does the chemstractor have a better cleaning result with the vacuum being present verses none at all w/ the cimex?

? what cleaning products do you use when the carpet have a noticable level of oily soil and not dry soil?

? does this method remove any of the asphalt tracking seen on commercial carpets.

the chemstractor seems to have more benefits with different types of cleaning that can be done, but from what i have read it is slower on encapsulation?

please answer questions with personal experiences, this is most helpfull

thanks greg

The Chemstractor has an apparent advantage in that there is some extraction. But don't get carried away with that when it comes to commercial carpet. The Chemstractor can only recover about 25% on commercial carpeting.

By comparison the Cimex may look like it has the disadvantage since it has no on-board extraction. But keep in mind that with encapsulation we're not depending on extraction, since the encapsulated soil particles can be extracted with post-vacuuming.

How do the machines compare? The Cimex scrubs with over 600% more efficiency. It's a simple equation: (there are 3 brushes as opposed to one - spinning over twice as fast). PLUS - the brushes are counter-rotating which adds to the agitation even further! And since it's counter-rotating as opposed to rotary it is safer for the fiber.

You asked for experience. I have owned and used Chemstractors for the past 10 years in my commercial carpet cleaning business. They're great machines, very well made. My company has cleaned millions of sq ft of commercial carpet with them; we still own two of them. But we now use and prefer Cimex machines. These are what we use for our jobs now. The Chemstractor is quite good. But in the end, the Cimex blows it away. We can clean an average of 2K-3K sq ft per hour with the Cimex, compared to 1K-2K sq ft per hour with a Chemstractor. Plus the Cimex machines are considerably less expensive to buy too.

Bottom line: Either machine would be a good choice for commercial carpet. I have been impressed with both of these machines and have used them heavily in our cleaning business. That's why I feel comfortable representing each of these machines in my supply business. Whichever you choose should prove to be a fine acquisition for your business.




Rick Gelinas

My experience.

I have run a Chemstractor since 1980. Residential mostly, commercial a lot, but only a small percent of total business.

Doing encapsulating cleaning, I don't use the extraction parts, just shampoo it in.

I find I can only get about 200 to 250 sq ft with it per gallon of RTU, it seems the Cimex gets 300 or more sq ft per gallon. Different machine, different agitration, different results. That's OK, I am too close to retirement to start with another machine.

The question- does it work? The answer- you betcha.

I think it depends on what your business is, what machine to get. If your business is primarily residential, I think a Chemstractor will work better, if primarily commercial, the Cimex will be better for you.

Another factor is total speed. I have a friend with a Cimex who has helped me on some big commercial jobs. He covers the territory a lot faster than I can with my Chemstractor. No question about that.

Gary

Are you using scrub pads or brushes on the chemstractor to encap?

I am using the regular brushes that came with the Chemstractor. I don't have any pads.

I did see Rick's demo with pads at Winterfest in Pensacola, and certainly was impressed with the results.

The object of the pads is basically the same as the brushes, but I did see the pads work more efficiently than the brushes, but like I said, until I finish and finally retire, no more new equipment for me. That does not rule out new chemicals though, and Releasit is now a firm member of my cleaning family- another weapon in my arsenal.

Gary

Rick advised me that Hesco has a driver for the chemstractor for about $ 36.00. The pads increase my sq ft per hour.

Hey, thanks for the tip. I will have to look into that.

Gary