380 898 212 or 07970 040729 or email:mncrostance@googlemail.com BUSINESS FOR SALE Small long-established reputable NCCA registered working business, specialising carpet, upholstery and hard floor cleaning. Northumberland based owner/operator retiring. To be sold as a complete package only. Sign written 55 plate Iveco Daily van with fitted Prochem Blazer Truck Mount. High pressure and extraction hose reels complete with hoses, including wands, hard floor surface spinner 3 turbo dryers fans, 4 dehumidifiers, MMs Plus, Sebo vac and duo, Rotary scrubber, plus lots of other equipment and chemicals.

Plus a fully SEO website. Genuine interested parties only please. Call 01670 787185.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Whole room downdraft dryer from Power Flite. Versatile air mover - multiple positions. Hardly used. Was: £325.

Accept: £150. Victor Sprite 12" Rotory Machine. Used once. Was £855 - Accept £450. Collect from Coventry. Tel 02476 620444.

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OFFICE PRINTER/COPIER Duplo DP-2211 Single colour A3 or A4 duplicator. Full working order, any fair trial. Ideal for low cost Flyers.

Some consumables. PC Interface, prints direct from P.C. or printed copy - £250.00 o.n.o. For further Information Contact gary@amazingcleaning.co.uk or call 0116 2672720. Based in Leicester.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Prochem 250 ft vacuum hoses for truck mount £150.00. Chemspec hose reel for truck mount plastic £200. Prochem sadle tank for truckmount 227 litre/60 gallons - £250.00. Contact aquadriinfo@btconnect.com for further information or contact Andy on: 07970 544806.

TRUCKMOUNT Banclene truckmount complete with base unit, stainless steel 80 gallon recovery tank, 100 gallon solution tank, 150 feet of vaccuum/solution hoses, floor, stair and various upholstery hand tools, inline heater and misc parts etc. The van has been sold separately. Selling due to retirement and will consider the highest offer. Call Derek at Aquamaster on 01845 537640 - mobile 07976 218304 or email: derek@aquamaster-yorkshire.co.uk BUSINESS FOR SALE Small, well established carpet, hard floor and upholstery cleaning business (London and Kent borders). Package includes: 57 plate Vauxhall Vivaro LWB Van with 53k miles on the clock, Prochem Blazer GT Truck Mount machine with only 270hrs on the clock, established interactive website (which had SEO programme last year), chemicals, turbo drier, 250 feet of solution and suction hose and van mounted hose reels, together with a property maintenance company name, website and promotional materials. Contact telephone number 020 8309 6517. Sale price: £18,000 O.N.O. EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Airflex Storm 800psi, Solution hose 25ft(high pressure), 25ft x 1.5" vacuum hose with 1.5" cuff fitted at each end, Westpak 4" stainless steel hand/detailer tool with splash guard, 6" stair tool, Upholstery Pro Sapphire Hand Tool, HOST Reliant agitator, Sebo BS36 upright vacuum cleaner, Dri-Eaz Air Mover Sahara E 3 speed, Magma heater 1313, Assorted horse hair brushes, Furniture Foam Snap Blocks x 360, Orion 6L Sprayer with nozzle set, 10 Litre Bucket x 2, Carpet Sliders x 8, pH Test Paper, Corner guard, Hose hook, Pumptec Powersprayer BOM, Mesh hose bag. Assorted cleaning chemicals - some opened. Bereavement forces sale.

Cost: £4500 ONO (Bought as new in 2013 for £7500). All items used a maximum of 5 times so in 'as new' condition. Please contact Jamie Edmonds at: Jledmunds@hotmail.co.uk. Tel: 07795546037. Items located in North Cornwall.

NCCA Corporate Members WHOLE ROOM DRYER 360 degrees air mover, ex company stock used for 18 months only (Truvox) - Cost new: £500. Selling cost: £150. Contact: 02380 898212.

MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT 3 Ozone plates 4'' x 6'' to fit Jetazone 600 ozone generator - £15.00 for the 3, plus £5.00 p & p. Please phone Pete Collins on 07885 804560.

MACHINERY FOR SALE CFR Paramount 1000 PSI machine - delivering 1000 pressure per square inch. 95 litre recycling tank, great for commercial and domestic work £600.00 o.n.o.

