[Simon Gerrard]

I am trying my best to get on with the LM method, but I'm struggling.

We did a school today and decided to LM two of the worst areas. Sprayed it with Pure Clean with a touch of shampoo in it and it looked better than before. Then we went over it with the TM and it looked way better.
I suppose it doesn't help that we have a powerful TM running alongside us but even so the results from the LM method just aren't good enough to satisfy me that we've done the best possible job for the client. Am I missing something here?

First  picture taken on arrival at the job.
Second picture taken after LM with Pure Clean over the entire area. We then cleaned the left-hand side with the TM and left the right side as it was with LM only. Even so if you compare the right sides of the two pictures, the LM method had made an impact, just not as much of an impact as the TM, not surprisingly perhaps.
My question is, if you were doing this job by the LM route and had no other system to compare the results as above, would the client accept the right-hand side of the second picture as an acceptable result?
Simon

[Neil Williams]

Some probably won't agree with me but I don't think LM is as good a clean as HWE but it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Low profile carpets in a school don't need to be so clean that a baby can eat it's food off the floor, unlike a domestic property. (their just my thoughts btw). So I think the result would probably satisfy the customer.
What pads are you using?
If their cotton did you run a clean pad over the HWE area because you'd be surprised to see the pad change colour then too.
In all honesty you'd get a better fuller answer by speaking to someone on the phone, call me if you want an honest answer to this 01256 411941 or 07771 884699

[garry22]

Would the client accept it ... No.

To be honest Simon, I would expect it to come up like the left hand side using LM.

I have not used Pureclean so I cannot comment on it's performance.

[Simon Gerrard]

Garry,

So how would you go about getting like the left hand side?
Talk me through it.

Simon

[andrew christopher]

Hi Simon,

Iv been doing some schools over the holidays, similar look as your picture to start with. I have been using rotobrite 2 with some chemspec energiser added, on really bad carpets we sometimes use 2 rotary machines one with a scrub pad and one to go over again with a normal pad. The scrub pads i use are from restormate. You obviously dont need 2 machines can just swap pads over.

On large jobs we work in a 3 man team, one man starts vacing first then another one sprays then the last man uses machine with scrub pad, and the spayer man then pads with ordinary pad. When the vac man has vac all over he can spray and fill spayers etc.

Just to add i have a truck mount so could use it but prefer the padding on the schools we have done.

Iv never used pureclean or micro splitters to pad. Iv always used rotobrite 2 and been pleased with results so felt no need to try anything else. Its good on tea/cofees spills in staff rooms.

Andy

[garry22]

Simon, I've got Dry Fusion so I can hit it with a constant 85 degrees (on the thermostat)

Good dry vac first (unless the area is really greasy).

A LIGHT pre spray ( to avoid overwetting. Yes even on LM).

Agitate with bush / restoration pad (yes I know they are supposed to be for cut pile but they work)

Pad with very well rung out pad. If necessary use a dry pad afterwards.

Although not part of the DF system, I also use a turbo dryer. The key is not to get it too wet. If you do you are in trouble.

I understand that a lot of people get great results with Solutions HD Microsplitter.

Hope this helps.

[garry22]

Andy just beat me to it about the scrub pad

[Simon Gerrard]

Andy,

That sounds like a well thought out system. I've got some Rotobrite 2 coming tomorrow.
what colour scrub pads do you use?

Simon

[andrew christopher]

Simon,

The pad is the type with bristles on
http://www.restormate.co.uk/epages/15094.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/15094/Products/9526


When you get the rotobrite try it as a prespray on a longer  profile carpet and use your flexi 5 with dry compound over the rotobrite, you maybe suprised with the results as per another thread on here. think its the rotobrite that does a lot of the cleaning and the dry compund helps leave drier.

Rotobrite is an encap chem so no residue issues.

The system we use works well, its blu tack that messes it up, One of my guys put unleaded in a diesal van so you can guess who is on blu tack removal tommorow!

