What is tip bloom and how can you see if it happens,
What makes it happen and how do you prevent it.

I use the challenger with the cotton pads.

As you may know from reading the encap board, I have been thinking on giving up the biz.

One reason is I fear of damaging a customer carpet with the tip blooming that I hear so much about.

I need help here guys. I have invested to much money to just toss inthe bonnet(so to speak).

Any advise would be helpful.

Thanks
Joe M

hiyas Joe

i felt the same way. i was fearful of T.P. and had visions of having to pay for someones carpet...i almost let that stop me from getting into OP.

SOOOOO glad i didn't!!!

while i have never seen T.P., all i could do was research it. went to all the forums and used the Search function. learned as much as i could. it appeared to me that realistically the biggest concern for T.P. was a Frieze style of carpet ...that's a.k.a. the new "shag" type of carpet.

so i heard about the Durapads Steve Smith sells at vacaway.com and spoke with Steve on the phone. he nearly guaranteed me that with his Durapads i wouldn't T.P. a frieze or any other style carpet. so i bought some and a few weeks later a store that recommends me gave me a call. the owner has frieze in his living rm and wanted me to clean it...THIS WAS MY TEST. not a very good job to test it on being he gives me work lol.

but it went perfectly. the frieze had medium soil and the Durapads took care of it lickety-split. Steve told me i wouldn't even have to use a glider but said if i was still nervous, to use it anyways. i used the holy glider on the 1st 5'x5' area, then took it off and finished the rest without it. no problems.

email me and i'll give you my phone number, and give me your #...i'd love to talk with ya about my experiences with the Challenger anytime.

take care --- Derek.

Hi Joe,

Hope you don't mind my input. Tip bloom became a big issue for me shortly after starting Op cleaning.

Tip bloom makes the carpet look frayed on the ends. The ends of the individual fibers unravel and fan out. You could have a walk area that you cleaned over and over or a whole room look like this with op.

I think there are several factors that can contribute to this. Wrong glider, not enough prespray, pads too dry, cleaning speed or letting the machine sit too long on a spot.. In my case I used a very aggressive glider and probably was moving too slow.


I tip bloomed one room of carpet and almost quit using op for ever. I finally got up the nerve to continue using it and by using the correct glider I have never had another problem. It's been over two years since I bloomed that carpet.

I also believe that with the challenger it is less likely to happen then with some other machines.

My suggestion would be to get some old carpet(get several different types) that has been torn out. Try your machine with and without the gliders and try to tip bloom the carpet. Work hard at trying to make this happen and you will know what to avoid so this won't happen to you.

Hope this helps and best of luck to you.

Derek your email is not working

Is it dbeyer01@

Thanks for the help, so u r saying that a to dry of a pad can cause tip bloom as well.
I think I screwed up my rug by using the holy glider on a rather thick carpet and maybe a to dry of a pad.

How wet should the pads be?

Also I will use the thicker glider from here on in.

Thanks

Joe, yes that's my email.

thanx --- D

Joe
Even back when I was using the heavy, clunky, glider-less Oreck LowBoy I don't believe I was found to be
causing tip bloom. Now and then a carpet (usually one being cleaned for the first time) will produce some "fuzzies" on the surface of the carpet. These will vacuum right up. Whenin doubt, use the medium of the 3 gliders. And I hope you hang in there. I continue to encourage people to buy the current version of GUERILLA MARKETING, by Jay Conrad Levinson.
Pick out 2 or 3 ideas from the book that seem doable to you, and DO THEM.

I've tip bloomed just one carpet. I was using my old FM15 Clark buffer and Argo double pads. This was a very expensive, super dense plush, so dense you couldn't push your finger down into it. I knew to hwe this one, but I got in a hurry. On the job training can be costly. Educating yourself about carpets is important too.

Why are you afraid of "TP"?....paper cuts?....

good to see ya Steve