hey everyone, just did my first real encap job and was pleased with the results, was only a small job but if we don't get any wickbacks it will turn into a big job, so i'm eager to see for myself. my quick ? is, if you were to do vacant apartment, hotel room, ect. , are you better off to encap or pad. thanks bill y

If it is not more than moderately soiled, it will look just about the same, whether you encap it with a non-absorbent fiber pad or padcap it with a terrycloth pad. If it is fairly seriously soiled, it will still look really good with just nonabsorbent encapping, but it will come just a little more bright & light if you padcap it with terrycloth or some other absorbent medium. It if is super dirty, I would first do an encap scrub with a nonabsorbent pad, then finish up with terrycloth.

We pretty much do the same thing Mark was saying. We always use encap solutions because we feel you are getting the best of both worlds. The big difference for us is, if the carpet is moderate to filthy then we always pre-scrub with our CRB machine using our 500 grid brushes after applying our pre-spray. By using our CRB machine we can normally avoid pre-vacuuming because the machine does that at the same time we are scubbing. Most of the time, after that you problably would think thats all you would need to do, because the carpet will usually look so good, but we always pad cap with a cotton pad after. The reason is, just as Mark said it makes the carpet look a little brighter and definitely takes a lot of the dirt out. After that we may lightly spray a little more encp juice on the carpet depending on how dirty it was and then post vac using our CRB machine with the same brushes, which pile lifts the carpet, gets even more deep down dirt out, while working the encap juice into the carpet even more, and grooms the carpet at the same time. It doesn't take that much longer to do, but makes a huge difference in appearance. I know most of you, especially the new guys don't have a CRB machine, but post vacuuming will do almost the same thing. In appartments and rental homes we always leave a flyer, which I have attached feel free to use it or modify it to your liking. It tells the new tenant several things but especially to vacuum before they move in or right after to pick up any dirt or fuzz that has worked its way up during the drying process. If the carpet was not very dirty then we usually just pad cap and post vacuum it.
The owners and managers of the rental properties just love the flyers we leave.

Dear Tenant,

Welcome to your new home. The owners and management want your stay here to be as enjoyable as possible so they hired us to clean your carpet prior to your arrival. We at CLEANTECH want you to know that we have made every effort to get your carpet as clean as possible. We also want you to know that we have not only cleaned your carpet but we have applied a sanitizer and deodorizer to the carpet to make it as clean and fresh as possable.

If the carpet is damaged during your stay here it can effect your security deposit. To help avoid any problems, here are some helpful hints:

Never set a hot iron on the carpet as it will melt the fibers immediately.
Have smokers take care not to drop hot ashes on the carpet.
Many stains can be removed if cleaned right away. You should have some carpet stain remover on hand.
Red Stains are the hardest to clean; such as fruit juice, kool aid, and red pop. Oxyclean works great on these if used right away. Once the stain sets it can be permanent.
Avoid using hot water on stains as it will set the stain. Use warm water instead.

If you have a problem with your carpet that you can’t correct contact the owner or manager right away.

We know you will enjoy your stay here.

CLEANTECH carpet, upholstery, & floor cleaning.


Please Vacuum before or right after you move in. This will pick up any dirt that has worked its way to the top of the carpet during the drying process.

if you padcap after useing a non-absorbant pad, does'nt that "rinse" the encap off the carpet

NO, it just scrubs the encap into the fibers causing the dirt to release from the fibers better. If you use a cotton pad though, it will soak up alot of the encap juice along with the dirt, but there is still encap juice left in the carpet to ecapsulate some of the remaining soil. Thats why on some jobs that are real dirty, after we pad cap we will lightly spray the carpet again with the encap juice then post vac with our CRB machine which will scrub the encap into the carpet even more, so any dirt left will be encapsulated and vacuumed out by the owner or maintenance staff.

Sorry Bill I mis-read your post. Yes it will take a lot of the encap juice out with the dirt, however, there is still encap juice left to encapsulate more dirt. Thats why I said if the carpet was real dirty we may apply another light application of encap and scrub it in.