The funny thing is that when we were given the go ahead on the schools one of the main reasons was that i had a truck mount! The results were enough to convince that the cleaning was good enough with rotary find it quicker and on small areas can split up easy.

Andy

[Mike_Roper]

I prefer to pre spray and scrub with a grey scrub pad from Solutions then follow up with pads dipped and wrung out in your fav cleaning solution
Mike

[andrew christopher]

Hi Mike,
 Are they like a floor pad? I like the pads with bristles because they are double thickness to an ordinary pads and some of the schools i have been doing have uneven floors. The thick pad with the weight of the machine seem to cope with rough floors. I wonder whether the floor scrubb type pads would bounce over uneven floors.

Andy

[Joe H]

Simon
What you have not done is tell us what procedure you used.
ie
did you vacuum thoroughly before pre spray.
did you agitate after prespray.

As with any other sort of cleaning choice of cleaning fluid is important.
My choice would not have been Pure Clean - though it says on the Pure Clean "tin" it can be for rotary.

M-Power/Nemesis would have been better, but as already mentioned Rotobrite11 is very good and Solutions Fusion Clean is v.good too (it has a "lubricant" in it to keep things slippy).

Did you not look at the photo John Kelly did a few days ago showing a bad carpet which had Rotobrite11 as the prespray, then the Envirodri and finally sponges (assume Envirodri) to finish of. Good result.
If you had done the first 2 steps and then finished off with a rotary pad soaked and then wrung out you too would have possibly got a good finish.

[Simon Gerrard]

Joe,

We used the Flexi 5 first then pre-sprayed and agitated it with the Flexi 5 then padded it.
Apparently a red pad is good for agitation and so next time we'll try that.
What's the deal with a wet, rung out pad as opposed to a dry pad?
What's interesting is that people seem very confident they could get the left-hand side result with LM, that would be impressive.
Is this just a matter of trial and error until you end up getting a result?
Sorry for all the questions, I'm just dabbling in this as you can probably tell.

Simon

[robert meldrum]

Morning gents

On the strength of regular reports and development of machines across the pond I've been posting for the past couple of years about the increasing use of and better performance of o/p machines.

I've used Texatherm where you use saturated pads which are wrung out then used with results which I found pretty amazing. The disadvantage is the number of pads required for large areas, although they CAN be rinsed and re used if the man power is present.

Padding was started 'way back before most of you were born in the 1940's and the company who started it are still around.

Recognised TOP MAN in padding is a guy called John Guerlink ( spelling might be wrong  ) at   ccsop.com

[garry22]

What's the deal with a wet, rung out pad as opposed to a dry pad?

Simon,

That is the key bit.

If you have been using a dry pad straight after pre spraying, then that will almost certainly explain the results in the photographs.

It is the equivalent stage of rinsing with your TM.

[Joe H]

and I should have added that the "wet" part of the well rung out pad is a cleaning solution as like the pre spray.

[Simon Gerrard]

Thanks, guy's that's helpful.
As fate would have it quite a few jobs have come our way that may give us the opportunity to practise this new fangled art. New to me, anyway
Thanks

Simon

[jasonl]

I could have achieved the left side look . The key issue for me was in the first line of your original post "a touch of shampoo"   that is why it was not so effective.

[Simon Gerrard]

Jason,
My instinct to use a dash of shampoo dates back to my training which admittedly was about the same time Boadicea was driving her chariot around the streets of Londinium. 
Why would a dash of shampoo stop Pure Clean from getting a result?

Simon

[jasonl]

Shampoo, would make the pad"slippy" so it would slide over the soiling rather than bite into it.

Lm really needs a paradigm shift from the HWE way of thinking, a bit like the difference in driving a car and riding a motorbike.

Raking and pre vaccing are still very important , even on low profile as shown.  As has been said a wet pad will achieve better results.