[seamus campbell]

Need some help,using a rotary for first time on monday to agitate prespray have borrowed it the guy has afew pads and the least abrasive one is grey he has red and green aswell he also has a. Bonnet pad,I would buy an xr grey that I've heard on here but its abank hol would the grey pad be ok,and finally are rotarys difficult to use many thanks

[Simon Gerrard]

Seamus,
You agitate pre-spray with a rotary brush, not a pad.
If you're not used to a rotary machine you need to get some practise before using one on a customers carpet.
You need to tread carefully here, Seamus because you're clearly not sure of what you are doing and that is when you can make big and potentially costly mistakes.
Simon

[Steve Rothwell]

Once more I find myself agreeing with Simon.

You have the potential to cause untold damage with a rotary, and that is before you put a pad on it.

If you have not option but to use a pad for agitation the highest grade is a buff pad, I would not use it, but it is the lesser of any evils out there. As Simon says a shampoo brush is the ideal agitation for a rotary.

Try it at home, with damp carpet (or you will go spinning round) before you approach a customers house, at least learn to control the buffer.....................

[Gary Humphreys]

Seriously dont try a rotary out on a customers carpet. I ruined a carpet in an end of tenancy property by burning a ring into it! The carpet was a minger but I still replaced it.
Learn from my mistake not yours Lol

[garry22]

Seamus,

The grey XR pad is for agitating low profile commercial carpets only. I would not use it for domestics.

[robert meldrum]

Can't say you weren't warned ...............take all of these comments on board or you're risking some serious damage.

First time I tried a rotary it shot off to the left and smashed a twin socket in an office .  If you've no one to demo it the main thing is to get the handle low and close to your body.

VERY GENTLY raising and lowering the handle will move the machine sideways and forward / backward and you WILL get used to it quickly.

Until you know what your doing it would be best to use bonnets but make sure they and the carpet are damp

[Doug Holloway]

Hi

Have to back up what the guys have said, I would only use a rotary cautiously on domestic and I first used one in 1973!

Remember a good dwell time can be as effective as agitation and a lot safer!

Cheers

Doug

[wynne jones]

You haven't said what the carpet it is whether it's a low pro commercial or Mr Jones' year old Axminster. I would spend today practicing on your own, maybe if you have a cheap polyprop rug.

But if it's domestic I would say forget the idea. Is it a 17" rotory?

[expro]

Simon is spot on. Use a shampoo brush on domestic carpet and a LOW speed [150-175rpm]machine
on carpet.

Set the handle of the machine at about the height of your trouser pockets.

Hold the machine so that the top of the motor is level.

Switch on the machine and it should stay where is.

RAISE THE HANDLE and it moves to the RIGHT.

LOWER THE HANDLE and it moves to the LEFT.

I would try it out on concrete or a hard surface  first.

[seamus campbell]

Thanks guys. I expected as much and your right I know very little about rotary and I would never use a tool on a customer carpet without practice,up to now I've only used a pile brush on domestics which isn't a problem. But this is a night club and will be a bugger with a brush I was intending to use solution Hd which I know needs lots of aggitation now I'm going to use powerburst and just use the brush and take my time,gent anymore tips and advice would be appreciated thanks seamus

[Steve Rothwell]

HD is fine with a good dwell too you know.

[Jim_77]

Hi Seamus.  Several things...

Firstly the HD will do a damn good job on the majority of the soiling, so not a bad choice at all.  I'd dilute it at 1:20 or maybe even 1:15 for this job and apply it as hot as possible.  Yes it does need agitating the same as any other product but not any more than anything else.  It is the type of carpet and soil conditions that determine the agitation needed, not the product you're using.

However if it doesn't cut the mustard on certain areas it would be wise to have something as an alternative like powerburst.  Each of them can be better than the other in certain cases, so it's good to have a choice.  However you obviously can't go shopping before the job now, so hopefully you've got a few options chemical-wise.

If you have an oxidising additive I would use it regardless of the main pre-spray, you should find it helps out a lot.

