Episode 32: Microfiber Magic – Interview with NUFiber VP, Par Ricketts

Episode 32: Microfiber Magic - Interview with NUFiber VP, Par Ricketts

Par Ricketts:
But I even see the mopping systems, the cleaning systems and everything else, having a nice resurgence or what I like to tell people is even some people in the past end users that I've been in front of that in the past, for whatever reason have been reluctant to not only change, but even listen to notions or ideas on how to do things better. They are now coming in, circling back around and are more open. Now it's caused everybody to think more about cleaning the importance of it, and that's a good thing.

Announcer:
Grow your cleaning business, make more money, have more time. This is the Profit Cleaners podcast with your host Brandon Condrey and Brandon Schoen.

Brandon Schoen:
Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Profit Cleaners, you're in the place to be learning from the top 1% of business owners, cleaning business owners around the world. And you're joined by me, your host, Brandon Schoen, and your cohost..

Brandon Condrey:
Brandon Condrey that's me.

Brandon Schoen:
That's right. And today we have a very exciting episode for you guys. We're actually talking about, maybe you can consider this your intervention, and we're gonna be talking about the benefits of microfiber, managing change. And you're gonna learn more about becoming a recovering soil spreader and what that means. So surprisingly, 90% of the cleaning business commercial residential are using outdated equipment and technology. So we're going to talk about that a lot more today. We're going to introduce our guest par and we're going to be talking about what is a recovering soil spreader. We're going to be talking about five steps to recovery. What's so special about microfiber, why it might be better. And we're also going to introduce to you guys a really cool new product that part is going to talk about. So before we roll into that, let's introduce a little bit more about our guest.

Brandon Condrey:
Hey guys, there's a little special episode. We have an in-house guests, which I think is the first time you've ever done that. All the other guests have been Corby in Denver. So today we've got Par Ricketts. He's the vice president of business development with NUFiber par supplies are color-coded microfiber that we use at Sandia Green Clean. And so I think we met Par in early 2020, right? As the pandemic was about to step off. Par's here with us though. Why don't you introduce yourself sir.

Par Ricketts:
Hello, everyone. I'm par and I'm a recovering soil spreader.

Brandon Condrey:
Yeah. Why don't you explain that a little bit more Par.

Par Ricketts:
Well, For those that may not know me or know my story, I'm a cleaner by trade. I've been in this cleaning industry now for about 35 years. I'm not proud of this, but it is a fact that the vast majority of those years, I was an active soil spreader. And I'm happy to report that for the last 10 years I've been in recovery. And what I do now is I go around the country and I do educational seminars and recovery meetings for all those cleaners out there that are still In denial.

Brandon Condrey:
Yep. I am still in denial. Apparently told me a couple of times before we started recording that I'm in denial. We're going to learn it all together. So tell people what a soil spreader is like, what is it that we're trying to correct.

Par Ricketts:
So I think it might be valuable that I tell you my story is that I remember the first time I started spreading soil, I was new to the cleaning industry way back when, and I was asked to join a cleaning crew in the thumb area of Michigan. And they were going to be stripping out and laying wax or floor finish in a 6,000 square foot. IGA supermarket. I had never swung a mop. I had never done any kind of floor work, but I needed some money. I was asked to join and I did. So since I was the newbie, you knew what job I was going to be doing. Or I certainly found out quickly that I was on the end of a doodle bug and a scraper. And I was doing all the grunt work by most of pressed the supervisor enough that when it came time to rinse the floor, preparing it to lay floor, finish or wax, he gave me a mop and a bucket taught me quickly the figure eight motion and told me to rinse an aisle. And so, again, without knowing anything, I rinsed the aisle, I did my figure eight. They told me I had some nice hand and hip action. I was, you know, they considered me a natural. I got done with rinsing that first dial. And for anybody that's done that kind of work. I had picked up stripper slurry from underneath the gondolas. And why looked into my mop bucket at the end of that first aisle, I saw this murky cloudy bucket of water. So I didn't know anything, but I figured that I called the supervisor over and I just asked him, I said, do I go change my water? And I remember him leaning over and looking in my bucket, shaking his head no. And saying, no, keep going, not dirty enough, not dirty. You know, so I did a second aisle. It was twice as murky. I called them over a second time. After the second aisle, I got the same answer. And so as I reflect back, I think that was the first time I started spreading soil using a single cavity mop bucket and a sink or a string cotton mop, which many of us do as the first tool that bucket and mop was just a gateway tool for me. It led me to feather dusters, poly wool, dusters, cotton, rags, cotton, blended dust mops. I started using all of those and will admit to you guys and to the audience here today. I'm the worst of all lots. Because as I reflect back over the next 25 years after that point, I'm a salesman. So not only did I use those tools, but I can.

