ICS Cleaning Specialist articles from February 2009

ICS Cleaning Specialist archives from February 2009

Message heard, not to be forgotten: I may be labeled a lunatic by many of you reading this, but I hope you will indulge me just the same.(Publisher's Letter)
February 1, 2009... A few nights ago in the wee hours, I heard a voice. It was a familiar voice, one I had listened to for nearly 20 years and had a heard a lot of, as it belonged to my greatest mentor. It was not a soft, calm, comforting voice. Rather, it was...

Your 9-step marketing plan--step 5: during the past four months I have been outlining a marketing plan that, when followed, can help you grow a phenomenally successful business.(Marketing Strategies That Work)
February 1, 2009... You see, most small-business owners don't have a real plan, a written, documented plan that is well thought out; they just react to circumstances. You may be feeling the effect of that scenario right now. It's wintertime, and you don't...

2009 Carpet-cleaning chemical market study.(Table)(Survey)
February 1, 2009... Welcome to ICS Cleaning Specialist's seventh commissioned market study designed to measure the opinions and preferences of fl oor care and restoration professionals as they pertain to the use of carpet-cleaning chemicals and equipment. The...

Making peace on the restoration home front--Part III.(To Your Success)
February 1, 2009... "Let us have peace" --Ulysses S. Grant Recession is such an ugly word. And yes, since carpet cleaning is obviously a "discretionary income" item, our industry is not immune to an economic downturn. However, as an independent...

Zep Inc. introduces general purpose floor cleaner.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The GreenLink Neutral Floor Cleaner from Zep Inc. is a lowfoam, neutral-pH, general purpose cleaner designed for most floors, including finished floors. It is ideal for use in automatic scrubbers. The floor...

EIPL elevates the art of drying.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... Ebac Industrial Products Ltd. offers a wide variety of dehumidifiers and air movers to remove water and assist with drying areas after water damage. Following a flood, it's vitally important to restore the damaged area to good order as soon as...

Butler offers variety of financing and leasing options.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Many finance, lease and lease-to-own programs are available for Butler customers. There are many exclusive programs, each with its own distinctive advantage, for financing the Butler System and van. Butler's...

Aztec releases new-look Sidewinder.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Aztec Sidewinder has been re-designed. The new Sidewinder has a rugged all-steel body construction for superior performance and extended long term durability, and includes a new heavy-duty, German-engineered...

Benefect puts out call to restoration contractors.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... It's time to clean up California! The people who make Benefect disinfectants and cleaners will try and ease the pain for contractors in the short term by offering a free case of Atomic Fire & Soot Degreaser concentrate to every restoration...

Updated FlukeView Forms 3.4 software enhances compatibility.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fluke Corp. has released a new, enhanced Version 3.4 of FlukeView Forms analysis and reporting software for digital multimeters (DMMs) and other test instruments. With FlukeView Forms documenting software, the...

Vx 670 makes payments a snap.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Vx 670 from M. Austin Enterprises is the smallest all-in-one handheld payment device specifically for wireless, customer-facing payment on the spot. It offers the largest user interface for an all-in-one payment...

New scrubber line unveiled by Tornado.(Products Tools & Equipment)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tornado's new world-class family of auto-scrubbers is constructed of super tough, roto-molded polyethylene bodies. They have a wide-open hood design for easy access to tanks, batteries, hoses, and vacuum motor for...

SoCal Education takes center stage.(CFI Report)(Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification)
February 1, 2009... Education Director Peter Sierck will be instructing IICRC classes at A+Plus Environmental Supplies, 13535 Marquardt Avenue, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. Applied Microbial Remediation Technician (AMRT)--March 3-6 The mold and sewage back...

Multi-surface machine: Rotovac Corporation.(Must See Products Gallery)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rotovac's Rotovac 360 cleaning machine, which works with any portable or truckmount extractor, has two heads that clean carpet and tile. The Carpet head has 3 spray jets and 3 smooth-glide vacuum slots, while the...

MasterBlend.(Must See Products Gallery)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MasterBlend proudly announces the launch of their new Tile & Stone Care Line: * Tile Cleaner * Tile Neutral Clean & Rinse * Tile Restore * All-In-One * Tile Aqua * Tile Ultimate ...

OINK: the new multi-purpose solvent spotter from Bridgepoint: Bridgepoint.(Must See Products Gallery)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Formulated for use on carpet and fabric, OINK is multi-purpose solvent designed to remove ballpoint pen, stamp pad, duplicating, marking, writing, felt tip and colored art inks. It works effectively on latex, spray,...