Contact davidkendall40@aol.com for further information or phone David on 07768 667824 or 01277 824546.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE - IDEAL FOR NEW BUSINESS Everything you need to start carpet cleaning, including: Ashbys Ninja adjustable up to 400psi with Dry Cleaning Functionality built in, 2 x25m vacuum hoses, 1 x silencer hose, 1 x wand, 1 x upholstery tool, 1 x dry cleaning solvent tool. Sebo Duo agitator. Sebo Vacuum BS36. 1.5hp blower dryer. Truvox high speed buffer. Prochem Stain Removal kit. 2 x 6 litres pressure sprayers. 1 x 1 litre upholstery/spot sprayer. 1 x vinyl mat for Ninja and 1 terrapaulin sheet. Huge array of chemicals including: Prochem Power Burst, Defoamer, Prochem Pre Spray Gold, Prochem Natural Carpet Cleaner, Ashby's supreme Anti Grease, Prochem Browning prescription, Prochem Fabric and Fibre Rinse, Ashby's Extra Fresh, Prochem Odour Fresh. Box of other bits including: shoe covers, brushes, polystyrene pads, measuring jugs, dry compound. All in excellent condition. Selling as my second business is consuming all of my time. Selling for £1950. Contact Richard on 07903 841534.

+ Allied Insurance Services Ltd: 0844 8156211 (I) + Alltec Network: 01763 208222 (C/M/F/T) + Amtech UK: 01444 232211 (C/M) + Ashby's Cleaning Equipment: 01795 436999 (C/M/E) + Asset Finance Solutions UK Ltd: 01254 584404 (FI) + Bio Productions Ltd (inc. Stapro): 01444 244000 (C) + Camberford Law (insurance brokers): 0208 315 5000 (I) + Chemdry Franchising Ltd: 01482 872770 (C/M/Fr) + Chemspec Europe Ltd: 01274 597333 (C/M/T/D/F) + Cleanerswarehouse Ltd: 01772 434333 (T/C/R/M) + Cleaning Systems UK: 01334 656787 (C/M/T/F) + Cleansmart Ltd: 0115 8240034 (T/C/R/M/K) + Cleantec Innovation Ltd: 0870 733 7733 (T/C/W/M) + Columbus Cleaning Machines Ltd: 01772 426527 (M) + Dri-Eaz Products Ltd: 01908 611211 (C/M/T) + Dry Fusion UK Ltd: 01772 433711 (C/M/T/W/Fr) + Get Booked Up Software: 01405 813665 + Gleaming Insurance (insurance brokers): 0845 4740068 (I) + Hi-Tec Cleaning Group: 02866 341416 (C/E/F/M/T) + Host Von Schrader Ltd: 0151 347 1900 (M/C) + Hydro Dynamix: 01622 664993 (Fr)T) + Mailboxes Etc: 01628 633336 + McGregor Lloyd (insurance brokers): 0121 706 0616 (I) + NSL Restormate: 01670 590099: (M/C/Tr) + Nu Life Stone Care Ltd: 0161 480 7284 (M/C) + Oates Laboratories (Europe): 01772 433711 (C) + Prochem Europe Ltd: 0208 974 1515 (C/F/M/T) + Rainbow International: 01623 422488 (M/C/Fr) + Restoration Express: 01252 726106 (M/C/T/A)

The Association advises that all goods are checked to be in a satisfactory condition, and comply to electrical and health and safety standards, etc. It is recommended that equipment serial numbers should be checked to ensure the seller is the legitimate owner. The Association accepts no responsibility or liability arising from any transaction or dispute between the buyer and seller.

+ Robert Saunders Marketing Mentor: 08450 537129 (K) + Sebo UK Ltd: 01494 465533 (M) + ServiceMaster Ltd: 0116 275 9000 (M/C/Fr) + Stainshield Ltd: 01372 841467 © + Textile Cleaning Solutions: 01934 521155 (M/C) + The Big Clean: 0208 3934778 (M,C,W,K) + The Ultimate Floor Sanding Co.: 00353 91846488 (M/C/Fr) + The WoolSafe Organisation: 01943 850817 + Truvox International Ltd: 02380 702200 (M) + Worldwide Cleaning Support: 01279 422220 (C/M)

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C - Chemicals / M - Machinery / W - Wholesalers / Fr - Franchises / I - Insurance / K - Marketing / T - Technical Services / F - Fire Retardents / A - Auxiliary Services (Restoration Cleaners) / E Supply/Repair of Curtains and Blinds / Fi - Finance / Tr - Training.

Going Going - Gone!

BEFORE

Say e dby o g o ains! t to s

AFTER

Dye Gone offers a unique new package and application device to remove the severest of dye stains including: coffee, tea, wine, hair dyes, paints, candle colours etc.

No need to mix - just spray - wait and the stain is gone.* *pre-test carefully and rinse out after stain is removed pet with cold water.

Car ers

Call in for a coffee with us at the Carpet Cleaners Carnival in September. We’ll be on stand number four. See you there!

n clea ival n car 14 20

Chemspec Europe, Tong Park, Otley Road, Baildon, West Yorkshire, BD17 7QD. Tel: 01274 597333 Fax: 01274 597444 E-mail: info@chemspec-europe.com Website: www.chemspec-europe.com