Brandon Condrey:
But you sold them. You sold those two alive, sold them.

Par Ricketts:
It's a thousands of people in institutions. So I'm the worst of all. I was a spreader and a dealer.

Brandon Condrey:
Yeah. The Naval air. Yeah. Yeah. So you've been in it for 30 years more.

Par Ricketts:
Yeah. And so anyway, I started the recovery. I've been a proponent of microfiber clearly ever since, and what I learned 10 years ago. And it really hasn't changed much even in 2021, sadly microfiber the technology microfiber and the tools that go along with many of the programs they putting way better. They last longer they're cost competitive, but yet it's still a very relatively small percentage of cleaners that actually use those products. Somebody who loves this industry, it's disappointing to me. And it put me frankly, somewhat I'm on a mission to try to find out why that was and to figure out what I might be able to do to change that.

Brandon Condrey:
Sure. What'd you learn when you tried to figure out why that is?

Par Ricketts:
So like most things in life? I don't think it was. I found out that it's not just one reason why there's still a whole lot of single cavity, mop buckets and cotton string mops and poly wool dusters, et cetera, being used. There's a lot of people that are responsible for those traditionally inadequate products still being used predominantly in us and frankly, elsewhere, but probably at the top of the list is that we just are reluctant to change as a society. In addition to that, it's too easy to take orders for equipment that's being requested. And we're so busy. We've got so many other things on our mind that the salespeople, our industry rarely take the time to educate their customers and maybe show them as something that would work better if they're so eager to give an order for something that's been around for decades. So those are probably two of the primary reasons, maybe one, a two, a or two B might be also that oftentimes in the past, when somebody has been willing to take a look at their microfiber is a change of tools or supplies and equipment. They did not provide the adequate training to their staff. And therefore they got pushback from those staff members and it just wasn't something they were equipped or willing to fight for or to explain. And so they gave it a shot, didn't work, they revert back to what they've always done. And sadly that happens probably more times than what we care to admit.

Brandon Condrey:
Yeah. I mean, I think that's, I think that's what's happened with us. That's why par calls calls me in denial, but we do have some excellent products from NUfiber. And one of the coolest ones is the, I don't even, it's a wet mop, but it's got a tank on it that actually disperses the cleaner in front of it.

Par Ricketts:
One of many cleaning systems we have. And I guess I want to point out that when I talk about microfiber, most people, our industry think that they're using microfiber simply if they're using a microfiber rag or cloth, and while those are effective, they're much better than cotton rags or other alternative textiles. What I'm really focused in on are the mopping and cleaning systems for floors above floor application and all the other surfaces one is confronted with when cleaning a building or any kind of task or doing any kind of a cleaning task. So it's much more than just cleaning rags or cloth chairs when we talk about microfiber.

Brandon Condrey:
Yes. I mean, this is a good time to mention that a lot of the stuff that new fiber makes is specifically designed for commercial applications. You had mentioned education in hospitals before. So for those of you listeners that are in active commercial cleaning, this is one to pay attention to, but we Sandia Green Clean. We, we are a residential cleaning company and we still use NUfiber products. So there's lots of wide applicability here. I do want to make us try the mops again in a more organized fashion. I think that would be more benefitial.

Par Ricketts:
Well, I think again, microfiber is used in homes by residents they're used by residential cleaners. They're used commercially it's widespread. Again, I go back to most, everybody now much more than when I got introduced 10 years ago, understands that it just works better. It cleans better. And that is again the root of my frustration. The other concern that I had and what I stumbled on to is I went out and I was educating in traditional methods and doing PowerPoints in front of large groups to make sure that everybody knew all the different uses and all the different tools that were available. And frankly, I started boring myself. I, it just was very dry material. And I quickly realized that I had to find something in some way to excite or to get people's attention and have some fun with this, but yet get more of their attention and to get them to take this serious tradition or transitioning away from traditional tools. So I stumbled onto something and I referenced it earlier. I stumbled on to, instead of doing your typical presentations or educational seminars, I started doing my meetings in the format of a 12 step meeting. And I start every meeting like I did today saying I'm part, I'm a recovering soil spreader. And normally like you guys, I get the proverbial chuckle or I'll get a look like what the heck is this corny guy up to? But it was a way to kind of immediately grab the people in the audience, their attention, and to get them to focus on what I had to say. And anytime that you can get people to laugh, you normally, it immediately disarms them. And that's hopefully what it accomplishes each and every time I do that quickly thereafter, I do tell them my story. And I do tell them that my story is real and I immediately gained credibility because when I tell my stories, they know that I'm one of when cleaner I've cleaned buildings. I know what it's like. I've used traditional tools, I've used better methods. And so when I get around to talking about the different options that are out there, I refer to them not as cleaning tools or genres of microfiber cleaning, but I referred to them as actions for a path to recovery. And after the corny laughter subsides, what I find is instead of them pushing back on that notion or immediately going into don't tell me I've been doing this for decades. I know how to clean. And what tools do you use? I find them occasionally talking amongst themselves already discussing or analyzing which one of the three paths to recovery might work best for them in their building or in their area that they're responsible for. And then that's when I say underneath my breath, bingo, because probably in the past, most people in our audience have been told what to use and have been given little opportunity to provide input or have not been afforded the time to be explained to of why that method or why that path will or how it will benefit them. That's what I stumbled on to. So it is a way to not bore me or my audience, but more importantly, it's become a way to help the end user customer, whoever they are manage this change or transition. And that's why I find it to be extremely important. And I feel like I've almost found a key to unlock the real secret of how we can get this society of ours and the cleaning industry to finally embrace and use in mass better tools and better methods.

