The Art And Science of Bonnet Cleaning I have done bonneting, along with shampooing, powder cleaning, plant washing, and steam cleaning with portables and truck mounts for some 43 years, and can tell you, I pretty well know what I am doing. I have used Chemspec's, Prochem's, Argo's and less well known brands over the years, and in my opinion, the Bi-O-Kleen's is as good as the best, and better than most of them. Most of them have an odor of one kind or other, some stink, some smell fresh, but the odor lingers a very long time, so it becomes stale fairly quick. The Chemspec Roto-Brite uses a lot of d-limonene, and in an office with the air conditioning shut off, can get very powerful odors, and I found it offensive. Basically the same with Argosheen. Some of my customers also found it offensive. Can't have the customer offended, even with a great cleaning product. I do a lot of bonneting. Lots of residences, and lots of commercial jobs. Some are 5,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. Most of these are alternated between steam, shampooing and bonneting. For instance, most commercial jobs are bonneted say 3 times a year, and steamed once per year. Some jobs are rotated between shampoo, steam and bonnet, each month, or each time. None of these are steamed all of the time, or shampooed all of the time, and a couple are only bonneted each time. So, bonneting does have a place, and it's own benefits. One benefit is rapid drying. One is speed of cleaning. One is lower cost to you. I charge a yearly fee to these long standing commercial jobs, so they can budget for the maintenance costs to them. So, depending on how fast the carpet soils, and what kind of soiling, is what determines the cleaning system and frequency. To bonnet, a person needs a bunch of bonnets, not just one. I have about 12 all cotton, half are cut pile, the rest are loop pile. I have about 5 or 6 rayon/cotton bonnets, and the rest are nylon. The cotton are more absorbent, and less aggressive, the rayon are more aggressive and less absorbent, and the nylon with poly strips are most aggressive, and hardly absorbent at all. So, depending on the job, whether I use a cotton, a rayon, or a nylon, how dirty is it, and what kind of dirt, and what kind of carpet. These are the factors that determine which bonnets, or more than one are to be used. At a residence, the lady wanted 5 throw rugs 3 x 5, cleaned that were pretty dirty. Front door entry, garage entry, and kitchen and patio door entries. First I vacuumed them, then sprayed the 3 by the family room- the patio door, the kitchen and the garage entry. Then run over them with a nylon bonnet, dampened. Then followed with a cotton loop that was dry. The rugs turned out terrific, as clean as if they were steamed, or plant washed. Dry in about ten minutes. Then I did the other 2 in the same fashion. Each rug took about 5 minutes for all of the steps. A 21 inch roto is pretty big, and can be used on big jobs, but for residences, or smaller commercial jobs, it is too big, and you might consider getting a smaller machine. My Chemstractor is a 17 inch machine. I prefer it to other machines for several reasons. It has it's own sprayer, fed from the shampoo tank, so I can do 2000 to 3000 sq ft per hour easily. It also attaches to the truck mount or portable for steam extraction. It will also do regular shampooing or plant scrubbing/flooding. Sure they are expensive- about $2500, but it will earn it's money back quickly, and they last forever. The process to do successful bonnet cleaning is the same as Chem-Dry uses, and most everyone else. Dry vac. Spray the carpet, spray the bonnet. Run the bonnet over the carpet. Turn the bonnet when soiled. Use a new bonnet when both sides are soiled. When the job is over, you can wash the bonnets in your home clothes washing machine. The square footage a single side will do depends on how dirty the carpet is. Sometimes I can go about 100 sq ft per side, sometimes 1000 sq ft per side. When the bonnet down side becomes soiled, it's time to turn or replace it. You need to keep an eye on the down side, to keep from going too far, and spreading the dirt it has picked up. What cleaning product to use? There are a dozen or so bonnet formulas, available from lots of sources. I prefer the Bi-O-Kleen line of products for a lot of reasons, and so I use their Bonnet Cleaner/Rug Shampoo. It can also be used for washing loose rugs of all kinds. Orientals, braids, hooks, and domestics of all kinds. The Bi-O-Kleen Bonnet Cleaner concentrate is diluted 1 or 2 ounces of concentrate to a gallon of hot water, put into a sprayer, and is ready to go. The bonnets are fastened to the drive block either by a stiff bristled brush, or a Velcro, or rubber drive block. Mine uses the stiff bristled brush. The principle and action of bonneting is to not get the carpet appreciably wet. So there is very little chance of wicking back, especially on thin commercial carpets. With the carpet not appreciably wet, it does not clean as thoroughly as steam in the face fibers with a single pass, or bonnet material. So that's why several types of bonnet materials are needed for the best job. On a very dirty job, perhaps 2 or 3 passes with a nylon, then a cotton, which is dry, to pick up the dissolved soils, and help dry the carpet fibers. On a light to moderate soiled job, perhaps only