[rich hand]

Does anyone have the carpet/hardfloor wand from Restoremate? Very cheap, wondering how it compares to the far more expensive gecko.

[rich hand]

Or what about the hydramaster spinner to rinse the floor at 300psi?

[Cathedral Floorcare]

I'm thinking about getting that hard floor wand, I'll let you know if I do. I looked at the Hydramaster spinner but I don't like the fact that it's laid out like a normal wand - I prefer to have handlebars like a normal rotary floor scrubber so I'm getting a Turbo Hybrid.

[rich hand]

Thanks that would be great!

Looking at your post on the truckmount can I assume that you mainly use a rotary and solution to break down the soiling and then simply rinse? I only have a 500/600psi portable and so was hoping that cleaning with pad and then rinsing with a hard floor wand at low psi would be fine. The question is which tool is best for rinsing.

Keith Robertson recommended the Gecko to me but it is very expensive with both the squeegee and brush head.

[Cathedral Floorcare]

Rich,

Yep, that's what I usually do - alkali, agitate, then often add a nano-abrasive, and scrub with a rotary and then rinse. The abrasive takes a hell of a lot of rinsing out so I reckon the spinner will a) make that easier and b) shift more soil. I want the hard surface wand because it'll shift any residual moisture left from the spinner on riven/rough floors. That's the idea anyway!

I'm loooking at a 1200psi porty too. Then I will use the tm for carpets/stone/victorian mosaics, and wheel out the 1200 for blasting the hell out of commercial ceramic/porcelains. 

Chris

[rich hand]

Chris

ah good, that makes sense. What nano abrasive do you use and do you think 500psi would be enough to remove it easily enough using the spinner?

What have you used up until now to rinse the floors after the intial chemical and agitation?

I go on the IICRC stone etc. course soon but any other help I can get is appreciated 

cheers
rich   

[Cathedral Floorcare]

I use Aquamix products, both acid and alkalis, as I've done some training with them. I've tried other stuff too, but so far theirs have been the most effective. The nano abrasive I use is a thick cream made by them and is called Nano-Scrub (unsurprisingly!). 500psi should be more than enough to rinse it out I reckon, it's usually just a case of rinsing off a few times and running the rotary over the floor again to get rid of the residues, but the spinner would do it in one pass and also give that extra cleaning power at the same time.

As for rinsing - kentucky mop, lots of clean water (and occasionally a ph neutral cleaner as well) and a wet pick up. I've never neutralised the floor chemically, as I've alway assumed the rinsing would have sorted that out, but I may start testing to see what kind of ph levels I'm leaving on the floor. Also, I've not used air movers as yet, but I'm going too now I've read up on them through this forum. As it gets colder drying times on hard floors seem to stretch out forever....

I might look into that IICRC course, it sounds interesting. There's so much to learn about stone, but not many good resources to pick up info from.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Try getting a turbo drier they are cheap and you can half (at least) teh drying times.

Shaun

[Cathedral Floorcare]

Rich, I forgot to point out, in reply to the original question, that the physical difference between the Gecko and the Restormate wands is the Gecko has four jets and the Restormate has two. And iirc the Prochem wand has a single jet, but a swivel head?  
The Gecko has interchangeable heads too, but as far as I can see you can only get them if you don't mind sourcing them from the US.

@ Shaun - I'm looking at driers at the moment. I can't believe I've not bought one before tbh, I just build in a couple of days drying times on most jobs, but it's always a pain. I much prefer to be in and out, as it were.

[Jim_77]

Don't forget about fluff when using turbo driers!  Stick em on before you do anything, you'll soon find out how much crud comes out from behind the radiators and off the tops of kitchen units.  I once had to strip off my first coat of sealer and start again after creating a fluff storm in a kitchen!  Took me about an hour afterwards to vacuum the bloody place through as well

I bought a radiator brush recently..

www.choiceful.com/choiceful-id-1302-Long-Radiator-Cleaning-Brush.html

...used it on an Amtico job the other week, in conjunction with my vacuum cleaner to get the worst of the fluff out from the back of the rads, but it won't go down the really small gaps in the fins very well so not a complete solution.  Better than nothing though, doesn't take as long as you'd think.

Pictures on walls and light ornaments are also in danger of being blown over and damaged by turbo driers, watch out for them!

I've given up on turbo driers in domestic homes, I use 18" axial fans instead, much more manageable to use and also to transport in the van.

[Cathedral Floorcare]

Thanks for the tips Jim. Where do you get your axial driers from?

[John Kelly]

The Craftex hard floor wand you refer to is not nearly as robust as either the Prochem or Gecko. It is very good for light use and for sucking up residues from floor stripping. If you are planning on doing a lot of hard surface cleaning then I wouldn't recommend it (I wouldn't want to sell you something you would be unhappy with). If you have the psi available then I would go for a Turbo Hybrid. These are an excellent well made bit of kit. Lent mine to a local Chem Dry and he'll not give me it back

[Cathedral Floorcare]

Thanks for the info John, thats good of you to post that info. I was planning on using the wand for just as you suggest. I actually have a Turbo Hybrid and Cobra currently sitting at East Midlands airport en route from the US. I'm looking forward to playing with them, but think my Spitfire might be a bit low on psi so I'm going to get a 1200psi porty to get the best out of the Turbo. 

[John Kelly]

Much cheaper option to use existing porty and buy an electric pressure washer to spin the tool and use porty for vacuum.

[rich hand]

Im now thinking that the best option would be a spinner and a mop, even with a porty.