I did my first OP job this evening. I used Vacaway Encap green and Gladiator pads. It was a very dirty bike shop carpet. I am amazed at what I was able to get up.

I have washed the pads three times and they are still dirty. Although the water is nearly clean. I would have thought the left over cleaner that I put on the carpet would separate the dirt from the pads. No such luck.

Any pad cleaning tips?

What pads do you sell with the Challenger Mark? I got my Challenger off eBay for $460 including shipping. It is in really good shape, I am jazzed.

Some people consider this to be the downside of OP cleaning: you get so much soil out of the carpet, as you just pointed out, and then you can't remove the soil pattern completely from the pads. I have the same problem on a continual basis. I've read on this and other forums that some people use a pre-soak of various kinds, such as with an oxygenated cleaner, which helps to remove the dark areas, but I've tried this approach a few times, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference. I guess we can only take satisfaction in being able to deliver amazing results, even if we carry the evidence of this around in our pads. I admit when I bring a pile of pads into a home for a job, I put the whitest looking ones on the top of the pile. The pads' soil patterns have never led to an issue with a customer, so I think the problem is mostly in our heads.

I will soon be selling pads as well as a number of OP machines at www.planet-orbital.com, but it's not quite finished yet. In the meantime, buy pads at Challenger or Orbitec, or at any number of c.c. supply houses.