Cimex as pre-scrubber

[mike r]

Good morning guys. First time poster. This site is chock full of good info so I'm hoping you can add a little more. My name is Mike Ramsey and I own The Steam Team Commercial Services in Spartanburg SC. We are strictly commercial/industrial and service large office buildings as well as manufacturing facilities. HWE with TM is our method of choice and we do no VLM cleaning. My question: on low pile carpet how does the cimex compare to a 175 as a pre-scrubber? When we do scrub we use mostly fiber pads; seem to do much better than a brush. We get some pretty good results with this method. Does the cimex do better overall or is it just faster? Please no advice on how we should be using this as a VLM system as it is not a good fit for us and more importantly is not a good fit for our customers. Looking forward to your replies. Thanks in advance!

 

[Desk Jockey]

The Cimex will clean better and faster than the 175, simply due to the fact of the planetary rotation of the heads.
By cleaning all sides of the fiber it leaves you with a better looking product.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Yes, the cimex is a carpet scrubber. This is exactly what it is designed to do.
Cleans much better, faster and less fatigue. We use it on every commercial hwe job, takes just as long as pre-spraying but with much better results.

PS. you're crazy for not offering some vlm cleaning...

 

[Desk Jockey]

Please no advice on how we should be using this as a VLM system as it is not a good fit for us and more importantly is not a good fit for our customers.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PS. you're crazy for not offering some vlm cleaning...

LOL

 

[joey895]

I also use my Cimex for pre scrubbing and like stated above it is better, faster and easier than a 175 with the only exception being loading and unloading that beast. Ramps definitely recommended.

I bought mine with the idea of using it for vlm unfortunately most of the jobs I encounter NEED hwe so I don't get to use it for vlm all that often.

 

[hogjowl]

It's heavy, a pain in the ass to load, and not worth the extra cost IF ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH IT IS PRESCRUB PRIOR TO HWE. A 175 rotary with a fiber pad is just as good, much less expensive and won't break your crews backs or require a ramp.

I only load mine on the van if I am going to do a vlm cleaning.

 

[Shane Deubell]

I also use my Cimex for pre scrubbing and like stated above it is better, faster and easier than a 175 with the only exception being loading and unloading that beast. Ramps definitely recommended.

I bought mine with the idea of using it for vlm unfortunately most of the jobs I encounter NEED hwe so I don't get to use it for vlm all that often.

We go through highs/lows too. No rhyme or reason to it...

For whatever reason sometimes we will have 10 hwe jobs in a row.

 

[Desk Jockey]

It's heavy, a pain in the ass to load, and not worth the extra cost IF ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH IT IS PRESCRUB PRIOR TO HWE. A 175 rotary with a fiber pad is just as good, much less expensive and won't break your crews backs or require a ramp.

I only load mine on the van if I am going to do a vlm cleaning.

Is there EVER a day that you are not grumpy? If so what "day" was it.

 

[Clean Response]

Since you say you do commercial carpeting mainly a Cimex is the only way to go... The 175 would be an option if you did residential as your primary.

 

[hogjowl]

Is there EVER a day that you are not grumpy? If so what "day" was it.

If you'd offered round trip tickets to Topeka this morning, I'd probably have gone three or even four posts without bitching about something.

 

[mike r]

Marty, thanks for your reply. That is what I was trying to figure out if it performed any BETTER OR FASTER as a pre-scrubber. As far as the "crazy" comment, well I knew that was coming. We do a lot of work for building maintenance companies as well as janitorial companies. They do not like any type of dry cleaning or vlm cleaning. They are all set up for this type of cleaning and the minute we attempted this the would say "well we can do this, what the hell do we need you for?"

 

[Desk Jockey]

If you'd offered round trip tickets to Topeka this morning, I'd probably have gone three or even four posts without bitching about something.

FREE???? I doubt it.

Maybe one post!

 

[Shane Deubell]

Marty, thanks for your reply. That is what I was trying to figure out if it performed any BETTER OR FASTER as a pre-scrubber. As far as the "crazy" comment, well I knew that was coming. We do a lot of work for building maintenance companies as well as janitorial companies. They do not like any type of dry cleaning or vlm cleaning. They are all set up for this type of cleaning and the minute we attempted this the would say "well we can do this, what the hell do we need you for?"

Yes we are mainly commercial and run into similar situations. Although we run into more in house union workers then janitorial.

Used 175rpm's for 15 years before i ever even knew what a cimex was.
Definitely better and faster for pre-scrubbing only, it is heavy but i assume you have at least 2 guys for every job anyway.

 

[hogjowl]

Mike:

I have only had my Cimex for about a month now, so my opinion may change over the next year. I do agree with all the professional posters above that the Cimex is faster, and it probably does a better job of scrubbing. However, I've prescrubbed with a 175 and a green pad for YEARS on CGD and have offered outstanding results to my commercial customers. You can only prescrub so far ahead of HWE before the prespray dries. So, what good is it if you can prescrub 2000 s.f. with a Cimex in the same amount of time you can prescrub 800 s.f. with a rotary if you can only prescrub 400 s.f. ahead of the guy on the wand?

