Cimex awareness, Zipper enlightenment and other random observations

[Mikey P]

deep breath..



Last week when my pump was acting up I had a restaurant job that I HWE'd 4 months ago.
They have another location that I have been rotating HWE and Cimexing with great results so I figured I'd Cimex it this time and not risk having the pump die on me. I was worried that in four months this older carpet in their busier location might be too far gone for VLM and I was right.

I thought off all the VLM only guys who would have no choice and in their spirit I jumped in .My 175 and loads of pads was set up and ready to mop up the slop every 100 feet or so.. The Cimex being the Cimex bust all the soil loose in 3 to 4 passes and post padding was like running a wand over it. I've never seen such a dramatic difference with the second step like this. The pads were extremely soiled and juicy. I used both sides and almost ran out.

To be honest, if I had a helper and a solid pump, I would have ran the 360iBH..

So here are some thought I had while grinding away..

Why do cold Encaps loosen soil better than hot solvent based pre sprays?
The first time I cleaned for these owners I applied a the highest pH prespray I had, loaded with solvent and oxy boosters, scrubbed with a new Red pad/175 and then Zippered and it came out like hell ..

I had to then respray and use the 360BH to get it right

Which was really SLOW..
The BH is no fun to run on Glue Downs and you're luck if the valleys in the concrete subfloor allow for it.

This is Cimex only..

They want to go on a 3 month schedule for both locations and I need to move through them quicker so my thoughts are use the Cimex with an Encap to pre scrub and use the Zipper with a detergent rinse.

If I had more of this type of work (3PM restaurants) I'd spring for the Zipper SS. and (maybe) lose the Cimex step.. maybe.



I just "know" that if I run Flex though the Cimex that it wont loosen to soil as well as a Shampoo in this concentrated soil setting. I could be wrong and I'll do some side by side testing there next time.



I'd like to hear Billy's restaurant techniques.


and @Tom Forsythe's thoughts on why good encaps loosen soil better...

 

[Tom Forsythe]

Type of carpet and type of soils matter. Flex works best for oil based soiling, while Traffic Slam works best on particulate soiling. If I follow your procedures correctly, you first extracted and then encapsulated. My guess is that, even though, it looked bad after extraction, the process had removed (maybe as much as 2/3) alot of soil. The reduction and loosening of the soil load allowed the encapsulation step to work more efficiently. Encapsulating polymers also slow down wicking of soil resulting in a better appearance. The theory that good encaps loosen soil better is an interesting hypothesis. Another theory could be that the Cimex loosens impacted soils better than truckmount extraction.

 

[Mikey P]

On a few school accounts we HWE first, let it dry then use the Cimex to even out the appearance/fix wicking. These are all dry soil overload, no grease.

Interesting that I'm resorting to doing the opposite for restaurants.

 

[KevinD]

Question? When you say the cimex performed better, what were you using? pads or brushes on it?
Reason I ask is you say you used a red pad and a 175 the first time with so so results.
I have always had better results with a shampoo brush on a 175 vs pads.

 

[rick imby]

So Mike another thought.

Most restraunts have unlimited HOT water. The health department requires it.---Mine had a 150 gallon water heater with very high capacity reheat. It also had a fixed heat temp we could not turn down, it was around 160 I think.

Put some bigger jets on your brush head Rotovac, direct hook to the hot water and pour the hot water to it. You could use a booster pump but I think the heat would torch the booster pretty quick.

Just a thought...

 

[Mikey P]

Question? When you say the cimex performed better, what were you using? pads or brushes on it?
Reason I ask is you say you used a red pad and a 175 the first time with so so results.
I have always had better results with a shampoo brush on a 175 vs pads.

I like the Clean Freak Shampoo brush for pile carpet but on tight glue down it's almost worthless. A new Red, worn Brown or very worn Green are great (but not great enough for this VERY busy joint) on most CGD

The baby poop Brown Cimex pads are the best bar non. As aggressive as the dark greys but last 5 times longer

 

[Mikey P]

So Mike another thought.

Most restraunts have unlimited HOT water. The health department requires it.---Mine had a 150 gallon water heater with very high capacity reheat. It also had a fixed heat temp we could not turn down, it was around 160 I think.

Put some bigger jets on your brush head Rotovac, direct hook to the hot water and pour the hot water to it. You could use a booster pump but I think the heat would torch the booster pretty quick.

Just a thought...

my 370 will stay hotter than that.

 

[Shorty]

Oops.

 

[Shorty]

Bugger, just deleted it all.

I like the Clean Freak Shampoo brush for pile carpet but on tight glue down it's almost worthless. A new Red, worn Brown or very worn Green are great (but not great enough for this VERY busy joint) on most CGD

The baby poop Brown Cimex pads are the best bar non. As aggressive as the dark greys but last 5 times longer

How long have these been available & where could I purchase them??

I've never heard of these pads before.

Thanks for a great informative post.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

Just wondering... not being a smart a$$- If you had your Vortex and a Zipper SS instead of the 370...with issues now fixed, what would you have done to clean differently? Would VLM still been part of the work flow for you?

 

[Mikey P]

yep, same story in Scruz on restaurants

Scrub and Zipp

 

[hogjowl]

This hurts my head.
Nap time!

 

[MerCrewser]

I remember seeing these pictures awhile ago when you first did this and remember thinking that something was wrong. We prescrub with the cimex and really any decent prespray or rinse detergent works as well as an encap juice for the multiple restaurants we clean. Infect we usually mix it at its lowest mix ratio. We extract with the zipper. Interim is encap with the cimex.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Don't just Zip it...Zip it & spin it!

Spray it, crb if needed, then Zipper SS!

 

[Mikey P]

Looking forward to the next visit..

 

[Cleanworks]

Mikey, if you are going to cimex it first and then hwe with a zipper, I would use something like Procyon Plus Powder for your final rinse. Not the most powerful but will clean what the cimex left behind and won't foam or leave sticky residue. Having used the Zipper on a few jobs so far, I am impressed with the flushing and vacuum performance. The Zipper spinner can only be better and your 370 has enough vac power to handle it. My truck after my mod's will too so Erik may be getting a call in the future for a spinner head.

 

[Mikey P]

Sounds like a plan..


Im rebuilding their vaccums next week, Ill get some more photos..