Hi Chris,
The pads we're presently using are proving to be more consistent than the pads that we were formerly getting. We made the change to the new pad manufacturer two and a half months ago. Since then we have sold just shy of 300 cases of these new pads, and I've been hearing only good things from the guys who are using them. They seem to be a lot more consistent than the previous pads. There are actually a number of reasons for making the change, so I'll list them here...
To start with, what makes these new pads better? The new pads are manufactured with far more fiber than the former pads had. These types of pads are constructed with fiber and filler material. Building a pad with more fiber costs more than using less fiber. Since these pads have a higher percentage of fiber content they're not as stiff feeling because fiber is softer than fill material.
The new pads look a little different as they wear. You may notice more of the the fibers protruding from the pad's surface. This is a result of the difference in their construction.
What I did not like about the previous manufacturer was the inconsistencies in their pads. We would sometimes find different pads out of the same case wearing differently. Some pads would give a long life. And then the next batch would not wear as well. Their consistency was not satisfactory. We're seeing excellent consistency now with the new pads.
I also could not live with the former manufacturers S-L-O-W service. They were manufactured by a huge company with terrible service. We are now buying from a smaller company with terrific service.
No center hole: Yes we requested them to be cut the pads this way. The former pad companies would not accommodate this request. However this manufacturer was willing to cut them without a center hole. The Cimex pads work best when the center hole remains intact. So I'm happy to finally have pads that are solid across the center. It disperses the detergent better.
The new pads are giving us an average of 10K sq ft per set of pads. And that's an average that we can be content with. On a course olefin loop carpet we will see a bit shorter life, and on a soft cut pile nylon we'll see greater longevity. But across the board they're giving us good service.
We were also able to get the new manufacturer to package the new pads 15 to a case. None of the former companies would do this for us. Other companies would only package the pads in boxes of 10 or 15. This wasn't a good option since the Cimex uses 3 pads at a time. The new manufacturer didn't want to package them in a non-standard box either, but they agreed to do it for us (good customer service).
All in all, I think we have a winner. We're selling a lot of them and so far the response to the new pads has been good. Yes they are different than the old pads. But I believe that these differences really amount to improvements. As you keep working with them I think you'll find that they're a nice pad.
Rick Gelinas
