First time with Cimex, what went wrong?

[Randh]

I cleaned some commercial carpet early this morning, and it just did not turn out. The carpet itself wasn't overly dirty, they had new carpet put in about a year ago. All the coffee/soda stains are gone, but the carpet is super blotchy...some patches of dark areas, some patches of light colored areas....

I mixed DS2 at 4oz gallon, put into Cimex equipped with new fiber plus pads and ran the machine with one wet pass with the trigger open moving at a moderately fast pace, followed by a dry pass moving at a slow pace, occasionally feathering the trigger. I overlapped each pass by maybe 20-30% and pre-vacuumed and post-vacummed 12 hours apart. The post-vacumming improved the blotchiness a little bit, but theres still dark places and light places all over the carpet. Any ideas what I did wrong?

[Randh]

These pics are taken after the post-vac i did 12 hours after using Cimex....in the pics, notice how dark the carpet is in the bottom right and also by the bookshelf, yet in the center the carpet is a blotchy lighter color, and other areas its somewhere in the middle...looked really bad

[encapman]

Would it be possible for you to inspect the bottom of the carpet fiber? Pry apart the tufts of fiber to look down to the base of the carpet pile. Sometimes, if the carpet has not received consistently adequate dry soil recovery (i.e. vacuuming & walk-off mats) a build-up of dry soil can occur underneath the tufts of carpet pile. Any method of cleaning on a commercial glue down carpet that has a build-up at the backing can cause a wicking condition. And that wicking condition will normally appear blotchy. From what you're describing this could be a factor.

Another condition that occurs sometimes is shading or pile reversal. Movement of the pile occurs with the Cimex - as you see the swirl patterns. This shading can also throw off different reflections at different angles. Normally after a few days of vacuuming and foot traffic the pile patterns relax, and the swirls disappear.

If there is a wicking condition, you might try doing a light bonnet cleaning. Going over the carpet with post-bonnetting can do a lot to help recover additional soil and improve the overall appearance. It can also be useful for smoothing out the lay of the carpet more uniformly. I'd suggest giving that a try. I think it should help to improve the appearance for you.

[Randh]

Would it be possible for you to inspect the bottom of the carpet fiber? Pry apart the tufts of fiber to look down to the base of the carpet pile. Sometimes, if the carpet has not received consistently adequate dry soil recovery (i.e. vacuuming & walk-off mats) a build-up of dry soil can occur underneath the tufts of carpet pile. Any method of cleaning on a commercial glue down carpet that has a build-up at the backing can cause a wicking condition. And that wicking condition will normally appear blotchy. From what you're describing this could be a factor.

I doubt it's a soil thing because the same issues happened in their executive offices which have very minimal traffic. Also the carpet is less than a year old as they just moved into their building.  


Another condition that occurs sometimes is shading or pile reversal. Movement of the pile occurs with the Cimex  - as you see the swirl patterns. This shading can also throw off different reflections at different angles. Normally after a few days of vacuuming and foot traffic the pile patterns relax, and the swirls disappear.

I'm okay with the swirl marks...and as I mentioned any soda and coffee stains that were there are now gone. Its just the "some of the carpet look super dark and other looks way lighter" blotchy appearance that worries me.  The one thing I think I could have improved was I pre and post-vacuumed with a proteam supercoach backpack vacuum, rather than one that could lift the pile. Before going in, I knew that my results wouldn't be as good as if i was using a different vacuum, but what I experienced wasn't a vacuum related issue. The carpet actually looked much worse after I was done. I've seen many pictures of Cimex results, and mine looks nothing like any of them.

Is there any way I could give you a call Rick? Honestly, I'm scared to use the Cimex again and i'd really like to narrow down what went wrong. I wouldn't put it above being user error as this was my first time ever using the machine, but on the other hand if I maybe got a bad gallon of cleaning solution or the machine isn't functioning properly I'd like to get it squared away.

[encapman]

No need to be fearful. Your Cimex is a great tool. I can help you. I'm presently in NYC, traveling back to Florida today. Shoot me a private message with your number. I can call you tomorrow when I'm back in the office.

[Derek]

FWIW, judging solely by the pictures, i think it is fine. the center of the pic's look lighter. to me, this is because of carpet wear...that's where they walk. the fiber's there are probably shorter and thinner than the carpet getting closer to the desks, where it appears less darker: less wear so longer and thicker fibers. the swirls can and do at times add to this visually just like HWE "triangles."

again, we can't see exactly wwhat you see when you're at the site, but that is my 2¢. if you are new to cimex/encap: welcome! new guys, as was the case with me, tend to over-think cimex/encap. if you are new to encap and were formally HWE, you'll get used to the final product looking a little different...mostly due to the swirls. i hope this helps some.

[Prestige1]

Try a carpet rake .

[encapman]

To follow up on our phone call the other day, I hope the suggestions I gave are helpful.
I also thought I'd add some information to this thread to help others who may have a similar issue.

Make sure that the solution is being applied evenly. Control the flow of solution carefully. Avoid letting the machine sit in one place with solution in the head of the machine draining. The blue drive deck can hold a few ounces of solution so you need to take into account the gravity feed and let the solution spin out of the head before you stop the machine.

Always overlap your passes. Making smooth passes with a controlled amount of solution is the key to success with the Cimex. Avoid over-wetting the carpet. Less is better.

Feather out the carpet, like a painter feathers out the paintbrush as he's painting. Make additional dry passes over the area after it’s been scrubbed to ensure uniformity of appearance. Post bonneting with Microbeast bonnets can help to correct the condition that appears to be shown in the photo and smooth things out.

I hope this info will help you to get the dance moves down pat with your new Cimex.

[Randh]

Thanks for the help guys, it looks like my problem is more the gravity fed solution thing.....I was in such a tight area working around desks and cubicles and it was hard for me to start the solution at the beginning and end it at the right spot, so I had some overly wet spots and other dry spots. My worst areas were ones where I couldn't walk in a straight line and was making constant turns around tables and such. I also bought a Dyson DC-14 vacuum and i'm hoping that helps some with causing the carpet to appear more uniform.

Rick, two questions:
1. Since i have a 17" floor machine, should i buy a 17" or 19" microbeast bonnet?
2. Since the carpet is already wet from the Cimex, when I post-bonnet with the 175 should I add any DS2 to the pad or spray any more DS2 onto the floor?


Thanks!

[encapman]

1. I prefer to use a slightly larger bonnet than the actual driver. Check your driver width. Often a machine will have a bonnet that's 2" smaller than the machine - so a 15" machine will have a 15" bonnet. So you could go 2" larger than your actual driver width. If you have a 15" driver get a 17" bonnet. If you actually have a 17" driver, get a 17" bonnet.

2. Yes, as long as the carpet is still damp following the cleaning with the Cimex, you could simply run over the carpet with a pre-dampened bonnet. Make sure though that you're not running a dry bonnet over sections of carpet that have already dried. The Microbeast bonnets are an excellent choice for what you're considering.

[patrickm]

Cordury effect? Before and after pictures? Cleaning doesn't reverse physical damage to carpet-compression in high traffic areas. Tools are a means to an end.

[encapman]

Well stated Patrick. I agree that it looks a lot like pile movement / pile reversal going on there. One of the benefits to post-bonneting is that it can sometimes smooth out that appearance.