Happened to be in one of our county buildings last night. kept seeing a yellow blur out of the corner of my eye going back and forth. Couldn't catch up with it so I followed the cord to the wall and pulled the plug.

Much to my suprise it turned out to be a yellow Cimex streaking back and forth. The guy running the machine was almost jogging. What a sight the other guy trotting along side trying to pour solution in the tank.. Sure cleaned a lot of carpet in a hurry. Looked great too.

Hello BLS,

What is your name (I sort of like to know who I am talking to) and what county is this in?

Thanks,

Tony

Yep,....it won't be long there will be guys all over the place jogging behind thier cimex machine, They have to Jog because they are all trying to do it cheaper than the other guy, and when they get down to 2¢ a foot they need to start running.

We really need to keep this encapsulation stuff quiet,...before we have companies giving away our livelyhood. Just look at what has happened to HWE over the years,...too many people doing it, and willing to give it away.

I still love that machine, Doing a 4 story Bldg on sat Im actually looking foward to it this time, Rick you need to build a flip down seat on that thing, After about 10,000 ft of carpet you have to take a break,
Good luck to all.... Jim

Tony according to one of the above posts we should keep this yellow machine a secret. Seems like good advise. Course I would think Rick would difer with that idea. And it is probably best that I don't divulge it's exact location since I do not own one as of yet. I will tell you that I saw it on the East coast of Florida. Barry

If this is the Barry I think it is, you’ll get all sorts of experience with it in Plant City today.

David Gelinas

Nope not the same Barry.

Actually I was invited to see the Cimex in operation in the scenerio mentioned above. The first two areas that where done were small dining areas that were moderately soiled. Did an excellent job but because of the small spaces the production rate was average. Next were 2 small offices that were heavily soiled. Again because of space the going was slower. Again results excellent. Next an area 50 ft wide by maybe 100 yards. This is where the cimex really produced. Results were again excellent but production rate was superb.

This was a high traffic facility and I was able to look at carpet that had been cleaned over 30 days ago with this process and it still looked great.

The only real short coming I saw this evening was in the heavily soiled offices around and under the desks. The machine did not get close enough to the bases of the desk or computers, where the secretary sits and shuffles her feet all day long. Maybe the smaller cimex would solve that problem.

For jobs where security,long hose runs and price are issues this system provides a great alternative. IMO

I agree with you Tom. I know nobody in my town knows about it. And i want to keep it that way.

Yep,...

It only takes 2 or 3 guys in a town to get this system and the prices will drop.

Right now I can get 10¢ a foot easily for commercial work. There are HWE guys here working for 5¢ a foot,...once they get wind of this encapsulation stuff they will be doing it for next to nothing,.....just like they are currently doing with HWE.

My guess is that if they are doing HWE for 5¢, that they could, and would Encapsulate for about 2¢.

I can see my meal ticket sailing off into the sunset....

Keep your prices where they need to be. Sell your self,and your service. This way you will still be in business next year,and the low ball guys will be gone. It happens all the time.
But with all that said ,I'm not telling my competers of my Cimex either. I did tell & show Barry the mystery man.
Now I'm looking foward to my 15" Cimex which is somewhere in the Atlantic right now. Safe journey to the Cimex.
John L

“Henny Penny the sky is falling, the sky is falling.” So the story went. Remember the story we read in our childhood where something fell on Henny Penny’s head when she was out in the field. And so she ran and reported the crisis to everyone she met.

I have thought about this encap secret of ours and the concern that letting the cat out of the bag might be a bad thing. Maybe the sky will fall.

Well let me share a personal experience:
I got a call a couple of months ago from this fellow named Jim McDannel who lives about 5 minutes from me. He wants to see a demo of the Cimex. The thought honestly flashed through my head right then “me and my big mouth” – “here’s a guy in my town that does commercial work, wants to do more commercial work, and now he knows about encapsulation too”. “What have I done”?

So I go out and meet Jim at one of his jobs. He likes what he sees. In fact he likes it so well that he whips out a credit card and purchases my demo machine right on the spot. Oh my goodness, he is now going to be running a Cimex machine in MY TOWN. The end is near!

So Jim drives away with my Cimex. And over the next few weeks I speak to Jim a few times and I see him post on the boards. Jim actually has the nerve to brag about jobs that he’s doing with the Cimex right here in my town. Why, he even had the audacity to post right here in this very thread – “Doing a 4 story Bldg on sat I’m actually looking forward to it this time” – OH MY!

Well Jim is now my Cimex competitor. But you know what, I also have many other competitors in my town. They are by and large all using HWE truckmount equipment. All of these truckmount guys have similar equipment and they all compete for the same customer base. And yet many of them have been successfully competing year after year with other local cleaners who have the very same tools, chemicals and training.

I’ve been in business for 21 years in a town with lots of competition. So I’m thinking that I will survive. Even though Jim will be doing a 4 story building with his Cimex this weekend; my carpet cleaning sales have been unaffected. So Jim may be my new competition, but I see him as more of a friend in the area. I will do whatever I can to help Jim. And in the short time that I’ve known him I get the impression that he’d be willing to help me too.

Another reason why I’m not all that concerned is that many carpet cleaners are so closed minded and tied to their HWE dogma that they will NEVER accept such an alternative method as encapsulation. Many cleaners also still have the mindset that there’s no way that they would ever clean a commercial carpet for less than .15 per sq ft. And I also think that most of the cleaners and the industry at large still has no idea about encapsulation. For instance here’s a post that I saw on the CCS board this afternoon...

Why do I feel guilty?
Posted by Lee Senter on August 22, 2003 - 03:07 PM
I met an IICRC instructor this week and I decided to show him the town and catch a ballgame.
As we were talking I am mentioning things like encapsulation and OP pad machine and he really has no idea what the hell these things are.
I mention the bulletin boards and ask him if he ever lurks around.
He says no, what are these bulletin boards.
So I gave him the addresses to Cleanfax, ICS and CCC.
I feel like I have just done the equivalent of getting someone high for the first time. For I know that he'll never escape.
I warned him.


So Henny Penny – perhaps the sky won't be falling after all. I think maybe we’re gonna all be okay.





And just one more thing...



Jim,
You better stay away from my customers or I’ll call my cousin Guido and he’ll give you a working over that you won’t soon forget.




Rick Gelinas

While the Sky is not gonna fall,...and if it does we'll have more problems than dirty carpet won't we LOL

But right now, for the most part, I'm the only game in town as far as Encap goes. It sure is nice when the custy has nobody to compare you to. Makes the sale simple. Can't compare apples to apples when there's only one apple.

As soon as a few guys get into this I will have competition for the custy to compare me/my prices to. Gonna make the sale much harder.

While I'm sure I'll still get plenty of work, and all will be well,...it just can't be same as being the only game in town.

I hear you Tom.

Okay Jim, I was here first! You're just gonna have to pack up and get the heck out of Dodge.




Rick Gelinas

LOL



Rick Gelinas

Thanks rick for you kind words, Yes we do live in the same town but there is so much work out there, And you have mentioned some of the work you do, I would never go after it, I do not believe in that if nothing else the well is deep enough for all of us,
Best wishes to you and your wife, And yes that 4 story Bldg did pay very nice into my checking account LOL. I must admit the money is GOOD running that CIMEX beats pulling hoses.. And thanks for letting me use that spotter on the Purple Spot it did'nt help but the effort was there. We learn evey day in this bussiness
Jim

Sorry to hear your 15" Cimex is IN the Atlantic. Any idea how deep?

BLS......Just my luck,, will hit a hurricane and never to be seen again.