We've been asked by Challenger to try a new blended pad (I think it's a cotton/poly blend). The pad is alot thicker & feels nicer than our old ones; but that's irrelevant if it doesn't work! We'd like to gather other thoughts. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about these pads?
I prefer thicker pads to thinner ones. I think thickness adds some handling stability to an OP machine. I prefer the fairly thick 90/10 pads (90% cotton; 10% synthetic fibers) that I've bought from Orbitec to the thinner Challenger ones. I've been doing several jobs recently using Vacaway's bio-based Encap Green cleaning product, and using the various size green-stripe pads with it. 17" pads on my Orbitec CX-20 (actual diameter of the pad driver of this machine is 17") and a 15" diameter pad with the Challenger. These pads are admittedly only semi-absorbent, but when encapping that's not a problem. Both machines seem to run smoother with these pads on low-pile commercial carpeting than do all-cotton or 90/10 pads.
