Restaurant Upholstery

[TigerJ]

Hello SB Forum folks,

I'm new to this forum so feel free to provide your expert knowledge;

Two things to post;

1) I have been landing some good restaurant upholstery cleaning jobs to clean the seat back material of bench and booth style seating. Many of the restaurants seldom get them cleaned for years, and this causes the material to get soiled over and over, and so far we have only been using the following process; 1) vacuum, spray our Citrus/Oygenation cleaning solution, onto the material, agitate with dual headed Cyclo brushes (aqua seem to be the most kind to the material and yet still give it a good scrubbing), then we Extract using a simple Rainbow vacuum, then use an orbital with white towels, and a little more simple focused manual scrubbing and towel wiping. Then we might repeat certain steps as needed. Unfortunately this process causes the operator (yours truly, and/or assistant) to work at an intense level to obtain the desired result.

what are your thoughts about suggested machines and/or cleaning solutions to simplify the task at hand ? would the Daimer XTreme Power XPH-5900IU (on sale now for about $1950) be a possible good workhorse for these trashed restaurant upholstery jobs ?

I also am in need of a 1200 psi porty for tile/grout cleaning...looking at the Cross American Jag 6.6 or the Hydraport 1200, and of course then I would need a spinner so I have my sights on the Turbo Force (12 or 15, leaning towards 15). As you can see, my dreams are big, but I only have so much capital to work with...surprise.

I would love to be able to get just one machine that would support the restaurant upholstery cleaning and the tile/grout w/spinner set up.

2) Final item, our company uses a Very Low Moisture cleaning approach with a 17" Mercury Floor machine as the workhorse. does anyone know of a better method of cleaning the main 17" carpet brush I use everyday, and have to clean so often because alot of the carpets I clean are trashed and I don't want to bring someone elses trash to another custy's home. I currently have a 1400 psi power washer from Home Depot that does a much better job than my previous manual attempts with a ****t comb, etc...yet still, I can see the embedded hair, etc and it just annoys me...I wish there was a product that could dissolve that crap so I could actually give my brush the thorough cleaning it needs. If someone develops a small machine (or knows of something that would work better) I can put the brush into, then pull it out in about 5 minutes or so and the bristles are empty I would prob pay good money for this.

thanks in advance for any and all responses and sorry for the length of the post. As you can see I think about these things alot and finally made it here to tap into all of your experience and great knowledge.


regards, Barry - located in CA

[Donald]

Daimer XTreme Power XPH-5900IU VS Clean Storm JD501H-2

Daimer XTreme Power XPH-5900IU is a private label machine made by TMI with a single 2 stage vacuum motor, 1000 watts of heat and Aquatec 170 psi pump, open spray (messy cleaning) for $2000. on one 20 amp power cord. Please note open spray cleaning at 170 psi is very, very messy with lots of splashing on both sides of the wand.

Compare this to a Clean Storm JD501H-2 with 3 stage vacuum motor (50% more suction power), 1000 watts of heat, 220 psi (29% more cleaning power), Internal wand (bi-directional Zero over-spray cleaning-cleans 100% faster than open spray cleaning) for under $1400 on one 20 amp power cord
http://www.steam-brite.com/fiberglas...am-p-8749.html
OR
Clean Storm 6-2300-H with 4 stages of vacuum (100% more suction power than Daimer XTreme Power), 2000 watts of heat (100% more temperature rise), 300 psi (76% more cleaning pressure), 25 ft of hose, Internal Zero over-spray Bidirectional Upholstery wand (100% faster cleaning) for $1694 and runs on two 15 amp breakers (much easier to plug into every job site. No need to worry about tripping breakers or looking for dedicated 20 amp breakers)
As I have mentioned many times before on this forum, bidirectional cleaning tool require machines that produce at least 200 psi and do clean 100% faster than traditional auto detail and upholstery machines. All the above machines are made in the USA so why would anybody pay 20 to 40% more for a TMI machine with a fraction of the performance? http://www.steam-brite.com/clean-sto...h-p-12422.html