Brandon Schoen:
Yeah. I just want to jump in the part. That's awesome. I'm super excited and listening to this. So just reading some of your content here. So as a recovering soil, spreader recognizes that there is a better, more efficient way to clean using microfiber products and these enlightenedcCleaners actively seek education and tools to stop spreading soil and truly start cleaning, which that's what we're all about. The Profit Cleaners and in our business, just always finding new ways to be more efficient, to clean, better, to do things in a better way.

Brandon Schoen:
Hey guys, I wanted to take a quick break to let you know a little bit more about our course, the 10X toolkit we've put together so many amazing resources to help cleaning businesses like yours, learn how to get more recurring clients on the schedule. The systems we teach you in this course are the exact same systems we've used to grow our cleaning business to seven figures in just three years. In fact, in one year we were able to accomplish the growth that our mentor in Denver had in 10 years. So it's definitely a shortcut guys to success. Model after that success, everything from finding the perfect clients to learning how to keep your schedule filled, we cover everything you need to 10 extra business and without wasting your time and money to learn more about this incredible course, head over to Profitcleaners.com/courses that's Profitcleaners.com/courses.

Brandon Schoen:
And you were mentioning kind of that pushback. You were telling me a story earlier when you got here at the office, but just that pushback. Sometimes people have this resistance to change and you had mentioned a story of somebody that was really resistant, but then eventually said to actually really love your system. They kind of came around. Maybe you could share that with us.

Par Ricketts:
Sure so I would say that most people get it. And when I am supervisors or owners in the audience, I mean, it's the theme or it's the content that you guys normally focus in on is how do we can be more efficient and make better use of our resources. And certainly there's plenty of a story about microfiber and the tools that are combined with microfiber technology that make some of those facts just obvious. But at the end of the day, oftentimes if you're a housekeeper or employee doing the cleaning itself, your interests are different. And so I found myself not too long ago, doing some training at a university only about 40 minutes from my home. And I could tell that one of the custodians at this university, I'd like to think that I appeal to everybody and I'm considered a nice guy, but I could tell she was not on her favorite list, probably because I was trying to show something different and get the whole staff, including herself to use different tools. I wasn't probably at the top of her list, but she was polite enough to listen and to ask good questions. And although I still don't think I personally want her over. She went about her way and started using the new tools. I found myself back about 30 days later, do some training of some folks that were not able to attend the first one. And I spotted her down the aisle or down the hallway. And we walked by each other. She never broke stride. She leaned and talked out of the corner of her mouth. And as we are passing by one another, she says probably a little reluctantly by the tone on like your system. Okay. And of course I'm jumping up and down cause I consider that a major win. And when I stopped, I said, wait a minute, seriously, why you say that? And her response was simple yet profound. She said, I like it because my back doesn't hurt when I go home anymore. So what that told me was it was a reaffirmation frankly of that. Sometimes it's the simplest things, but in her world, the ergonomic benefits were the most important thing. She probably was a good employee and it was great that they were more efficient. It was great that they use less water and use less chemical. But her main focus was how her back felt and how her arms felt when she went home at night and took care of her kids. And so it taught me a lot. It taught me to know who my audience is and to make sure that I always am addressing concerns that are probably most important to them. And not assume that they like just a laundry list of the benefits of some of the products in the system.

