Encap Stairs Help......

I have a couple flights (32) stairs to clean tomorrow, but my CRB is a bit too heavy and cumbersome for stairs.
I have a polisher/buffer with a 7" pad driver, but no pads or bonnets that size.

Anyone have any suggestion??

Only thing I can think of would be go buy some 20" floor pads and hand cut a couple 7" inchers out of it?....but some kind of bonnets would be nice.

Do the pads on your polisher attach by velcro or a pad with a string that you tighten.

I use 17 inch pads on my challenger stool all the time . Can you buy pads at HD, Lowes or pep boys for your buffer.

Like Mo said attache the pad to the buffer with velcro. Then take a thick cotton bath towel and cut it into 12" circles. Poke 8 small holes equally spaced about an inch from the end of the cut towel circles. Take a shoe lace and run it through the hole you put in the towel and use it as a draw string. Never tried it but....   

For the future, go to mopsdirect.com and order the microfiber with scrub strips in the small size. Works like a dream.

Find a cyclo polisher and load it up with blue brushes and bonnets....probably find one on craiglist and get the bonnets / brushes at a auto body shop.

Might even be able to rent one from an auto body shop.

Cyclo is what I've used for stairs for a long time. Works great! But it is work. Wears on the lower back.

I use an Oreck orbital now with the small microfiber pads from mopsdirect. If the risers are dirty I'll still break out the Cyclo.

I'll have to check out that oreck some time...always good to hear tips like that.

I bought one on Craigslist for $100. I'm always on the lookout.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions!!     

Here's what I use to vlm stairs. It's got some weight to for a deep scrubbing, good torque so it doesn't bog down when you apply pressure to the steps, good quality construction, could be used to encap furniture too. I've had it for over 6 years just had to replace the on/off switch once.

Thanks to your guys input, I came up the with idea of making my own pads.   

I took one  of my 17" green stripe pads, and made my own 7" pads for my polisher/buffer to do the stairs.

I just cut the stitching all the way around the 17" pad that holds the two half's together (think hamburger bun) lol. Then laid my 7" velcro backing plate on one of the half's and traced around it, then cut them out, for perfect sized 7" green stripped pads.......I was able to get 6 of them out of the 17" pad.   

I was happy withe the results............although looking at the pics I took it doesn't look as impressive as it was in person.   
The customer was happy, and all that really matters!

Before


After


And Before in the office rm.......clean square is where the desk mat was....


2 Afters....

Looks great cracker!

Ha Cracker, never made that connection. I like it. Looks good Cracker. When I look at these VLM jobs it makes me want to do some myself.

Great results and good advice from the group that produced an inexpensive resolution.   

Looks pretty nice, sir. Glad to see you found a way out of that situation...way to use your wits.

By the way, is that a size 10 shoe in the picture...  

1000 posts, wow.
and all written with tact, humility, gentleness.
I hate you.   

Joe Bristor wrote:1000 posts, wow.
and all written with tact, humility, gentleness.
I hate you.     

Yeah, it's crazy!  Rob is cool as a cucumber.  And a fountain of knowledge. I love reading his posts. It's like his writing from the side of a resort pool, with a Collins on the side table. 

Congrats on 1,000

milspec6 wrote:Looks pretty nice, sir.  Glad to see you found a way out of that situation...way to use your wits.

By the way, is that a size 10 shoe in the picture...  

Nooooooo haha, that is a 'ski sized' foot/shoe!......a size 13!!   

Ryan S wrote:

Joe Bristor wrote:1000 posts, wow.
and all written with tact, humility, gentleness.
I hate you.     

Yeah, it's crazy!  Rob is cool as a cucumber.  And a fountain of knowledge. I love reading his posts. It's like his writing from the side of a resort pool, with a Collins on the side table. 

Congrats on 1,000

That's basically what I said about, Rob a couple weeks ago in another thread..........he's the 'roll model citizen', when it comes to interwebz forum members.

Props to the MilRob1000!!    

And as I said last night, the customer was happy with the job I did............here's the 5 star review he left me on Yelp today!!       




   A. K.
   Long Beach, CA

5.0 star rating
2/22/2014

Recently had both my home and a 2 bd rental done.  Dave recommended the "dry" system. I was initially a bit concerned about "new fangled" stuff - but results were great.

He worked a the full day.  Carpets and stairs look great - i liked that he got in and "scrubbed" the stairs,,, results were great. Couple of evaluation thoughts:  (1) he was very responsive to a number of calls and emails explained the options etc (2) showed up on time as planned (!), (3) Dave did not try to "upsell" me on stuff.  (4) he even got into the baseboards and edges, (5) The dry carpet format worked great - was dry in about 2 hours and feels nice and soft - no "tacky" or sticky feel that I've had from other prior cleaners,  and (6) kept to price as agreed. Good price -  great service and results.

BTW I used S/O/Encap boosted with a couple oz of 27% O2 on this job.

And in the real soiled areas I pre-sprayed and pre-scrubbed with a weak mixture of S/O Pre-spray boosted with O2 also.

By "O2" you mean peroxide, right?

Those are awesome reviews. I read my good ones often.  Here is another VLM job that makes me want to do some. The suspense is killing me. Great Job Dave.

REALCLEAN wrote:By "O2" you mean peroxide, right?

Yes, that is correct, peroxide.   

Am I wrong for calling peroxide O2?.......I thought that was correct and I'd seen that used here before??    

Thanks Ryan!    

Prob right. I'm a little slow. I thought it could be some of that powered water.

Get a car buffer it works good on stairs.