Now onto the Cross American 6.6
http://www.steam-brite.com/cross-ame...e-p-10765.html
Please note all the free stuff you get when you purchase from SteamBrite.
2nd, please note the pump head is rated for 800 psi. This means that you will not have enough power to pressure wash tile floor rather only rinse already cleaned tile floors. You should look at machines that will clean with 1200 to 1500 psi to pressure wash tile floors.
Take for example that if you have a super dirty car and you take a foaming brush or sponge and pre-agitate the cars surface. Now after it is clean you are going to rinse it off. One method is you can rinse with your thumb over the end of the garden hose, another method is you are going to used a 800 psi mist(1 gpm like in the 6.6 machine), and the third is you are going to take a real 1500 psi 2+ gpm pressure washer and aggressively rinse the car. Which method do you think will work the best? The ultimate tile cleaning is never with a tile cleaning machine but to use a pressure washer mated with a flood pumper auto dump extractor for the vacuum portion.
Example
Cold pressure washer
http://www.steam-brite.com/pressure-...g-p-10840.html
Flood pumper
http://www.steam-brite.com/dristorm-...0v-p-6271.html
I say cold because this system cleans with the building hot water and it does not heat the water.
If you want a heated system, visit
http://www.steam-brite.com/clean-sto...20v-p-182.html
The above system cleans with live steam and 2000+ psi
3) I am not sure I understand question three. Please visit
http://www.steam-brite.com/bridgepoi...e-p-12211.html
and read the review on this item.(left column) This is the ultimate surface cleaning machine for both tile and carpet cleaning including pet hair removal!

Now I forgot to mention the US Products Hydraport 1200
http://www.steam-brite.com/advanced_...Hydraport+1200
While the pump is a Pumptec 356u 1200 psi pump and the machine is auto fill and auto dump it only has a single 3 stage vacuum motor in it. This means you are hooked to the sink so the machine cannot follow you around the house unless you fill up the fresh tank and roll it back to the job site.
2nd is the vacuum motor is only 3 stages of vacuum so you cannot add hose length to clean the upstairs or second floor. This means you will have to relocate the machine up stairs! The Hydraport 1200 is designed for companies that are purchasing a tile cleaning machine to leave in their store. To clean a single job site that your roll around the single building to clean.
If you want an All-in-one tile cleaning machine, please look at machines with more vacuum power. Something that can clean the second floor of a home.
My first choice is to mate the Goliath 8 stage vacuum with a pressure washer but if you really want it 'all-in-one', look at
US Product Torrent Dual 3 stage vacuum motors (turned down to 15 amps)
http://www.steam-brite.com/advanced_...ywords=torrent

Clean Storm 12-5000 Set
http://www.steam-brite.com/clean-sto...00-p-4649.html

Nautius MX3-1200M
http://www.steam-brite.com/nautilus-...g-p-12471.html

These above machines have way more suction power than the Hydroport 1200
Summary:
The Jaguar 6.6 offer better vacuum but a smaller suction feed pump and smaller auto dump pump.
The Goliath (the Ultimate vacuum system) and the Clean Storm machines offer 30 gpm and 20 gpm auto dumps so they can do flood restoration too. All the other machines are rated for 3 to 5 gallon per min. auto dump and can only keep up with auto dump from cleaning.
Using a pressure feed pressure washer will work the best on tile cleaning but the Home Depot unit you purchases is a low flow 1 gpm system and will not run a spinner tool. You need 2 gallon per minute pump to use this. The home depot unit also is not rated for being feed with hot water. The pressure regulator will break after using hot water through the machine after a few uses.
All-In-One machines are super heavy because you have a pressure washing pump (at least 50 lbs or more) in the motor box (under the hood). This means you will have to team lift or purchase a ramp to load and unload out of your service truck. Separating the pump from the vacuum add the benefit of loading and un-loading with ease. Separating the pump from the vacuum now means you can take your tile cleaning set up to 3 power cords and beef up the pressure and vacuum for improved results. All-in-one tile cleaning machines are always trying to keep the amp draw on the two power cords at a reasonable level.

