I read here that some encaping is done without cotton pad extraction, and some encaping is done WITH cotton pad encaping. Why?? What jobs require extraction, opposed to the ones that do not. Also can you actually use the green stripped pad for encaping? When would you use the brush only? Any feedback will be greatly appreciated....

It seems some guys only feel they have "cleaned" the carpet if they extract with a Pad (or HWE). But as you gain experience and confidence with the challenger and with specific chemicals you will learn what works best for you.
Example: yesterday, I had a newly purchased home to do. Upstairs I started to OP with Procyon and was disappointed with results. In middle of the 2nd bedroom I switched to Excellent Punch with OP pads and seemed to get better results IMO. I wanted to compare results of different methods.

The owner was watching and was very impressed with the soil shown in the pads. I ran out of spray after 3 bedrooms and grabbed my excellent DS spray. I switched to using a FP pad on my Challenger and finished the last bedroom and entire upstairs hallway by straight encapping. Much Faster and No one could see any difference in results even when dried. I was interested to see if there was any difference in "feel" of carpets and could not detect any.

I went on to do the double stairways and downstairs with the encapping only. I might say the downstairs had several stains and the DS with my cimex removed everything.

Bottom line: Customer was very very happy with results and no one could tell which method was used on which area of the home. Only I knew that the straight encapping was much faster and most effective on stains.

Yes, I've used green stripped pads for encappng but the FP pads do a better job. I ran into one commercial situation where dirt was ground into the carpets under desks and encap DS wouldn't do the job. There I used excellent spotter and OP to remove the crud.

Sorry for being long winded but thought the comparison was noteworthy. I like the advice I've read in the forums, "Sell Clean"-Not a particular method.

great explanation Dennis

Rich, i recommend you order some FiberPlus pads that'll fit your Challenger and see for yourself when is the best time to use cotton and when to use the FP pads.

take care --- Derek.

Thanks for the info guys-It is always greatly appreciated!!

I am using a Cimex with the brushes for encap I know Mark uses the fiber pads. Any thoughts or opinions as to wich if either is better and in what situation.

there is quite a bit that has been posted on about the Cimex brushes versus the FiberPlus pads...check the VLM and Encap forums.

the short of it is :

if you are cleaning with ONLY the brushes, you are missing out in a big way. while i only have the soft brushes, the FP pads FARRRRRRR outclean the soft brushes. i can't even see the medium brushes coming close. with a floor pad, you get WAY better surface contact than with a brush...that's a fact.

do yourself a favor and at least order a case of the FP pads and test for yourself....only way to know for sure. get the FiberPlus Max pads for commercial. for resi, get the regular FP pads.

email me if ya have any other questions. hopefully some others will post their thoughts.

take care --- Derek :)

Not sure if this is always the case, Derek. Rick and I recently worked together on some large retail jobs.
Carpeting was being cleaned due to periodic maintenance scheduling, not because it was particularly soiled. Rick's Cimex was equipped with brushes; mine had the standard FibrePlus pads. Neither he nor I could see any visible difference in the results. Hopefully we'll get a chance to run this type of comparison test in a situation where carpet soiling is heavier and more noticeable.

I find that with the fiberplus pads I use less solution as the pads hold it for a while compared to the Brushes. Which means Less chance of overwetting when working a problem area.

i agree with that Mark. the only time i've gotten good results with my soft brushes was on light soil. it pays to use them on these maintenance jobs because you're not using up any disposable pads :)

i'm interested to see your results on the more soiled jobs. are Ricks brushes the soft or medium variety?

i agree that the pads hold more solution Barry. but i actually liked the brushes better for that reason. reason being : when i hit the sol trigger on my Mex, if the brushes are on then the solution immediately hits the carpet (which is what i want personally). i don't like having to "guess" when the solution is going to meet the carpet which is what you have to do with the FP pads. sure you can get used to it. but often times i don't use my Mex for several weeks at a time and it takes me several hundred sq.ft. to remember how long it takes from hitting the trigger to the carpet getting wet.

just me, a slow learner lol --- Derek.