Bonnets / Spin Pads for Carpet Cleaning from Bane-Clene®
Carpet Cleaning Bonnets for Rotary Floor Machines / Buffers (Spin Pads, Absorbent Pads)
from Bane-Clene® Corp.
Available in 17 and 19 inch.
Features and Benefits:
- Ideal for aggressive soil lessening and dirt trapping to produce a cleaner surface area.
- Synthetic yarn scientifically designed for maximum absorbency, release and durability.
- Can be washed multiple times.
- Perfect for use on short looped nylon carpet and is extremely versatile as well.
- Bane-Clene bonnets can be used to clean with low moisture shampoo and solvent-based chemicals
- You could even spray your carpet and run the bonnet over it to wick up moisture and soil to leave the surface completely dry within one hour.
- These bonnets are for use with rotary floor machines with speeds of 175 to 300 RPM.
- For those who do bonnet clean level loop commercial carpet, we have available Pro’s Choice Brush & Bonnet.
- Clean and Brighten Your Cotton Bonnets: When you wash bonnets, use 3 oz. (1 heaping scoop) of Extreme Clean with 6 oz. (2 heaping scoops) of OSR in your wash.
- Bonnet cleaning an area of Loop Pile Carpet with a large number of spills will reduce spots from coming back.
WHAT IS BONNET CLEANING? Bonnet cleaning, also called spin pad or absorbent pad or carbonated shampoo cleaning, is simply an adaptation of hard floor spray buffing to carpets. A rotating absorbent pad (usually cotton or rayon) is attached to a low speed (175 RPM) Rotary Floor Machines - with a heavy-duty motor because of the high friction involved. A special drive block is required to keep the bonnet or pad from slipping off. Dirt is theoretically collected into the pad. The pad is supposed to be changed or turned when the pad surface stops absorbing soil - this is usually up to 600 square feet per pad side. The pad is then washed out and reused as needed. Sometimes, carbonated water is used to (in theory) give better soil suspension and bring down the pH.
Even though it is not true “dry cleaning”, many people using the bonnet carpet cleaning system call it dry cleaning, which is highly deceptive. There are two methods of application of the cleaning solution:
(1) A round absorbent pad (bonnet) is prepared before actual cleaning by either immersing it with water and wringing it out so it isn’t dripping wet and heavily soiled areas are directly sprayed with the bonnet cleaning solution at no more than 200 square feet per gallon.
(2) The pad is immersed into the bonnet cleaning solution and wrung out so it isn’t dripping wet.
The advantages of the bonnet carpet cleaning method are: low equipment cost, rapid drying (usually dry in 30 minutes), very rapid cleaning (because you’re only cleaning the surface) and the ability to charge less because it’s quicker.
The disadvantages of this carpet cleaning method are: pile distortion and fiber damage on cut-pile carpet, swirl marks left behind, soil ground into the carpet, detergent and soil build-up. Additionally, only two dimensions (width and length) of the carpet are really cleaned - that is, the surface. Under the cleaned surface may exist a living, breathing sewer. Unfortunately, a clean “appearance” is all some customers care about. Also, a large inventory of clean bonnets is required as well as the washers and dryers to clean the bonnets. Nearly all carpet and fiber manufacturers recommend against using bonnet cleaning on Cut Pile carpet. Additionally, many of the detergents and shampoos for bonnet cleaning contain high levels of optical brightener.
How to clean loop-pile commercial carpet using bonnets or spin pads:
(1) Prepping Your Bonnet Scrubbing Machine:
Attach the bonnet to the pad driver on the floor buffer. Lean the machine back so it rests on its handle and attach the pad driver to the clutch on the bottom of the machine. Place the machine on the outskirts of the bonneting area.
(2) Prepping the Bonneting Area:
Remove all furniture and other obstacles that could be damaged or may impede your scrubbing path. Use a powerful vacuum, to clean as much of the loose debris and dirt from the surface of the carpet as possible. Set up caution signs if you are working in a commercial building.
Mix the Pro’s Choice Brush & Bonnet (See below) in a pump up chemical sprayer or the shampoo tank of the floor buffer. Fill the mop bucket or pail with clean water, and soak the bonnet. Never use a dry bonnet on carpet!