Sometimes customer state, "I clean malls and other long distance job sites that require rolling the machine far from the van." In this case if you use a two machine system, you might want to purchase a smaller 2 gpm pressure washing pump that can be placed on top of the flood pumper and rolled into the job site. Example look at the AS1200 Water Otter
http://www.steam-brite.com/advanced_...eywords=as1200
P.S. This is the same pressure pump used in all the All-in-one tile cleaning machines list in this tread, but just installed under the hood.

[TigerJ]

equipment recommendations

Donald, thanks very very much for your detailed response...this will give me a lot to review, but I'm looking forward to checking out the upholstery machines you recommended for sure.

On the tile/grout set up, I really want a simple and compact approach, with the intention of keeping my focus on 700 sq ft (or less) tile/grout color seal jobs...I have read on other forums where the right cleaner (e.g. 2790) can make up for not having the best of equipment. Still working through testing different approaches on this one (including using a straight Etch approach if there is not serious grime that should be cleaned by Alk first...this is why I started trying the 2790 cause guys (on the Dirt Grout Forum) said it can clean and etch, but I'm not sure how well that really works with my manual (not PSI based) process, but I know I want to keep my footprint on the smaller side...Torrent is way outside my pricepoint.

Of course my current process of putting down 2790, short dwell time, agitate with 17" floor machine and stand up grout brushes, extracting with good size Rigid Wet vac, rinsing with battery operated sprayers, then extracting again works fine for smaller areas (bathrooms, small kitchens) I still know I need to step up to a spinner approach for efficiency, etc. I understand your example of the diff PSI's, but one must also be careful with grout damage using too high PSI (so I have read).

I will likely check back in soon after I've had a chance to review the upholstery recommendations you provided.

thanks for the taking the time to respond, even though I know you have the vested interest, but that's fine, because I appreciate your knowledge and willingness to help guide me in the correct direction.


regards, Barry

[TigerJ]

p.s.

is there a way to extend the time before one gets logged off on the forum ?

I know I write long posts but it would be nice to not have to log back in after composing each message.


thanks, B

[Donald]

forum timing out...

I always write my replies in my email and the copy and paste it on the forum. I am not a very good speller so I like the email platform to check my spelling. In the mean time, I will look into the log off time frame.

[TigerJ]

good idea on drafting and then just paste...thanks.

I like what I have read about the Clean Storm 6-2300-H.

Do you really think this would be about the best product/tool I could get to address my specific use for cleaning the seat back upholstery, bench style seats and booths where the seating bench is a vinyl type material (I do not clean these), but the backs are usually made of a fabric called Olefin that has a tenancy (from years of no attention) to get soiled on the top edges of the booth where customers put their hands and then also right where they slide in and out of the booths - in some cases the fabric turns almost black, yet underneath it is red. The soil nearly covers the original fabric design, which is what I need to get cleaned.

I'm still open to hearing any thoughts about whether I could find one machine that would support the restaurant upholstery cleaning and the tile/grout w/spinner set up. Just seems like if there was a PSI selectable unit that ran from about 300 psi to 1200 psi that just might be what I would need, then get the right attachment cleaning tools (like the Production Metal Forming Upholstery, Auto Detail, and Mattress), and a nice Turbo Force Spinner set up. Instead of having to purchase two separate machines. I understand the All in One's are heavier, but having too many machines also has it's challenges.


thanks very much...


Barry

[TigerJ]

Donald,

just checking back, have not seen a response to my previous post...you may have simply overlooked it since a few posts went back and forth or you got busy doing real work : )

Also, is the Clean Storm 6-2300-H capable of driving a Tile/Grout Spinner ? If so, this might be the solution for me to cover my restaurant upholstery and tile/grout spinner cleaning need.


thanks, Barry

[TigerJ]

Donald, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with with on the phone this morning and answer my many questions. I appreciate your support as move towards placing an order to increase my cleaning productivity and effectiveness. You are a wealth of knowledge and I can't express how much I really appreciate your willingness to help guide me in my decision making.

All the best !


Barry
Kwik Dry Total Cleaning, California