Choice of attachment for the rotary:  Presuming it's the usual type of pub/club carpet (contract axminster or similar - cut pile) a brush attachment is ideal but if you haven't got one, the carpet bonnet will do a much better job than any of those other pads you mention.

As far as practice goes, have you got a smooth hard floor at home? (e.g. tiles or vinyl) If so, stick the bonnet on the machine, wet up a couple of square metres of your tiled floor and have a play with it.  As already suggested, you should concentrate on setting the handle the right height - I find it right when the handle is around my belt buckle height (you should too as long as you don't wear your trousers like Simon Cowell )

After a little practice you should be able to control the machine with one hand, out of the corner of your eye whilst texting on your phone with the other hand

When you move on to carpet you'll find the friction much greater, so it will be a lot more difficult to control.  But if you learn on a nice smooth hard floor first you'll be able to cope with the carpet much better.

If this wasn't a nightclub or similar I'd probably be advising you not to try the rotary on a "real" job without experience, but in reality there's probably very little danger in this case.

Have fun

[seamus campbell]

Thank you all very much for your advice it greatly appreciated,I will have ane early start in morning a lot of chewing gum to remove before I get going with the carpet cleaning,I will give the rotary a lot more though be fore I use it, would anyone have a photo or a link of a shampoo brush so I can see exactly what I'm looking for for future reference
Again thanks for your help
 

[Jim_77]

There's basically 2 different types of brush attachment you can get for a rotary.  A "shampoo" brush is generally a soft-bristled one, originally intended as the name suggests for brushing in crystallising shampoo (they call it encap nowadays) into most types of carpeting.  Obviously it's much more forgiving than a "poly" brush which is a stiffer scrubbing brush.

The poly brush will scrub hard floors and also do carpets as well... commercial synthetic, carpet tiles etc and also you can use it on domestic type carpets as long as you know what you're doing.  It would ruin a very new-looking woollen loop pile though, and some cut pile carpets wouldn't fare very well from it.

However if a carpet is trashed and needs such a level of agitation, a little bit of pilling is probably not going to be a deal-breaker, or be noticed.

I only have a poly brush for mine, and use it a lot on domestics as well as commercials.  It is extremely useful on EOT jobs where you need a damn good scrub, gets into the pile and lifts it much better than a sebo duo for example.  Restores cut pile polyprop excellently, and is what I use on jobs like pubs/clubs/restaurants

How did the job go anyway?

[Adam P]

can you link to places to buy the brushes you're on about jim?

[Steve Rothwell]

trouble is Kermit................

if your machine is not the same make and size as Jim's   

the link aint much good to ya is it   

[Jim_77]

Exactly!  My machine is a SM model, unavailable to the public!  In fact it's so secret I will now have to kill you for even mentioning it

[Steve Rothwell]

Kermit..........................

you can run ........................

but you cannot hide   


Jim is gonna get ya       

[seamus campbell]

Hi folks as you were all helpful I thought I would give you a bit of an update,I have to say it was very hard work but got it done over 2 days and was. Very happy with result, I used powerburst while I was waitin for my HD delivery and the used a brush to agitate,had my 11 year old remove chewing gum all day(he was brilliant at it) I extracted with my porty and was really happy with results, and the should be when they see it in morning, a big thank you to JIM Neal for his wonderful advice and the time taken to give me that rotary adcice and again thanks to all who help

Seamus

[Jim_77]

Nice one Seamus, no worries   Glad you've done enough to make yourself pleased, and not had a nightmare (many would on a nightclub job!).  Must have been a damn hard job agitating by hand!

2 days work   Bet you're feeling it now!

Incidentally, I forgot to add that if you get the stiffer type "poly" brush (which I'd recommend), the first thing you need to do before using it on carpets is scrub it in before use... .you should wet up a bit of old concrete or something outside and run the brush on it for a while, best for at least 30-60 mins.  This will take a bit of stiffness out of the bristles, lay them over slightly,  and also smooth the ends of the bristles a bit so they will not snag or damage any carpet you use it on.

Before the first use on carpet, test it on an off-cut just to make sure.

Have fun with it, and remember a rotary does so much more than agitate carpets before extraction