The Safety Data Sheets, with all products, only usually tells part of the story. Not all ingredients are listed. I presume that the only legal requirement is to list harmful or hazardous ingredients or compounds.
On Wednesday, I was speaking to a Welsh colleague who runs a T/M and Dry Fusion. On occasions, he had used his "Fire Engine" to speed up drying. Because he wasn't going over carpet with the lubractive properties of Activator or Bactoshield, it a) put an unnecessary strain on the machine 'till it burnt out and b) the drying process was generating a steamy mist which had found it's way into the machine and perhaps accelerated or maybe even caused it's demise. There were visual signs of a rust coloured nature present within his machine. During the discussion, there were anecdotal cases quoted of people using their "Fire Engines" with non-Dry Fusion consumables. They too were said to produce a steam mist and again visual rust coloured staining could be seen on the machine. Nobody reported any such problems with D/F branded solutions. Yes, it was a Dry Fusion event, Shaun Bradbury was present and his experiences supported what others had told.
Because of the unique lubricating properties of the Dry Fusion solutions, the machines can safely run at a higher speed than most, if not all, rotary carpet cleaning equipment. If the balance isn't right, pile damage will result. In most cases, rotary pad cleaning tends to flatten cut pile wool carpets. Brintons Carpets in Kidderminster have a reputation of being very demanding and setting very high standards. Below is a testimonial from them which many of you may have seen before:
Sue Cook,Brintons Carpets
Although Dry Fusion uses a system of rotary bonnet buffing not normally recommended by Brintons, we did not see any evidence of pile flattening on the carpet sample cleaned. We are happy for it's use on our carpets, as long as the work is carried out by a competent cleaner, in accordance with the Suppliers' instructions using the correct fluid. As far as I'm aware, this is the only rotary pad cleaning system that has been given the OK by Brintons, but I stand to be corrected.
I have no experience re. the use of Super Pad Charly on a Dry Fusion Machine. My logic tells me that apart from the risk of pad damage if used at full heat, the pad itself may retain the heat and not allow much of it to pass through to the carpet. Also, at the higher RPM, there is the risk with any micro-splitter, or other cleaning solution, of carpet damage. This is why the industry accepted norm for rotary carpet cleaning is about 180rpm, with upto 230rpm in smaller diameter machines. I believe that the machine sold by Solutions UK for use with Super Pad Charly is about 180rpm. The 290rpm quoted above for the Dry Fusion on it's 18" diameter pad is far beyond these accepted safe guidelines.
Safe and happy cleaning
Ken