No sense in carrying a mill stone when a cheese grater will do.

 

[mike r]

Thanks for the reply Shane. This is my dilemma and goes back to Marty's reply. The Cimex would be used strictly as a pre scrubbing tool so I am weighing pros and cons. I have no doubt that it will be faster but will finished product look any better? How much of a bitch to load and unload? Worth extra cost? Not long ago purchased a RE tool and used it one time at BMW. In storage ever since. Considered buying new head for it for commercial applications but don't even think this will bring us around. I may be wrong on this though. I'm sure you guys know the RE I'm talking about. Just don't want to purchase another piece of equipment that will not be used. And yes we have at least 2 guys on all jobs.

 

[mike r]

...and I love the stoned cheese reply!

 

[Shane Deubell]

Welcome to the internet michael!
No matter what question you ask half the guys will be pro and the other half con....

 

[tmdry]

If speed is not a concern use the 175, however since pricing out commercial work relies on knowing your productivity rate(s) than the Cimex wins.

Unless these guys are looking over your shoulders, you can always HWE TM the heavy soiled areas and use the VLM 175/Cimex on the non heavy soiled ones. You will get the same results doing it this way.

 

[jwfoulk12]

If I wanna knock out some commercial square footage in a hurry I'll run a cimex to prespray and scrub and a zipper to rinse. I don't think you'll find a faster combo that produces amazing results.

 

[Goomer]

I don't have a Cimex, but looks to me that just about anyone can immrdiately run one regardless of any experience with it.

Not sure I can say that about a 175, as they can require a firm grip, decent strength and endurance, and somewhat of a learning curve before I would let someone loose with one.

Who's going to be running them, and which one would be easier for them might be something to consider.

 

[Mike Draper]

I have a 175 & a cimex. 90% of the work I do with my cimex is pre-scrubbing. I shower feed with it while scrubbing and it is amazing to see the results i get. Its very fast and the 175 doesnt compare with how good the cimex scrubs. The 175 is great, but the cimex is king. probably one of the best pieces of equipment Ive purchased for my business. you wont be sorry.

 

[Nate The Great]

It's heavy, a pain in the ass to load, and not worth the extra cost IF ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH IT IS PRESCRUB PRIOR TO HWE. A 175 rotary with a fiber pad is just as good, much less expensive and won't break your crews backs or require a ramp.

I only load mine on the van if I am going to do a vlm cleaning.

What happened to your reply when you first got the Cimex?

http://mikeysboard.com/forum/showthread.php?275175-Is-the-Cimex-still-king/page3&highlight=cimex

Used it the first time today.

First thing I noticed was, you people are all pu$$ie$! The thing is no harder to load than a rotary.

I could tell immediately that the bigger wheels were a good purchase.

They put too long of a solution hose on it. It was crimped. Once I straightened that out, I was good to go.

I cleaned all afternoon with it and got 2 days worth of work done.

I'd still go with the Cimex over a 175 imho. It's easier to run for anyone to use, less chance of user error. It's not so much the heaviness of it, it's just more awkward to load. Forward to back instead of side to side motion.

 

[hogjowl]

What happened to your reply when you first got the Cimex?

http://mikeysboard.com/forum/showthread.php?275175-Is-the-Cimex-still-king/page3&highlight=cimex


I'd still go with the Cimex over a 175 imho. It's easier to run for anyone to use, less chance of user error. It's not so much the heaviness of it, it's just more awkward to load. Forward to back instead of side to side motion.

I can't use myself as an example for others. I have to assume that everyone I give advice to is a normal sized person with girly strength. Such as yourself.

 

[Mikey P]

I have a 175 & a cimex. 90% of the work I do with my cimex is pre-scrubbing. I shower feed with it while scrubbing and it is amazing to see the results i get. Its very fast and the 175 doesnt compare with how good the cimex scrubs. The 175 is great, but the cimex is king. probably one of the best pieces of equipment Ive purchased for my business. you wont be sorry.

In homes?



I've only done it once, when I just so happened to have it on the truck


It was a house used for a few months by the crew of some MTV reality show

 

[Mike Draper]

No sorry, my post is relevant to commercial use IMO. I've only used it 1x in a home. I run the 175 in homes

 

[Nate The Great]

I can't use myself as an example for others. I have to assume that everyone I give advice to is a normal sized person with girly strength. Such as yourself.

Don't be bitch! (in my best Russian accent)

 

[Shorty]

It's heavy, a pain in the ass to load, and not worth the extra cost IF ALL YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH IT IS PRESCRUB PRIOR TO HWE. A 175 rotary with a fiber pad is just as good, much less expensive and won't break your crews backs or require a ramp.

I only load mine on the van if I am going to do a vlm cleaning.

Wimp.

Re; the drying out problem prior to extraction, I've never had that happen.

BUT, I do live in an area where humidity is always fairly high.

One can control the amount of solution put down WITHOUT over-wetting the carpet, scrub with Big Yella; & then rinse extract.

The more I read about the Zipper, the more I love it.