Hos Orbot cleaning residential Tile

[MikeHabib]

Well guy's & girls, yesterday I did my first tile cleaning job. First we vacuumed the area to be cleaned , next I used Dirt Devil from Jon Don , let it dwell for ten minutes, used a brush to scrub the grout lines , went back over it with a Oreck Orbitor and then pulled out a used ( handful of times) M12 and a SX-12. Guess what, the M-12 leaked all over the place. This is the third extractor that has had problems in the last three weeks. ( I think that I am done with portable extractors) I then mopped the floor and used the M-12 to vacuum up the solution. The grout lines that where bad looked a little bit better however, not what I expected. Since I had had so many problems with extractors, I am curious in a residential setting, how well would a Hos Orbot work on ceramic tile and grout lines. Also, what do you guys do to get under the kitchen cabinets. Thanks in advance.

[TheCleaningDude]

Hi Mike,

I use the Orbot. It works well.

Three plates per side, tile and grout brush. Use a good tile cleaner.

Spray. Scrub. Vac with a wet/dry vac. Rinse.

Thing is, it's a little slow though. Also, some guys I've talked to still use a porty - even with a low psi - to rinse. You'll need a splash guard as well.

I might get a Mytee Air Hog and Water Hog combo for spinner cleaning as it seems light weight and simple.

Who knows.

Pics:





After:



Video that doesn't show much, but helps:

[drytouch]

I've done many tile jobs with the Orbot. Cleans the tile surface quite well, but not so much the grout, for which there is the extractor (truck or port) with the XS 12.

I've completely given up extraction on tile work. I hate the unreliable, cumbersome equipment and the sloppy, hose strewn mess.

I use Dry Vapor Steam exclusively on tile now. Its a technique; it has to be mastered. It is more work physically, but WAY less aggravation. And the Italian made DVS units are absolutely, positively bulletproof.

Among many, many other tile jobs, a co-worker and I recently did the entire Longboat Key Club in FL with two small, hand portable DVS units and the Orbot. As Rick can probably tell you, that's no roadside motel.

[MikeHabib]

Thanks guy's for your input !

[TheCleaningDude]

Is that a plug in vapor unit?

Any pics of the machine in action?

I've done many tile jobs with the Orbot. Cleans the tile surface quite well, but not so much the grout, for which there is the extractor (truck or port) with the XS 12.

I've completely given up extraction on tile work. I hate the unreliable, cumbersome equipment and the sloppy, hose strewn mess.

I use Dry Vapor Steam exclusively on tile now. Its a technique; it has to be mastered. It is more work physically, but WAY less aggravation. And the Italian made DVS units are absolutely, positively bulletproof.

Among many, many other tile jobs, a co-worker and I recently did the entire Longboat Key Club in FL with two small, hand portable DVS units and the Orbot. As Rick can probably tell you, that's no roadside motel.

[encapman]

Among many, many other tile jobs, a co-worker and I recently did the entire Longboat Key Club in FL with two small, hand portable DVS units and the Orbot. As Rick can probably tell you, that's no roadside motel.

That's crazy that you serviced the Longboat Key Club. Yes it is entirely awesome. It's a tropical gulf side resort that's really really nice! My wife and I have gone there a couple of times to celebrate our anniversary. If any of you guys want to take a killer vacation, I highly recommend it. If we go again - I'll have to check out the tile. Hey there's an idea for our anniversary next month - thanks :-)

Which unit of the DVS are you using? How many sq ft per hour can you clean?

[drytouch]

The vapor steam unit runs off regular household plugs.

I'll get some photos up and I've got a quick video on YouTube; I don't have the video address at hand but just search Dry Touch tile cleaning or Dry Touch dry vapor steam or such and the site should locate you to the vid.

Full procedure: spray light solution, agitate tile surface w/floor machine if needed (often the ambient steam from grout work, plus just wiping it up, is enough), directly work grout with steam, pass over with steam mopping, done.

And, the heat is ca. 300 degrees, so the floor is also sanitized.

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Reply to Rick,

Yes, it was quite a job. We finished in late Feb, so I cant speak for how the tile may look now, as the maids promptly went straight back to slopping it with mop water.

I tried to discuss with the staff improved maintenance to preserve the cleaning, but what can I say?

We used the Orbot on all seven buildings, running down whole floors set up for tile, then switching plates and coming back over the carpet.

Direct rates per hour are not as fast as conventional, but there is also far less set up, far greater portability, and much greater detail capability without water into corners and under appliances/cabinets, so the productivity is actually pretty close job over job, without the mind bending aggravation.

You've also got to be willing to do most work sliding with your knees on a bonnet, which actually isn't too tough.

At Long Boat, we did a head to head demo against Steemer for the job. I cant imagine trying to do something like LBKC with conventional portable equipment.