one pass with a cotton bonnet is all that is needed. This is a judgement call. Forget Host and Capture powders. At best, they can only do about 10% of the cleaning of a bonnet system, and about 2% of a steam cleaning system. When a carpet is properly cleaned with a bonnet system, it is as clean as with a steam system. Don't let anyone kid you about it's effectiveness. Some bonnet cleaning formulas use a soap that can leave a residue that can attract new soil. That's why I like the Bi-O-Kleen brand. It is 100% biodegradable, no scent, safe for the user, customers, kids, pets, etc. I also use the Bi-O-Kleen Traffic Lane Cleaner for that purpose- it can be used before steaming, too, and on furniture as a pre-spray. I use the Spray Cleaner for general spotting, and Bac-Out for urine, vomit, diarrhea, most food and beverage spills, etc. Re the name "Dry". Only Chem-Dry and Ultra-Dry is copyrighted. I use Bi-O-Kleen's products, and so call my system "Bi-O-Dry". What's in a name? Call yours anything you like. If you use Bi-O-Kleen's products, of course you could call yours Bi-O-Dry, too. -------------- The Art of Bonnet Cleaning. 1. You need a bonnet drive block to turn the bonnets under the machine- the shampoo brush will not do it. Get one at your local suppliers. It fits on the same as the brush, in place of the brush. To clean the edges, the corners and under furniture the bonnet will not go under, I use a 100% cotton swivel headed dust mop. Dampen it the same as the bonnet, and do these areas prior to the main bonnet cleaning areas. This dust mop can also be used to clean stairs. 2. Get at least 2 bonnets. They can be cotton, nylon, rayon, or a blend- it does not really matter. A 100% cotton bonnet, or one of the new microfiber bonnets can be used as a dirt checker to make sure you have removed all of the soils. If the job is not checked in some manner, you may be leaving behind some soils that are actually removable, and if there is any visible difference following the dirt checker, go over the area again to remove the remaining soils. 3. You need a sprayer of some kind- a pump up, or electrical. I use an electrical, because the pressure remains constant, and no pumping- but are limited to the wire's and hose's length. 4. Launder the new bonnets before using the first time, to remove excess lint that you otherwise would have to pick up, or vacuum after cleaning. 5. Get a bonnet cleaning concentrate. I use and recommend Bi-O-Kleen's, but a person can use any brand. (Not Argosheen- it contains Stoddard Solvent- a petroleum byproduct.) 6. When ready to clean, spray the floor about 10 sq. ft. Spray each side of the bonnet. This is for lubrication. Get it fairly wet, not dry. Same with the carpet. Has to be very damp- not saturated. It will take a bit of practise to determine the right amount to spray the carpet. 7. Place the dampened bonnet on the dampened carpet. Set the roto on the bonnet. Let the handle down a bit lower than for shampooing with the brush, for better control. I like to work my way into a room, from the hallway or doorway, making clockwise ovals. This tends to dig out the soils that may be embedded. when this is complete, and I am at the far end of the room, then I make counterclockwise ovals going out of the room. 8. Turn roto on, and run the bonnet over the dampened area. If there is a lot of friction, too little moisture on the carpet, wet it more. The bonnet should run pretty easily when done right. When finished with the first 10 x 10, spray the next 10 x 10, or so- not too big of an area, because the solution dries out pretty quickly. If the carpet is too dry, it will not clean properly, and make too much drag on the roto. How to operate the roto for best results. Hold the machine firmly, and turn the motor on. Quickly find the neutral point where the machine is not moving, just turning the bonnet. Instead of lowering and raising the handle, making the machine go to the left or right, keep the handle level at the neutral point, and push it, then pull it, so the machine describes an oval. With a little practise, you can totally control the machine's movements without it getting away from you. As you make the oval motion with the machine, overlap at least 1/3 of the prior oval. Making the next row of ovals, overlap at least 1/3 of the prior row. Make a row to the left or right, go back over the same area in the opposite direction. This gets all sides of all the fibers for the best cleaning effort. If you raise then lower the handle, and make wide horizontal passes, the effect is on the carpet making a heel and toe pass, and the center of the pass is not cleaned the same as the edges. This also is much harder to groom out, and when dry, in some cases there are clean then dirty streaks, which are much harder to remove in the future. With the oval motion, the entire area to be cleaned is the same on all sides of all tufts, nothing is missed. 