Brandon Schoen:
So just opening that mindset to seeing what could be better. And just, I think in that scenario, she was experiencing it for herself and being like, wow. And I think when we started using microfibers, right from the very beginning, it was because our mentor had tested probably the cotton stuff and the single mop buckets and all the different tools that just aren't as efficient. And that's why we're here. Now. We're trying to look for the best, seek out the best, be the enlightened cleaners looking for. I think, I feel like we're still recovering obviously, but yeah.

Par Ricketts:
I'm sure there's many listeners out there that may be are using some microfiber, but maybe not across the board, maybe they're just using claws or just a couple of products. Whereas there are so many products now. And again, I must say that what makes it really dynamic and beneficial to folks that transition? It's not just the technology. We've done a great job in a lot of companies have in pairing buckets and handles and tools that allow you to reach places easier or allow you to do certain tasks a lot quicker. So it's comparing the right equipment with the microfiber textile itself. It's that combination that really yields some cool stuff that can make business go a lot smoother and a lot more.

Brandon Condrey:
Yeah. Well, I mean, one of the changes we did make was we used to use feather dusters, which is soil spreading by air. Like it's, you're just waving it around in the house. It's not a good look, especially if you've got sunlight coming through there. So, well we switched to instead was a, it is a microfiber duster. It kind of looks like Marge Simpson's hair. It's got a bunch of fingers that stick off of it. And it's a reusable sleeve that goes over a very flexible wand at the end, the wand, we got it specifically for ceiling fans. Cause you could bend it in the shape of kind of like a 90 degree angle to scrape off the top of ceiling fan blades where you can't see it. But that ended up replacing the feather dusters, which we were using for picture frames and things. So we have this big extension pole, so you can reach very high ceilings and corners through the high dusting, which we always preach to our customers that not a lot of people do that. And so that microfiber addition was a way to cut out a tool that was very old and not efficient. And you know, feather dusters has been around forever. So it was also a two in one shot. So we replaced that tool, got a new one and the feather duster is the best you can do to clean it out is wave it around. At the end of the day, the microfiber dusting sleeves actually come off and we launder those. And so they get cleaned just like everything else. They get run through the wash with the sanitizer and the disinfectant and they're ready to go for the next house. So yeah, I definitely encourage everyone to kind of take a look at everything. If you think outside the box a little bit about what you could do, it goes a bit beyond just color-coded rags.

Brandon Schoen:
Yeah. And if you wouldn't mind par, I mean, for people out there who are thinking, God, this sounds really great. I want to be looking for these solutions and looking for ways to do things better. I mean, even just thinking of that last story, how much happier your employees could be when they're feeling better and they're not their backs aren't hurting and they just feel like you care because you're investing in better quality products and tools, but what are the five steps to recovery? Like what is the path for going down? Maybe you could just share with people, how do they get from zero to being open-minded to exploring these Profit, like these new tools and this equipment that we're talking about so they can change their business for the better.

Par Ricketts:
Like most 12 step programs, which by the way, I am a big fan and proponent of 12 step meetings, frankly, because they work. And so when I do this, I do this in a lighthearted way, but I explained to everybody I do it because I know they're effective. And I also, the lighthearted way I go about it enables us to address what I consider to be a real serious issue in the industry that I love. So that's the explanation of kind of why. And so nobody thinks we're exploiting or doing anything other than just showing respect. Like most 12 step programs are five steps. The most important one is the first one, which is admitting that I am one. So when I do meetings, I tell them, I say, Hey, I'm looking for just one person today who finds enough information from what we talk about to start their recovery today in truly acknowledging that this is silly, I'm using the same single cavity mop bucket in that nasty water. And I'm just spreading it around and that's not cleaning. That just is, it makes no sense whatsoever, no more sense than taking a feather duster and flipping the dust up in the air. So it lands somewhere else. So admitting isn't the number one, number two is recognizing, and you can do this either at our seminars or online or through a myriad of ways, but recognizing and educating yourself on all the different methods or alternatives that are out there seeking help as the third step. And that just means that instead of assuming, you know, how to transition or you know, what the right solution is for your business or what right tools match your business and your business model, you still should rely on somebody that does it and knows it well and seek and get that help. Basically. I'm going to leave it at there. Maybe in a future podcast. I don't think your audience or you guys are ready for steps four or five yet will take us through. There you go. All right. Actually want to master those first three?

Brandon Schoen:
Sure. Yeah. We could probably have you on another future episode where we could do maybe like a video version of the podcast in our studio and have you like present and kind of demo some of these products for us and really show the behind the scenes of that.

