Tip bloom seems to be almost unavoidable on a lot of residential carpets when using OP. I notice that even using the little Oreck Orbiter on cut pile residential stairs causes tip bloom.

I am leaning towards using my CRB followed by HWE for residential cut pile. Only if the carpet is old and totally bloomed already will I use OP on it. Of course I'll still use it on berber and commercial carpet.

As for stairs, would a rotary tool like the Makita cause tip bloom as well?

Are you guys really able to avoid tip bloom on the majority of cut pile residential carpet?

Maybe I'm not keeping my pads wet enough. Could that be the problem, or is tip bloom all too common on a lot of residential cut pile?

There are some machines that the drivers will cause more tip bloom possibilities than others. Alonmg with some pads will also create bloom easier. I find glad pads to be my favorite.Cotton on berber. I have also found that lubricity of enough prespray and pads rung out so they are not dripping to be my key. Of course if you have a more delicate carpet use a glide of microfibre pad. I beleive that if a pad is to wet it creates more drag due to increased weight from water creating more drag creates more tip bloom. But thats just my 2 cents.

Most all of the manufactures of carpet say that bonnet type of cleaning on residential carpets is not acceptable. I have done it, and have caused tip blooming. Caution is advised. Type of pad, type of carpet, amount of moisture on the pad, etc. I prefer the CRB type of machine on residential. I still pad alot of commercial carpet, both OP and rotary. It's fast and economical for me and the customer and some large jobs we are profitable at 8 to 9 cents a square foot.

Thomas,

Jeff's explanation of how to safely perform OP cleaning on residential cut pile carpet is right on the money.

A soft microfiber bonnet along with a glider is what I would strongly recommend for ALL residential cut pile carpets. Good lubrication is very important too. This combination for cut pile carpet will be relatively safe, however you'll still want to exercise a measure of caution, keeping the machine moving and avoiding standing in one place as you operate the machine. Berber is another story, it's harder to damage most berbers.

We will be bringing in some very nice SOFT microfiber bonnets in the next few days - they should be in our warehouse in about a week.





Rick Gelinas

any idea yet how absorbing these new pads are Rick?

and will the Vento turn them?

Cotton is the most "moisture absorbent" fiber. However microfiber has a greater potential to pick up soil. Microfiber is a man-made engineered fiber. Microfiber's shape sort of resembles an asterisk *

Here's an image that explains it better.



The new Microfiber bonnets will work with an OP machine.







Rick Gelinas

In addition to pad selection and good lubrication, I think it is good to have a standard or 2 speed rotary. An OP machine has hundreds of small orbits. A rotary has one large orbit. It is the center of the orbit that actually has an untwisting effect on a cut pile. A rotary is therefore much safer.



When you combine a rotary and an OP with the various types of pads available you have a large number of combinations to choose from. Many also choose to have HWE available for this and other reasons.

I tip bloomed my own carpet when I was just starting out.

I then went to a better pad (glad) and more spray and just to make myself feel better I would use a glider.

Never tip bloomed another carpet.

Thanks everyone for those fine suggestions. I also tip bloomed my own carpet as well. I never really noticed it until I looked closely and notice how big the tips were. Of course this could happen over time through normal use as well.

It does sound like there is no 100% safe way to OP without any possibility of tip blooming, yet it seems like most of you have greatly minimized it.

I have been using tuways with an Orbot to pre-scrub with. Then I follow up with wet glad pads. I haven't been using gliders as often as I probably should. It always seems like it doesn't clean as well with them on. Sounds like that is definitely not helping.

Do you find that it's better to prespray with a sprayer instead of an on board sprayer like the Orbot has? Maybe the solution is distributed evenly enough to provide the needed lubrication.

In our Oriental Rug Cleaning Service, we use an encap product and Dusty's yorkster (also known as the orbitec ultralite) Because it does not spin, it does a great job on fluffing the pile on an oriental rug. I've tried a few times on Residential capets with equal success and no tip bloom. I know its another machine but its something to consider.

Isn't that just a square OP machine that uses a standard towel instead of a round bonnet?

Make your own luck,

Del Scrivner
Owner/Operator
Cowboy's Carpet Care

it does use a standard towel instead of a round bonnet or cotton pad, but the lack of real rotational motion inhibits it from the ability to tip bloom. It massages rather than oscilates and turn. It works well for us.. again its just one perspective and idea.