9. After doing about 100 sq, ft, remove the bonnet and look at the down side for dirt. If dirty, turn it over, if not, keep going. About 100 sq. ft for the second side. Then the second bonnet to finish up. 10 When done with the job, launder the bonnets in your washing machine, but not in the dryer- just let drip dry, hang on a line, etc to dry. ------------- Depending on the total amount of soil, for removal, it requires a given amount of water. Plant washing of loose rugs involves many gallons of water- the rug is totally flooded and immersed, scrubbed by various means, clear water rinsed, rinsed, soured if needed, and hung up to dry. The less water used in soil removal means the less soil removed. That's fine if there is only a limited amount of soil to remove, then systems which use smaller amounts of water can remove all of the soils present. All of the cleaning systems use a certain amount of water. Even the "Dry powder" systems use some in the powder and some in the pre-spray. Bonneting uses more water than the powder, but less water than the shampoos. Shampoos use less water than the steam system. Steam systems use less water than plant washing. Plant washing can use as much as 100 gallons between the flooding, scrubbing and rinsing for a 9 x 12 rug. Each system, when performed by an expert in that system, can remove most, or all of the soils present- but the point still is- no matter which system is used, the more soils present call for more water to dissolve the soluble soils, and dislodge the insoluble soils. Each system, when used correctly by an expert can remove all of the soils from the tip to the base of the tufts, to answer your question. Pretty quickly, you will realize that the soils contained in the bonnets, when laundered, and washed out, is very close to the amount of soils removed by steam cleaning- the color and condition of the waste water is about the same. If you trap the water coming out of the washing machine into a bucket, or laundry tub, and have a look at it, you can easily see the dirty water is close to the same. So, the notion that bonnet cleaning is not as effective as steam cleaning is not really justified. --------- How to beat your competition with BOK's Oxy Bleach Plus. Not all carpets are filthy. Some are not even allowed to appear soiled at all. Here's an example- an all white carpet- very lightly soiled for Mrs. Millionaire, who does not want her carpets to appear even slightly soiled. It has been about 6 months since I was there last, and this is the 8th or 9th time I have been there, and it is always the same story. The carpets are almost pristine when I get there, and I return them to a pristine condition again. So... I bonnet them, and add some BOK Oxy Bleach to the formula, and that really makes the carpets sparkle, and visibly shows I did do something. The soils are so light that I can use only 1 bonnet in the entire house- and it hardly needs washing when I finish. The point is- not everyone lets their carpets go to pot before cleaning- some people want them kept in as good a shape as possible. Some offices are like this, too. I do several where I add a bit of Oxy Bleach to the Bonnet Cleaner- about a teaspoon to a gallon of ready to use mix. Since it is not a matter of removing large amounts of soil, rather it is a matter of visibly showing I was there, and did do some work, and the carpets look much better than before I did my job, mainly because of the sparkle from the Oxy Bleach. It does not matter what color or kind of carpet it is, the BOK Oxy Bleach will make it sparkle. Normal cleaning makes it look clean- no question, but not sparkle. If you are competing for a job against another cleaner, no matter what cleaning system he uses, if you add some Oxy Bleach to your formula, your finished job will be better looking than your competition. It will not matter if it is the same room, or different rooms, the difference will be obvious- yours will be better. ------- I have bonneted some jobs 3 times then once yearly TM steam. No foam, or other residue. I have some residences I alternate the system. Never any residues. A couple of commercial jobs always bonneted- one is a high rise condo with outdoor hallways. Olefin tight commercial loop directly glued to the concrete floor. Because it is so uneven, it cannot be steamed. The wand- even the RX-20 scalps the peaks and drenches the valleys. So it always had to be bonneted following a steaming anyway, so I stopped steaming it more than 10 years ago, and have bonneted it quarterly all this time. No residue. Proof? it rains on about half of the carpet. Outdoors dontcha know. No foam or other buildup. This is a bonneting quarterly, over 10 years. I maintain the carpets in 3 Ethan Allan stores- that's a high end furniture, carpets, and general decor. I alternate monthly bonnet and steam. Never any residue or foaming. 100% biodegradable. Been doing these stores about 10 years. The carpets still look great. They are on my "Appearance Maintenance Schedule" Several doctors offices, accountants, and other offices get the same treatment. Even a veterinarian. Monthly. (Lots of Bac-Out used in the carpeted waiting room. I love it.) ---------- There are some cleaners who think bonnet cleaning is of no use at all. There are some cleaners who think that bonnet cleaning is only for offices, or fairly clean homes. Some cleaners who run truck mounts, or portables, and look down their noses at bonnet cleaning, as ineffective. They may be in for a big surprise. There are several companies who franchise, or sell outright, bonnet cleaning operations. These are fairly successful, largely depending upon the operator, as is the case with any business. A franchise is not needed by an experienced operator, however. The results in the finished job might be an eye