Sorry, Rick, just hadda post this in case anyone has any ideas on what to do.

Really low commercial carpet from www.leescarpet.com Stuff is called "Neofloor". It is nylon, so I did not anticipate much trouble. Technical info said it could be treated with extraction or bonnet cleaned - in no way will water hurt it. I spoke with the lady in Technical - she said this is not a call she gets often on this product.

The stuff gripped the Fiber Plus pads so intensely that the Cimex just wouldn't spin. Hadda lift it up and keep it very wet to even get it to move. Weird. Tried it again and same result - it is like some kind of 'velcro' for the pad. What may have worked is the brushes, but I never bought the carpet brushes.

I had the GLS there as well, and it worked fine, so we used that on the whole job. In fact, the carpet cleaned like a charm. Looked great when we left. End of story? Nah!

Next morning, white residue powder all over that had not been visible while wet. Customer was visibly upset, worried that the powder was some kind of damage or was permanent. We vacuumed it up and it was fine. She calmed down after it all vacuumed up well. But it was strange. Thing is, this is the first commercial cleaning she has had - it's a new store a few months old and no one has used any Host powder or Milliken stuff or Capture.

Anybody see this carpet? It feels incredibly thin, but it's strong. This installation is perfectly smooth, must have been done by a pro - can't see a seam to save your life.

The carpet KO'd my Cimex! My Cimex has a black eye!

Congratulations Clay. You get the award for a screwball situation. That's the oddest one I've heard yet. I've never heard of any carpet that would bind up a Cimex. I'm wondering if maybe your belt is wearing and beginning to slip? That might account for some slippage. But it sounds like it was a mighty strange carpet if it mated with the FiberPlus pad like velcro. You're right, the brushes would have worked fine on this one. And it's odd that there was a white powder after you cleaned it with your GLS. I have to admit you've got me stumped. I'm sorry you had a flop on this one. It's one for the record book. An oddity indeed. Would it be possible to e-mail any pictures of the carpet? I'd like to locate a sample of this Lee carpet and try to see what it is. Thanks.




Rick Gelinas
encapman

If either of you find anything out, let us know.
very interesting.

Dobs

Steve Dobson
ProFloor
Custom Cleaning Services

I had the same thing happen to me on a chain of drug stores we do, only two of them have the "problem carpet" that the Cimex will not turn the pads on. I too had to switch to the GLS to clean them, but had no problem with white residue. I did not try the brushes on these two stores as we did not have them with us. I am about to do them again (every 6 months) and will get the Mfg. and type of carpet. They are 18" carpet tiles and the seams are mostly invisible, even on your hand and knees. I believe the mfg. is Interface in LaGrange, Ga. I talked with the mfg. rep before doing them (about 6 months ago) and he OKed our method but would not allow steam cleaning (if you can believe that) The drug store chain owner was concerned as he had gone thru two "Fire Breathing High Pressure Big Blower Truck Mount Guys" with very poor results. I Will bring you up to date on this as soon as we do them again. I also thought I had a loose belt on the Cimex, but not so.

white powder maybe was that powder deodorizer...what's it called, powder fresh or something like that.

thanx --- Derek.

Sounds like Flotex.
Clean lots of it here in Australia.
Easy to clean, never tryed with Encap!
Usally cleaned with HWE. If cleaning with HWE, apply minimal detergent and rinse throughly. Most times when HWE is used there is a detergent residue which will cause rapid resoil.
www.flotex.co.uk

Scotty

Neofloor I believe is nylon, although their website is very ambigious.

Flotex, down under is Nylon.
Previously, I had thought it was Olefin. I stand corrected.

Here is a breakdown from their website.

Technical specification
Flotex Sheet Flotex Tile ExcelFlor
Construction Flocked textile floorcovering
Pile material 100% Nylon 6.6
Pile density, fibres/m2 Flotex 150/200 Sheet; Flotex Tile; Flotex Tectura 3D
80 million
Flotex Government Contract Range
70 million Approximately 70 million
Backing material Resilient waterproof backing
Tile dimension, cm 50 x 50
Roll length, LM 30 LM (F200);
40LM (F150);
35LM (GCR) -
Roll width, cm 200cm (F200; GCR)
150cm (F150)
-
Total Thickness, mm Flotex 150/200: 4.3;
GCR: 3.9;
Tile: 5.3 5.3

1,000 fibres to the square inch, very dense.

