[Jim_77]

I did a Tile & Grout job this week where my rotary brush just wouldn't get into the grout - it seemed to be a bit of a deep joint and I ended up with arm ache having to tilt the machine sideways... and still ended up on hands and knees with a scrubbing brush which took AGES

I'm thinking for what it's worth, probably better get one of those vee-shaped grout brushes on a long stick but because I hate doing manual labour that a machine can do, was wondering if a CRB machine is any good for this?  I'm thinking it may be too messy and possibly damage the machine with the volume of liquid involved in this type of work?

A softer brush on the rotary may be the answer as well because the one I've got is a bit stiff, but I can't get any other sorts of brushed for this machine as it's not got the standard fitting like Victor etc.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

The grout brushes are a must-have Jim. I scrub the floor first, by which time the solution has been dwelling in the grout lines.

The grout brush is very stiff, so a few scrubs is usually all it needs to release the dirt build up.

CRB wise, I'm guessing something like a multiwash/rotowash would be a safe bet ?

[derek west]

sawn off plastic yard brush is fantastic. get a yard brush with hard plastic bristle's, cut them down to about an inch in length but make some a fraction  longer,

you can have that one for free jimbo.

[Paul Moss]

this is were im a bit spoilt with the hbot. i just put the brush on it and then it automatically spreads the tiles apart with its arms and then scrubs the grout up lovely, pushes the tiles back together again and then moves onto the next tile. The machine is so good that it can stand on the spot and once i went to get a coffee and left the machine running and when i came back it had scrubbed of half the floor.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I used to use a challenger op and found it excellent on safety floor but I prefer my multiwash on tiled floors albeit a bit messy.

Shaun

[Jamie Pearson]

You need a tynex brush. Soft bristled but silicon carbide impregnated so have a good scrape to them. They won't damage the tile surface either.
You can throw some honing powder down to boost it up. Also available is the monster brushes from nulife that are the same as above with more aggression but have a space in between each of the 5 segments so they can get into grout and more uneven surfaces well.

[Jim_77]

Thanks a lot for the replies, sorry I've been away on holiday last week with no internet so couldn't get on here!

Interesting suggestion Jamie, will look into it.

Shaun when you say messy do you mean you get splatter up walls etc?

[peter maybury]

Jim
I have always found that the karcher crb or the rotowash will get a good result on grout or uneven mosiac tiles.

Petetr

[Steve Gunn]

Host sell red brushes for their machines specifically for this

[Jim_77]

Don't have a host and not likely to in the foreseeable but good to know cheers Steve.

Pete, thanks for that. Still considering my options to be honest.  I'm thinking probably a new rotary is on the cards, one that I can get different brushes for - the one I've got only has stiff bristles and I think that's stopping it getting in to deeper grout joints.  I need a softer brush anyway for stone polishing/honing so will probably kill several birds with one stone getting a new machine.

Thanks all

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Sorry didn't get back to you straight away Jim, yes the Multiwash I has splashes a bit not much but when mrs pffiteron is watching you wipe down her plinth oooer missus then you think there may be something better out there but it does get in the grout lines Jamie may have a 2nd hand one also Steve gunn sourced a good brand new rotary supplier with all tank and brushes from eBay and its heavy enough for what you want.

Shaun

[Jamie Pearson]

All you need is a hardcore rotary to tackle all. We no longer use a crb for agitation on tiles, as good as it is, now we have graded brushes for the rotary. A good heavy low speed machine is the backbone of any hardfloor setup.

[peter maybury]

Jamie ,
will graded brushes give you the different direction of fall that you get by rotating a crb.? I find that a lot of the time with a rotary a need to wire brush the grout lines, where as with a crb it is just a matter of rotating the machine.  Both machine I find have their uses, flat surfaces for rotary s but crb s do come into their own on uneven surfaces. Aggitation of carpets with a crb is far more effective .

Peter

[COLIN BRIGHT]

what does CBR stand for?

[AshWhite]

Contra Rotating Brush

[COLIN BRIGHT]

still dont know what that is?

[AshWhite]

Rotowash/Multiwash/Flexi5 amongst others.

A machine with 2 brushes which spin in opposite directions, helps to make pile 'stand up' when used on carpets (as well as agitating presprays).

[Jamie Pearson]

Jamie ,
will graded brushes give you the different direction of fall that you get by rotating a crb.? I find that a lot of the time with a rotary a need to wire brush the grout lines, where as with a crb it is just a matter of rotating the machine.  Both machine I find have their uses, flat surfaces for rotary s but crb s do come into their own on uneven surfaces. Aggitation of carpets with a crb is far more effective .

Peter

Because the bristles on these brushes are very flexible, but barbed, they perform well on groutlines and heavy textured surfaces. We have always used this type of brush but now find that with their Frankfurt design they are even more versatile at climbing with increased psi too.

[Jamie Pearson]

These brushes aren't suitable for carpet application.

[COLIN BRIGHT]

aaahhhaaa thanks for that, i just use my trusty victor scrubber i got off of shaun for £100, thanks mate, still going strong,, and a red or black pad, maybe a little scrubb with my cheepo pound shop brush and rinse with truck, job done, never had a problem