Popped my Cherry today......

[Brian R]

The earth is flat
There are no "germs"
We'll never land on the moon
Lazers are fiction

 

[Desk Jockey]

They also said that artificial sweeteners were safe, WMDs were in Iraq and Anna Nicole married for love.

Mr Rate "Shooter"

 

[AJR]

Ok I am listening, Brian. A while back I started a bit of encaping with a low speed swing machine, some green striped pads and some Bridgepoint encap chem.. I mainly started because of the occasional call back on Berber wicking. I use it for floor striping also. My question is, so as far a production for my large commercial jobs can I make due with my current set up or is the cimex that big of a difference in performance? I know the vortex is a beast to deal with, lots of maint. And so on, but as I have stated in the past it’s a marketing tool. There is a reason why Cintas is working their commercial accounts and using Areotechs to try and transition into carpet cleaning and floor maint. Most cleaners are working out of a van the big diesel truck give of a more commercial cleaning image and so on. A good carpet cleaner can spot clean carpet with a toothbrush, water and a rag need be lol.

 

[Jeremy]

You can do quite a bit with a rotary, in fact I'd say it's one of the more versatile tools out there. Until you find that you need more agitation &/or higher production save your money. In fact save a few $ from every commercial job and then buy a Cimex/OP.

The main advantage of a Cimex or an OP over a rotary aren't on light soil the production increase really shows on heavier soiled carpets. On a wide open lightly soiled carpet the rotary will hold its own in the hands of an experienced operator. In fact I surprise myself everytime I pull my rotary out for a carpet job...

 

[AJR]

at what rpm does the cimex run? also it looks like the cimex uses a type of pad like a scrub pad, is there anything besides bonnet pads to use on a rotary?

 

[tim]

I cleaned a autopart manufacturer plant with my cimex and it made a beleiver out of me. I brought the truckmount, fully expecting I would need it. I tried the cimex first and all the employees stood around slack-jawed watching amazing results. They signed up for a cleaning monthlly and I make $250-$300 an hour just walking behind the cimex. I would only do encap if I could! Brian needs to invest in a cimex. I have padcapped with no better results than the cimex and alot slower and washing/replacing pads was time consuming/expensive. I would gladly trade my 21 inch brute for another cimex! I am definitely a fan of the cimex!

 

[AJR]

so what do the consumables cost per sq. ft. pads and chem? how long do the pads last and are they expensive?

 

[Brian R]

If I were doing tons of commercial I would buy a cimex.

I padcap residential so I need a machine suited for that. The Orbot has been great....But still considering the Trinity.

Pads ARE expensive...around $15.00 each for the ones I use (Microfiber with scrub strip) but so far they have outlasted the $21.00 cotten blend pads and LOOK new still....Where the cotton pads look like dog crap even after a good washing.

I've used the cimex and it's a monster.....really easy to use once you start using it. Heavy as all hell and hard to pull out of a truck without a ramp or something like that.

 

[TimP]

The biggest thing I've had to deal with while shampooing with a Cimex is not to leave the cimex resting in one spot when you turn it off. You'll get 3 brown circles, I presume from extra detergent on the pads. At least it happens in my conditions. I always turn it off and lift the head of the machine off the carpet. I probably shampooed 80,000' of carpet last year. Clients can't really tell the difference between HWE and Shampoo, there is very little that I have to fix with HWE. It saves a bunch of time. I preferred the Releasit DS last year. I haven't tried the new Snake Oil yet.