I would love to get everyones comments on this.I was speaking with some janitorial contractors(2 of them) Explaining what I am seaking to acomplish with what I am putting together,when it came to stairs one mentioned "Why not get a small extractor just for commercial jobs with alot of stairs,stay competitive,and controll your moisture,with that encap you talk about"at frist did not know what to say then told him think about it,there alot of compatable hwe products that for this application might fit nicely,would really like feedback on this,Thank You exspecially from mark what would you think about it?
Stairs, especially in theaters, can be a challenge. Since it has been my goal for some time to make this business work WITHOUT an extractor of any kind, I can't really advise you on this that well. I have done some (most) stairs with the same 6" Sears buffer/polisher that I supply in my Package, as well as some with my Challenger, IF the surface of the stair is deep enough. In the past week I have also just bought one of Challenger's stair machines. It is quite heavy compared with what I have been using, but it might have a role in servicing these unusual,
"in-between" types of carpeted areas such as your theater stairs. Chris Watson tellm me she has one to which she has attached a handle of some sort, so she is able to use it as a floor machine - kind of a MINI-ME version of the Challenger.
Mark that sounds interesting the"mini-me".Looks like I will be getting the theater may be doing the lobby area end of next wk.Was talking with carl the contact person there,asked about the carpet in the restored area,it is green and stands up like a good putting green,about 1/8" high is soft but seams frim,so asked what made of,has never been cleaned,and he said it is a nylon,rayon fiber,said no special instructions as far as he knew.I am not sure,want to be careful not to damage it or lay it down,do not want any bear spots,it seams delicate to me.Glad it will be the last section to be done,what aproach would you take?
I don't think I have ever come across "delicate" commercial carpeting. (Some cheap residential carpeting is, you might say, delicate, and may produce "fluffies" when being cleaned for the first time. Just make sure to vacuum these up at the conclusion of the job) I would treat this theater carpeting you are referring to just like any other. Spray your cleaner; put down a damp terrycloth pad on your glider (use the medium one instead of the holy glider if you are nervous); they just orbit away. If there is a lot of spotting/staining/traffic lane patterns, then use the green-striped scrubber pad first, spraying perhaps a little more heaving than usual in these bad areas. The go back over with cotton pads. I sometimes finish up with a dry pad or two if I have sprayed more heavily than normal.
do NOT buy a small HWE machine JUST for stairs...you will regret it. that is a big expense for something that can be taken care of much more rea$onably.
try the Challenger stair tool...i use something similar and it does a wonderful job.
for the record, i have used HWE, a hand-held OP (like Mark is talking about) and a Host machine to encap stairs.
the latter of the 2 are easier IMO, but i prefer to use a cotton pad with OP and remove soil.
Thanks Derek I am not going to get a small extrctor,I like the thought of a "mini-me" Challenger that Mark spoke of.but I am just gonna use the small car buffer and a hand brush,the only other machine I might get down the road anything like an extractor is a Vapor Steam Machine.Thats down the road,Thanks