Par Ricketts:
That'd be awesome. I look forward to it and I would just say that again. We have fun with this and I want to bring it back to managing change. We pass out coins, denoting, people who have been a recovering soil spreader for a month or six months or a year. We have some fun. We end our recovery meetings for my seminars where the soil spreaders, serenity prayer. So we've got this theme on steroids. We have fun with it, but I want to go back to it is a way if you have anybody out there that you're employing that they fight change, or you've tried to introduce some of these tools in the past and they found reasons not to accept them. This methodology works and I would encourage you to consider it. And I think that sometimes is as if not more important than the tools themselves that we talk about.

Brandon Condrey:
Perfect. As we wrap stuff up here, Par, I'm curious just to hear your opinion as a manufacturer, how did COVID impact cleaning over the course of 2020? When I first met you? We were trying to, I was asking you a bunch of questions. We were early on. This was before masks and before restaurants shut down. But one of the things I'd asked you is, you know, making sure that your supply chain was going to be good because I was really worried that China was shutting down. And so I'm just curious how it all ended up shaking out. We're now basically a year into the pandemic and things are kind of looking up a bit now with vaccines and case numbers going down. So how did it shake out from your end?

Par Ricketts:
Well, to state the obvious the pandemic has been horrible, but I'm a positive person. And the one positive that COVID brought us in the U S and across the world is a renewed interest or intrigued in how can we clean and disinfect surfaces better. And if it accomplished that, that's a tremendous thing and it really has. So what we found or what we've seen is it's pretty obvious that the attention early on and it continues to be how do we handle and clean and disinfect touch points better? What are the better methods? What's the better way of handling that? So we've seen frankly, a, an explosion in disposable microfiber, cloths, and pads, and even washable or laundry bubble tools that do desktops and countertops and restroom partitions anywhere that's considered a critical touchpoint, there's different microfiber tools and products to address those. And they've been very, very popular for obvious reasons, but I even see the mopping systems, the cleaning systems and everything else, having a nice resurgence or what I like to tell people is even some people in the past end users that I've been in front of that in the past, for whatever reason have been reluctant to not only change, but even listen to notions or ideas on how to do things better. They are not now coming in, circling back around and are more open. Now, maybe it's forced because their bosses, whether it's schools, superintendents, or cleaning companies, owners that are saying, wait a minute, we need to take a serious look at this. It's caused everybody to think more about cleaning the importance of it. And that's a good thing for everybody in my, in my estimation.

Brandon Schoen:
Absolutely. Yeah. Maybe you could touch on just like what makes microfiber better and especially cause we're talking about cleaning better right now, especially with COVID and everything. Like what makes it better and why is it more efficient or why is it better?

Par Ricketts:
Yeah, I'm not very technical. So I'm going to be real simplistic here. Anybody that's ever grabbed a microfiber cloth, especially in the winter months when your skin is dry and they rub it across their hands, normally people don't like how it feels because it snags or grabs that dry skin. And that still remains for me the best way to describe to someone why it works better. Because if you can imagine any microfiber tool, it can be a cloth that can be a mop. It can be a duster, but under a microscope, it's thousands of these little hooks and it's, that's what those hooks are. What's grabbing or snagging your skin. But now imagine them going across the floor or a wall or any flat surface, it's those hooks that are grabbing way more effectively than cotton or cotton blended material, the gross soil, the bacteria, the germs that are on a surface. So they just grab more soil. And then as I said earlier, add to that, they launder a lot better. They hold up a lot better. They last longer. And because of that extended life and because they've come down in price, all microfiber has, it's a great value now. So it's exploding, but still there's so many more people who still have not made that change or made that transition. And that's who we're trying to reach to.

Brandon Condrey:
Right. Thanks so much for coming on today. It was great to talk to you about soil spreading and recovery and what that looks like in terms of how we can help people adjust to new methods. So I think we've got a website set up that you can learn more about NUfiber and par.

Par Ricketts:
Yeah, absolutely. So we're, obviously you can just go check out NUfiber, but if you want to get on a specific list that we're putting together here, we're going to try to work with par and see if we can work something out special for you guys. But either way go over to Profitcleaners.com/NUfiber that's N U F I B E R Profitcleaners.com/NUfiber. And that will direct you to where you need to go to learn more. And I think that's pretty much it. I mean, I don't know. Is there anything else you want to cover on the microfibers.

Brandon Condrey:
I think we covered it all, but we could get Par say our tagline on the way out, which is keep it clean!

Par Ricketts:
Keep it clean with microfiber.

Brandon Condrey:
There you go, guys. Thanks for tuning in today. And we'll see you guys on the next one.

Brandon Schoen:
Absolutely. Keep it clean guys. Bye-bye!

Announcer:
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