[encapman]

How much time to clean 100 sq ft?

Thanks for sharing the info. I've been curious about these steam units for a long time.

[drytouch]

PS to Rick

We used vapor steamers from Daimler for LBKC. I'm on my own now, so I got my unit from JKE Supply.

The various commercial brands are all quite similar to Daimler, which is probably the top of the line, but rather expensive. Look for Italian manufacture.

I tell customers to think of the vapor steamer as a psycho expresso machine on wheels.

Even the little ones are highly capable.

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For 100 sft I probably wouldn't even set up a floor scrubber, unless the tile is heavily pitted or tumbled; the ambient steam and the light alkaline spray from working the grout alone emulsifies the tile surface and you just wipe/mop up.

I'd say between 10 to 15 minutes, but again with virtually no set up time, no reset to another room time, no hoses stretching out the door and no screaming porty pouring dirty water out of all available orifices.

The mobility factor makes many many jobs possible, particularly for upper floors, that you wouldn't even try to sell if you had to do all that set up and break down.

The steaming isn't silent though; it sounds like frying bacon.

[Ed E]

"You've also got to be willing to do most work sliding with your knees on a bonnet, which actually isn't too tough."

So there is no wand to work from a standing position? Even on the bigger machines?

[drytouch]

They come with two piece wands, but its actually easier to work the grout from your knees.

I use the wand in the standing position for steam mopping the floor as a finish step.

[Hoss]

Here is my big question of the week ~ will the dry vapor steamer remove my arch-Nemesis and destroyer of floors ~ Mop and Glo / Rejuvenate? It seems that the only way to get that junk up is to either sand the whole finish off or use acetone. I have run into it on a really nice engineered wood floor and most recently on a marble floor. I didn't have a good solution for either problem.

The marble floor owner tried to scrape it off - it had been put down in multiple coats and was peeling, but it is still in the pores and the grout. Unfortunately she used vinegar to loosen it ~ which is an acid and etched the finish. The only option that I could see was to use acetone, try to rehone the marble surface, and follow up with a good marble sealer. But, I won't use toxic chemicals in people's homes and the surface that would need to be treated with acetone ran through the kitchen and bathroom areas frequented by small children who don't need to be in contact with any of that stuff.

It would great if a dry vapor steamer, non-toxic process was an option. Can a dry vapor steamer remove Mop and Glo / Rejevenate from marble and hardwood?

[drytouch]

That's a question I'm not yet able to answer.

The steamer does lift layers of build up off wood floors; with the heat and pressure up it will visibly change the finish, removing poly and opaqueing the floor in prep for a fresh coat of poly to be applied, after which the floor looks smashing.

But I don't know about M&G on marble tile wood. The steamer I use on my own is considerably more powerful than the smaller model I used at my former employer, but I haven't turned it lose full power on such a problem as you describe.

I would very probably make the good ole vinyl stripper schtick go a lot easier though.

The heat and steam volume would seriously activate and intensify all chemical reactions, and you can rapidly change out the microfiber towels (in this case, probably throwing them away) without fouling and possibly destroying a mechanical extractor.

I've choked a Butler unit extracting this stuff off tile before.

Truly, there's not much these little warriors cant do.

[Hoss]

Got a nice Italian made dry vapor steam cleaner and started testing it out on various surfaces.

If you purchase one of these, make sure it allows continuous operation ~ you can feed water into it without having to let it cool down and discharge the pressure. Also, dual mode of hot-water or dry steam applications helps so you can rinse.

It is fantastic on vinyl flooring - it took an old, dingy coat of Futura off of a kitchen floor and left it clean, sanitized, and dry in a very short time. It is fantastic on bathrooms. It does destroy stains in grout. You can dry wash and detail a car with it. You can get into corners and effectively clean where you can't get machines into and would have to otherwise spray with cleaner and mechanically scrape.

As far as Rick's question about how many SF per hour, I think that really depends on the stains. However, it does lose heat and pressure as you work, so there are diminishing returns. You need to stop every couple of minutes to let pressure and heat build up again - but heat and pressure rebuilds fairly quickly. You need a good supply of terry cloth towels and change them out fairly frequently. Bring a bucket to soak them in.

This will be my go-to machine in combination with other systems for hardwood, vinyl and ceramic tile. For ceramic, start with the weighted Orbot with the brush plate, leave the tile wet, steam away any stains and clean any edges the Orbot couldn't, then follow with the Orbot with a bonnet to dry and polish.

I don't always use dry vapor steam, but when I do I use a machine made in Italy ~ http://hosshomecare.com/dry-vapor-steam-cleaning/

[Ed E]

"Got a nice Italian made dry vapor steam cleaner and started testing it out on various surfaces."

Robert, what brand/model did you buy? I am always curious about people's experience with specific equipment.