It is recommended when cleaning, to flush with water, agitate with a scrubber, cylinder or rotary, then extract.

The manufacturers have, in the last two years, put out their own 'detergent' and 'rinse' for this product.

They state, 'Flotex is not carpet, do not treat it as such'

And yes, the "Mex; can be hard to use on it, but it really chews up the pads.

I have not tried the brushes on it.

Cheers,

Shorty.

This is from the Lee's site:

NeoFloor pile is made
from Dupont® Nylon 6,6
fibers — the best fibers
for high traffic areas, due to
their durability, soil resistance
and appearance retention.

• Approximately 70 million straight standing
fibers per square yard (10 times more
than carpet) guarantees toughness.
• Maintains dimensional stability – does not
curl, shrink or stretch.

Lifetime warranty against wear, static, edge ravel,
delamination and wear layer (zippering wet or dry).

Completely Waterproof
• Both the fibers and the backing are completely waterproof.
• The impervious backing ensures that nothing penetrates to
the subfloor.

Simple To Clean
• Clean regularly using upright vacuum cleaner.
• Where thorough wet cleaning is required, machines
used to clean smooth and textile floorcoverings can
be used on NeoFloor.
• Dries quickly after wet cleaning.
• No need for extensive use of cleaning chemicals.


They have a picture showing cleaning with a rotary.


Sounds like some pretty amazing stuff.


Barb

I am wondering if a cotton bonnet might work in this situation?

Next time take both bonnets and brushes, and a non encap detergent, try each, and see what works best.

Gary

I have Lee carpet in my own home. It is a very, very dense twisted nylon. Yes, of course it is a residential grade carpet but it has been down for more than 10-12 years. That’s with two boys and three older dogs. The cleanabitiy of this stuff is nothing short of amazing. As just one example, years ago one of the dogs had gotten a chocolate cake box out of the garbage and proceeded to enjoy it in the hallway just outside the main bath; it all wiped right up with just a damp towel. Not to mention all the other associated problems that come with dogs from the ages of 10 - 15 years old, all cleaned up just fine. Now with a new puppy, still no problems. One of the rooms that this carpet is in use to be our master bedroom that became my office. Once the bed had been taken out you could clearly see where the bed had been. After a couple of cleanings with ReleaseIt; absolutely no traffic pattern was left. We were so happy with how the Lee carpet whore downstairs that when I built our master suite up stairs five or six years ago we put it up there as well. If you’re ever in the market for carpet, take a look at what they have to offer. It might be a little more then some, but it will be well worth it.

David Gelinas
Marbleguy

"Be certain not to leave any detergent residue when cleaning. Whatever
is applied to the flooring must be removed!"

More interesting stuff here- http://www.leescarpet.com/site/pdf/mfts_neofloor.pdf

Thanks fot the heads up on this type of carpet.David I did not know how to get your e-mail maddress could you e-mail me at markhamr@earthlink.net.I am building a new home and am highly interested in this carpet.Rick ,sorry for going off topic.

Well, I found out it is not any fault of Releasit or any type of bad batch. Went back tonight and did another section of it using Crystal Dry. Same thing happened with the powdering - this time I was watching for it. We will have to vacuum it in the morning.

It may simply do this with any liquid used other than water. That may be why they say use water only, I don't know.

It is like a vinyl floor that is fuzzy.

I just got off the phone with our Releasit distributor in Australia, and he said that he saw this post the other day. He said it sounds exactly like Flotex carpet. This is a carpet that is VERY popular in Australia. It is weird stuff that behaves differently than what we think of as "normal" carpet. At any rate, this carpet is very similar. My Australian guy says he's seen the same problem with Flotex - ya can't clean it with pads on the Cimex. But he says it's no problem to clean with brushes. So the answer is to just scrub with brushes on the Cimex. This is what we concluded already, but it's good to hear it from someone who has a lot of experience with this style of floor covering.



Rick Gelinas
encapman