Best clean process..

Ill never give up my 360i and imo on soil loads its faster than pulling out a crb then going back over it with a wand.    

In light soil large open empty homes theres nothing faster but you have to have a second head with lower flow jets,   the standard set up flushes too much and if you go fast on dry passes the carpet will be left too wet

with lower flow and say  a 5k sq ft home empty that is pretty clean,   im almost 2x faster with a 360 than a wand without breaking a sweat...   while getting more passes wet and dry than a wand.       Sometimes we encap these ones as well because customer is selling the home and just wants it looking clean for real estate agent,  nobody is there and it looks awsome after the crb runs through it.

our wand is for certain types of carpet and small jobs where breaking out lots of gear isnt needed,   crowded homes,  berber etc


I have to say that 360 is our best tool,  it sells jobs like crazy because every customer has seen many wands but very few have seen a 360.       Either way the carpet is clean but the customer sees what the customers sees...  you put on a show and youll get neighbors,  friends,  offices,  etc

ya id have to say for certain that the price of a rotary is well worth every penny

the real value is seen when you have employees out cleaning... never have to worry about them getting too tired or lazy on areas that need extra work, just 360 every job every time

ACpower1 wrote:I have to say that 360 is our best tool,  it sells jobs like crazy because every customer has seen many wands but very few have seen a 360

I agree but because I like to use the wand where possible, you can let people down when they where told all about your special spinning thing.

true,  I have ran into that.    but we have warnings for the customers that we will only use it if it is reasonable...   some types of carpet it doesnt benefit or if its a really crowded small house

but why do you like the wand? its hard labor, rotary is new technology designed to save you time and your back

I will be doing a half-dozen 2-bedroom apartments tomorrow and they are all empty. I whip out the Hoss on jobs like this and just let it knock it out without needing another step beyond grooming.

I know what you mean about asking if the price is worth it, I sold off my rx-20 at one point thinking the same thing but then regretted it about 6 months later. It does depend on your type of jobs and your needs, but you can often find a rotary pretty cheap if you are patient enough. My current rx-20 cost me $650 (it did take a few bucks to update it with Joe's help).

Where the wand is my exclusive tool is on moderate commercial as it is much faster and easier to fly through it, but it is the rotary units that pull heavy usage on everything empty.

ACpower1 wrote:

but why do you like the wand?   its hard labor,   rotary is new technology designed to save you time and your back

The main gripe I have with rotarys is here in NZ a lot of our carpets are wool. There is always a chance of bursting the pile although usually its not noticeable. The loop pile is worst. It also means that often you will end up pulling up dead fibres from the pile and you have to go around a hand pick a little hear and there after you finish a room. My feelings could be different if I wasn't working on wool so much.

Other disadvantages, you also need to edge and corner afterwards too. Heavier than a wand to take up stairs. An extra cord to plug in if you are using a porty.

I sure did appreciate it at times though.

The Carpet Chemist wrote:

ACpower1 wrote:

but why do you like the wand?   its hard labor,   rotary is new technology designed to save you time and your back

The main gripe I have with rotarys is here in NZ a lot of our carpets are wool. There is always a chance of bursting the pile although usually its not noticeable. The loop pile is worst. It also means that often you will end up pulling up dead fibres from the pile and you have to go around a hand pick a little hear and there after you finish a room. My feelings could be different if I wasn't working on wool so much.

Other disadvantages, you also need to edge and corner afterwards too. Heavier than a wand to take up stairs. An extra cord to plug in if you are using a porty.

I sure did appreciate it at times though.

I envy you with the wool carpets. Not only are they constructed better, but it takes more caution and more skill to clean correctly which keeps customers from trying to rent a rug doctor, just spray with Resolve, or hire the "any room for $9" guy they find in online ads.

I would still consider a rotary with glides for traffic areas, but you do have to careful for all the things you pointed out. Every area is unique and every business has to be adaptive to it.

The few times that I've encountered wall to wall wool I have used VLM way too many advantages not too

Mo wrote:The few times that I've encountered wall to wall wool I have used VLM way too many advantages not too

Where is the challenge in that? I can't disagree, VLM would make perfect sense on wool.

ACpower1 wrote:We run 1 renovator on the back so it grabs most of it,   then the wand can handle whats left

if you have the renovator on the front its hard to deal with walls,   with out it youll clean the baseboards a little lol

we pre vac,   then spray,  then dig with the crb..   when the carpet is just a little damp the hair seems to clump and come into the trays better

Great idea running one renovator on the back. I Just purchased my 1st CRB on line can't wait to get and use it though.

Great topic and great comments from all, another reason i like coming here.

Which one did you get Kevin?

I bought my CRB from Excellent Supply, used it once already, love it does great job, now i regret not getting one sooner. I also have a 175 with solution tank and carpet brush and a rotovac 360i with the carpet brush head so I now have experience using all three. Prior to getting the CRB I would use the 360i with the carpet brush head providing it wasn't a very thick heavy carpet if ya know what I mean due to the fact it was a little bit of a strain on the rotovac motor. Other wise i'd use the 175, those things are built like tanks.

Thanks for being on good behavior Kevin.   

That's some good advice too. The crb is gaining in favor these days.

'good behavior' ??
Is Kevin a bad boy or something?

With everybody selling crbs nowadays, what led you to buy from Excellent Supply Kevin?

He's a TMF newby. Won't be long till he finds this place to be home.

U know the one from excellent supply has got metal gears instead of plastic, other than that it's cheaper than anywhere else other than maybe buying from Joe of course.

I noticed that strong dry isnt trying to get 3500 for their crb anymore, its down to 2200 on their website.

I always said 3500 is wayyy too much for what it is

I got it from excellent supply because i've dealt with them before with great results, their price was good and i believe its a USA built machine.

ACpower1 wrote:I noticed that strong dry isnt trying to get 3500 for their crb anymore,   its down to 2200 on their website.    

I always said 3500 is wayyy too much for what it is

So is $2200!!

They just have us use to overpaying for everything, so we get immune to their ridiculous prices!!