Problems with our new centrum duster!

Chris A

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Funny, but on a serious note, what made you decide to go with the tumbler vs a flat bed duster like centrum also makes? Gentler, cost, etc? How many rugs can you throw in that thing at once and for how long?
 

rhyde

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We get plenty of rugs that haven’t been properly dusted before previous washing and when these rugs are washed the dirt solidifies in the base and becomes much harder to remove.
Strap dusters / flatbeds are ineffective at breaking up this type of soil a beater bar vac like a sanitaire fairs a little better but it’s painfully time consuming .
Also, thick rugs like Gabbeh’s and 60 knot Nepalese rugs are hard to beat soil out to the face.

By tumbling a rug in the tumble duster it flexes the rug breaking solidified soils and grinning the pile open. It alternates from clockwise to counter clockwise
We had 8x10, 9x12, 4x6 Tufenkian 60, a few gabbeh’s runners, 3x5 ‘s I think it was 12-13 rugs total and probably could have doubled it and then some and ran it for 20 minutes. We didn’t get all the rugs pulled by the end of the day and tested using the vacuum / strap duster pulling open the pile and looking but I was very pleased with the results of the ones we did.
 

rmann

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Robert Mann
We use the same tumbler ('star wheel' duster in the old days, 'dolap' in Turkish) that Randy Hyde uses; we also have an old Moore 16' flat bed duster with metal beater 'straps'. We put very few rugs through the flatbed, though it's great for old Sarouks and other rugs whose foundations may not be able to take tumbling action. We run nearly everything through the tumbler before wash and, selectively, after. Try putting a flokati through a flat bed duster sometime and you quickly discover one of the many advantages of a tumbler.

Our tumbler has an 8' drum and we find that it works best with a a few rugs at a time; we typically put anywhere from 100-500 square feet of rugs in a load, depending on the relative weight of the rugs and type. I have used tumblers of similar size in Turkey where we regularly loaded 600-800 square feet of rugs at a time. Tumbling after cleaning is great to remove any small amount of residual dust, but also helps 'polish' and soften rugs coming from the drying room (think how jeans feel when first taken from drying on a line in the sun; scrubbing them in your hands softens them). The polishing action is particularly useful with silk and cotton pile rugs. 500 square feet of silk pile carpets can be groomed and softened in 20-30 minutes in a tumbler. Care to guess how long that might take with a hand brush and steamer on the floor?

Randy will be hosting a tour at the ARCS/Portland Or. meeting in May and will certainly be demonstrating his duster. We are in Denver and welcome anyone who wants to visit and see ours in action.


mannrugs.com
 

rhyde

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So far we have been very happy with the duster all be it, a tense moment today when an employee put a Kerman with mildew damage in and I didn’t catch it for 5 minutes …..Surprisingly no damage. My employees are already saying a finishing duster for clean rugs would be nice

damn you Monahan, damn you! :winky:

As Robert points out some rugs are not suitable for a dusting wheel but my gosh the thick new stuff in particular Gabbehs, Nealese, Woven shag Indo stuff. For me It’s not a matter of quicker it does a better job, faster more thoroughly.
As for ARCS we will do some dusting stuff and who knows what else? Much will depend on what we have in the shop and what people want to see? Unfortunately, following Roberts shop with all the toys and 1/2 million dollar Chiefs blankets is hard act to follow. :shifty:
 

sweendogg

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Its not the size of the shop.. its how you use it! :icon_rolleyes: Besides you have three months to get your home brew stock up enough for all of us!

P.S. could really use a tumble wheel today... 12x18 90 line.. and oddly all of my helpers have dissapeared :shifty:
 

Mikey P

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very interesting.


I like how Robert has them in closets to contain the mess..



So what situations would you NOT want to use this over a strap duster or Sanitaire?
 

Shorty

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Is the Badjer still being sold ??

Not heard much since his shop went up in smoke.
 

Papa John

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I'm suffering from Size Envy after being at Robert Mann's.
My "plant" is less then 500 sq ft!-- goal is to buy warehouse soon!!-- just not easy to do here in Expensive SF at 300-$450 sq ft for warehouse!

I was amazed how much soil and lint was removed from rugs that were already cleaned up to 5 times, prior to being put into the tumbler! the lint was the size of a small dog!

I judge people by their Actions not their words.
Last year when I visited Robert Mann for the first time he had only 1 tumbler-- he now has 2 tumblers. His flat bed duster appears to be in semi-retirement in what I would call a storage room..

A tumbler and a real centrifuge are on my must haves once I get more space.
 

Chet

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I talked with Robert and value his opinion above just about any. He let me know if he had only one option it would be to buy a tumble duster. We have a badger now, and will purchasing a Tumbler as soon as we can afford one. We will always need a badger or flat bed duster because we do too many tufted rugs and other rugs that just can't be tumbled. But a tumbler will dust rugs automatically while your doing something else. As stated above, a tumbler will remove a lot more dry soil than any other method. And it can be used to polish rugs.

We are building a shed (Dusting Room) to house the duster, it will be built adjacent to one of our overhead doors. It doesn't need heat, all it needs is electricity and a large garage style door to easily load rugs into it. This way the dust and mess will no longer be in our cleaning plant. We will also install a dust collection system in the dusting room. We will insulate the room and be prepared to heat it if we find it necessary.
 
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T Monahan

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Joe Appleby

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I'm looking for a HEAVY DUTY steel platform cart 8' long and 3-3.5 ft wide to carry rugs.
Haven't found anything of that size. I'm tired of repairing our old wooden cart.
 

T Monahan

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Tom is that motor enclosure recommended for dusting closets? I don't think Randy o

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Everyone does their own thing. Some have their motor outside of the containment room. We boxed it in within the shed and gave it a fresh air vent on the side of the shed,
 

Joe Appleby

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We're building a closet for our tumbler. It's the 8' tumbler.

Would any of you who have built a closet done something different if you were to build another?

Currently our plan is to make the roof strong enough for storage as well as mount the vacuum on it. We are thinking of
using a roll up for the door.

I've also requested Tom put wheels on the tumbler for portability so we can clean the closet interior.
 
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GeneMiller

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gene miller
I don't get it. You turn that thing on full of dirty rugs and the stuff goes everywhere. No giant vacuum like in a woodworking shop sucking up the debri. Sounds like you'll need new lungs from all the stuff you'll be breathing in.

Gene
 

T Monahan

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Not quite like you expect Gene.
Yet most of the facilities make an enclosure. Almost all put in an exhaust fan or what you describe as a woodworking vacuum system. 12144936_1196778597002882_3027826229285188525_n.jpg 12072732_1196778620336213_2094625342414549793_n.jpg
Heavy stuff accumulates on the floor and is swept up periodically. 3 piles shown here from ARCS day, just before Rug Summit 9, was what came out of the rugs shown without the aid of a human. Except of course, the initial loading them in the tumbler.
 

T Monahan

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This is my personal Tumble Duster at Area Rug Cleaning Company. I have it outside. There is an exhaust fan located in the back of the shed not discernible in these pictures.
 

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