Did about 1000 sqft residental, cheap cut pile. Had lots
of carpet fuzz everywhere. The center of the pads almost
wore to the drivers, but the rest of the pad was about half
gone. Did I do something wrong?

hummm not sure Steve. is this with a Cimex?

sounds like maybe you should have turned the pad over sooner. cheap cut pile does shed like a wet dog when i do it (apartments), thats even when i do a ridiculously meticulous pre-vac.

thanx --- Derek.

sounds to me that you're using the same pad too long. change them out more often, you're burning them out by doing what yer doing. changing them will get the carpet cleaner and make your pads last longer, sure it's a pain changing them out so often, but it's best in the long and short run.

burn out your pad-drivers real quick to...and they arent cheap to replace but the pads are (relatively speaking) so take care and turn them over once in awhile. when they get down to about 1/4 of an inch, then replace with new pads.

thanx --- Derek.

I am using the cimex and ricks pads.
Is a 1000 sqft to much for 1 set.

so you put them on brand new, then cleaned exactly 1000 sq.ft.?

if so, typically yes that is too soon for them to wear out. UNLESS, the carpet was trashed and / or you went over the same area a buncha times. if you are new to Cimex'ing, you may have gone over the area too long and this obviously wears the pads down faster. i am just guessing, not saying you did...but that is a typical scenario for someone new to Encap / Cimex'ing...i know i was that way on my 1st job or 2.

i'm sure Rick will chime in when he wakes up and help you out or feel free to call him tomorrow.

thanx & gnite --- Derek.

In my experience with the Cimex and the fiber plus pads,(I am assuming this is what was used), if you have a lot of carpet fuzz and do not keep the pads wet then the fuzz will twist up on the pads and cause them to wear out sooner then they should. Try it again on commercial carpet and you will have a totally different outcome. We generally get 6000-10,000 sf out of our pads. Depends on what we are cleaning. Also, Derek's advice is right on the money, because I did the same thing when I first used the machine.

Kevin Pearson

Good comments above. I really don't have anything to add.

The wear rate that you mentioned Steve is highly unusual. I agree with Kevin, it's likely that your "residential, cheap cut pile” contributed to the wear because of fuzz build up on the pads.

Derek also made a good point with the thought that perhaps… “you went over the same area a buncha times. if you are new to Cimex'ing, you may have gone over the area too long and this obviously wears the pads down faster.”

And as Kevin concluded… “Try it again on commercial carpet and you will have a totally different outcome.”

Thanks to the Cimex pros who answered this post before I got to. I can retire now.




Rick Gelinas

Nobody mentioned the fact that you may be running the pads too dry, how much detergent did you use on this job. Also if you made multiple dry passes the pads again if not lubricated properly will wear out real fast.

Thanks for everyones help. Did do a lot of
dry passes. For commercial I've been using
the grey pads and they last a long time.
Guess I'm still a cimex newbie.