A revolution in odor control: the "green" revolution demands that professionals who specialize in odor control search for technologies that eradicate odors in a safe and natural way. One of those technologies making its way to the forefront is zeolite.(For The Professional Textile Cleaner)
February 1, 2009... As defined by Wikipedia, zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals and have a microporous structure. Natural zeolites form where volcanic rocks and ash layers react with alkaline groundwater. Zeolites are the aluminosilicate members of the family...

Shoe covers and door guards: a fit for all seasons: basking in the warmth of my heated keyboard--wait, let me write that down ... wait, I just did. But that's certainly an idea for someone to get to work on. If we can have heated toilet seats, we ought to easily be able to offer heated keyboards.(The Gadget Man)
February 1, 2009... Anyway, back to the topic at hand: I am sitting in my warm office looking out the window at a raging blizzard. With six inches of snow in the last two hours and eight more inches expected, my thoughts turn to you, the thousands of professionals...

Green cleaning keeps gaining ground.
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A few years ago, an evolution took place in the professional cleaning industry. After years and years of talking about "green" cleaning, with many believing it to be just a fad, the cleaning industry finally took the...

SteamMaster named 2008 Business of the Year.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... SteamMaster Restoration and Cleaning LLC received the 2008 Business of the Year award at the Eagle Valley Chamber of Commerce's Annual Extravaganza. "We're honored to receive a prestigious award," says owner Gary Gilman. "Earning the award...

CIMS certification expert total reaches 338.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... ISSA has announced the final group of individuals to achieve certification as official Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) ISSA Certification Experts (I.C.E.) in 2008. This brings the total number of experts to 338 individuals...

Tacony and Tornado expand operations into new facilities.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... Chicago-based Tornado Industries and its parent company, Tacony Corp., announce that they will be relocating Tornado's inside sales, customer service, and production operations into new, state-of-the-art facilities. The moves are part of a...

KleenRite announces "exciting" changes.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With a focus on building better relationships with their distributors, KleenRite Equipment has added Lillian Pelletier to their team. Lillian is in charge of new business and client solutions. Among her many...

HCI launches new website with interactive samples.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... Home Carpet Industries has launched a completely re-designed website at www.homecarpet.com offering greatly simplified navigation to the company's products. A prominent feature of the new website is its interactive samples section. The...

Sensible Life Products adds key accounts manager.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Samuel DeAth, president of Sensible Life Products, announces the addition of Bill Coy as key accounts manager for the restoration market. Based out of Cleveland Ohio, Coy will work closely with distributors...

IICRC offers workshops for ANSI-approved S520.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification is offering mold remediation workshops across the North America for restorers and remediators to review and learn best practices from the ANSI/IICRC S520 Standard and Reference...

Industry icon Cy Gantt dies in Florida.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... Joseph C. "Cy" Gantt, 88, died Jan. 10 at Hospice Marliere Care Center in New Port Richey, Fla., after a courageous battle with leukemia. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gantt served in the U.S. Army as 1st Sgt. in the 261st Inf. Reg, 65th...

TMF launches "world's largest carpet cleaning forum store".(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... TruckMountForums.com announced today the immediate availability of their new online carpet cleaning store and video vault, enabling carpet cleaning business worldwide to enhance and accelerate their sales for 2009. Included in this launch is a...

Jon-Don now carrying Fluke thermal imagers.(Industry News & Information)
February 1, 2009... Jon-Don has added Fluke thermal imagers to its product line. Fluke thermal imagers (sometimes referred to as infrared imagers, thermal cameras or infrared cameras) capture fully radiometric infrared images using patent-pending IR-Fusion...

Calendar of industry events: conventions & trade shows.(Calendar)
February 1, 2009... FEB. 22-25 Insights 2009, Scottsdale, AZ. Call (877) 741-7469 FEB. 24-26 IAQA 12th Annual Meeting & Indoor Air Expo, Fort Worth, TX. Call (301) 231-8388 MARCH 6-9 2009 BSCAI Annual Convention & Trade Show, Chicago. Call...

Certification and training offer a built-in advantage: in this time of the "credit crunch" sweeping across the global marketplace, it appears many folk are walking around a little forlorn, possibly wondering what will happen to them if they lose their job or, if they work for themselves, when the phone might ring again.(IICRC President's Corner)
February 1, 2009... Not good. What we should all be doing is looking at how we can optimize efficiencies and efforts to make the telephone ring. See if this sounds familiar: like a lot of people in the cleaning industry, this time last year you were very busy,...