Set up and cordon off a small 10 foot x 10 foot area. Put on a pair of disposable shoe covers to protect the carpet from any dirt or debris that could be stuck to the bottom of your shoes. Spray down the area with the prepared solution in the pump up sprayer. Let the solution sit for a few minutes so it can work itself into the carpet fibers and loosen the bonds between the dirt and fibers.
(3) Using Your Carpet Bonneting Machine:
Move the buffer into position on the 10 foot x 10 foot area that you have set up. Uncoil the power cord and place it behind the path you plan on scrubbing across the carpet. Sling the power cord over your shoulder, so as you operate the buffer, you can control the cord as you go. Lower the handle and lock it into place so the handle rests comfortably in your stomach, just above your belt line. Keep your feet spread apart to create a strong solid base to help you keep your balance as you operate the machine.
When starting the machine up, brace yourself, and be prepared for the machine to pull in one direction or the other. Depress the safety start up lever, and pull up on both of the handles to start the machine. Do not fight the machine, as this will only make your job tougher. Let the machine float as it scrubs. When you use slight pressure and push down on the handle, the machine will float to the left. When you raise the handle slightly, the machine will float to the right. You will always want to keep your body perpendicular to the machine, and only scrub in a 90° spectrum. Once you have hit above a 45° angle from where you started, you’ll want to stop and come back in the other direction.
It is a good idea to start scrubbing in the corner furthest away from your exit point. Overlapping passes will ensure that no portion of the carpet is ever missed. As you’re scrubbing, you’ll always want to make sure the bonnet is properly lubricated. That’s why it is a great idea to have a pre-mixed solution in your shampoo tank, so as you’re scrubbing, you can dispense that solution in needed areas. The bonnets you’re using will collect a lot of the dirt from the carpet, so they will need to be flipped over, since they can be used on 2 sides, and changed out frequently. You can also clean and wring them out in your mop bucket of clean water. When this water becomes dirty, simply dump out and refill with warm, clean water.
(4) Recovery:
When you’re finished scrubbing the highly soiled areas, it’s sometimes best to extract the area to remove any remaining soil.
(5) Wrap-up:
Clean and Brighten Your Bonnets: When you wash bonnets, use 3 oz. (1 heaping scoop) of Extreme Clean (See below) with 6 oz. (2 heaping scoops) of OSR (See below) in your wash.
Rinse out the solution tank on your buffer and the recovery tank on your extractor, after dumping the recovered solution from the carpet. Remove all carpet drying air movers after the carpets have had several hours to dry. Replace all furniture and moved objects. Be sure to place furniture tabs or foam tabs under their legs.
Here are two mill and fiber producer statements on bonnet cleaning:
“Do not use “spin bonnet” or other rotary systems on cut-pile carpet.”
-- Axminster Carpet
“Bonnet or Absorbent Pad …… The use of this method is not recommended on cut-pile carpet.”
-- BASF, Guidelines for Maintenance and Cleaning
Bonnet cleaning of carpet does have a place in the scheme of things - sometimes it helps after extraction cleaning an area of Loop Pile Carpet with a large number of spills. For example, if you have been extraction cleaning a level-loop pile carpet in a dining room in a nursing home where there is a large number of large spills and many of the stains always reappear, using dry bonnets after cleaning will reduce drying time and reduce possibility of wicking and, therefore, reduce the likelihood of having to go back. If you see a large stain indicating a massive spill, even this may not totally solve the problem. Of course, if there are just a few areas or if this is cut-pile carpet, you can simply spray down ARA anti-resoiling agent (See below) after extraction cleaning on the spill areas to reduce wicking.
NOTE Do not run a DRY bonnet on olefin (polypropylene) carpet or rug - olefin has a very low softening point!
Related Carpet Bonnet Cleaning Articles:
- Carpet Bonnet Cleaning Article
- Causes of Resoiling after Carpet Cleaning
- Compare Methods of Carpet Cleaning
- Cut & Loop Pile carpet styles
- Tandus Technologies Warranty Statement about Bonnet Cleaning of Carpet