opener for someone who has never seen a modern bonnet cleaning. New application techniques, and chemicals, and fibers of bonnets make the modern system a good addition to other cleaning systems. I have added this system of cleaning to my operation, and I am getting results that were impossible in the past. I am using this in both my residential, and commercial maintenance cleaning, along with shampooing, and steam cleaning. In times past, I would never even consider cleaning a fairly soiled carpet, or item of furniture with this system. Now, however, I am doing some fairly soiled jobs, and have been pleasantly surprised at how soiled the pads get, and how rapidly. The chemicals are much more aggressive, and go after the soils, without a lot of water on the fabrics, so that it is dry very rapidly. When the pads are washed, the wash water is frequently as dirty as the water in the waste tank of a steam cleaning machine. The carpets, and furniture appear as clean and nice, as following a steam cleaning, or shampooing, in most jobs. In years gone by, re-soiling was a problem, usually caused by residues. Mot anymore. Most of the modern chemicals I have tried recently seem to have this problem whipped. My preference is Bi-O-Kleen's Bonnet Cleaner/Carpet Shampoo. Neutral pH, rapidly biodegradable, etc. NO Sticky Residues, of any kind, or petroleum solvents or byproducts. In several cases, where I have steam cleaned, and/ or shampooed the same job several times, then bonnet cleaned it, the job has stayed cleaner, for longer. Even when steam cleaned, with an added application of soil retardant. Not every job, I am saying, but lots. Enough to convince me that it is too high of a percentage to be accidental. My own house, for example. Pads can be made of 100% cotton, or 50% cotton/ 50% rayon, or 50% nylon/ 30% cotton/ 20% rayon, and 100% nylon. Some have added rows of astro-turf-like material, for greater aggressiveness. When cleaning the same carpet, using the different pads, the cotton appears more soiled to the eye, after a given area has been cleaned. However, there is no apparent difference in the finished results on the carpet, and there is no way to tell which pad was used in what areas. The 100% nylon pad covers the most square feet, before it appears soiled to the same extent as the cotton pad. There has been no noticeable difference in re-soiling, when there have been several types of pads used on the same job. It was impossible to tell where which pad cleaned any area. In my experience, the 100% nylon pads are easier to use, running smoother under the drive block. Frequently, the thicker pads run unevenly under the drive block, making the handling of the machine difficult, especially for a new person. Washing the pads out later, separately, the water in each bucket appeared as dirty as any other. The cotton pads appeared dirtier, but all of the types hold a very large amount of dirt. The chemical can be applied to the carpet or furniture in many ways. The simplest is a garden type pump up sprayer. There are several types of electric sprayers. Carbon Dioxide is used as a propellant by one manufacturer. Dampen the bonnet before the carpet, to insure good lubrication, as well as cleaning effort. The pad can be sprayed with the solution, or immersed in a bucket of solution, and wrung out. When spraying the carpet, do not apply too far ahead of the machine, as some of the chemical is absorbed by the carpet, and some evaporates. If the machine reaches an area too dry, it bogs down, and does not have proper cleaning action, and results. The bonnet can make a friction burn on some carpets if too dry. This can be difficult, even impossible to remove. Good lubrication with the solution is the key here. The carpet should be damp to the touch, but not saturated. We recommend Bi-O-Kleen's Bonnet Cleaner, for bonnet cleaning. Check www.heacocks.com on line catalog. The bonnet system is an absorbing system that makes dirt transfer from A to B. The solution needs to dwell about 2 minutes at the minimum. If you think the carpet is clean, go back over it again with a clean dry bonnet and see if you pick up more soil or not. If you get more soil on the bonnet it still needs more cleaning effort. Pad side 2 will not pick up as much soil as side one, because some soil has already collected there, while side one is working. The side 2 will only cover approximately one half the carpet area of side one. Do not let the machine sit still on top of the bonnet when you have to stop. Soils now in the damp bonnet can transfer back onto the carpet. Lay the machine down on its back every time you stop for whatever reason. The same goes for when you have finished the job, do not leave the damp, soiled bonnet on a hard surface. Remove the soiled bonnet and the drive block immediately. Do not leave damp, soiled bonnet on the carpet or hard surface. Put them in a bucket, or outside on the porch, or take to the truck. How do you know when bonnet side one is full of soil? Lay the machine down, and look at the bonnet. It will take a bit of practice to determine this. In a sense, bonneting is a motorized spot removal, scaled up. You don't normally have a problem with residue when you do spot removal, right? If the proper bonnet cleaning formula is used, the effect is the same. Investigate this system, it could be for your operation.