Carpet Bonnets

Bonnet work is interim maintenance, and its reputation suffers when it is sold as anything else. Used properly — on a maintenance cycle, with the right chemistry, on a bonnet that is changed often enough — it keeps commercial carpet presentable between restorative cleans at a fraction of the downtime.

Used as a substitute for extraction, it moves soil around and builds residue. The bonnet itself is most of the difference.

The range covers Tuway Thin One bonnets in 8 inch for the Cimex and 12 inch; a 45 cm red and white bonnet pad; the SpeedTrek 43 cm queen scrubbing bonnet and a 43 cm full cotton extraction and drying bonnet; Microglide 2 in 17 inch and the 8 inch gentle microfibre GLIDE; Cleanstar Polystar 15 inch in white cotton and microfibre polisher; a 20 cm hand bonnet and encap pad with green strip; and Cyclo microfibre suede pad covers and pad driver plates in sets of two.

How to choose

Cotton absorbs, microfibre lifts. Cotton holds more solution and suits drying and extraction passes. Microfibre releases soil more readily and suits encapsulation and polishing. They are not substitutes on the same job.

Change the bonnet far more often than feels necessary. A loaded bonnet stops cleaning and starts redistributing. On commercial work that single habit separates good bonnet results from the reputation the method has.

Match the size to the machine, not the room. The 8 inch Thin One is a Cimex fitment. Cyclo takes its own pad covers and driver plates. A bonnet that overhangs the drive plate will not track flat.

Pair the pad with the chemistry. Encapsulation chemistry crystallises soil so it vacuums out later. Run it on an absorbent cotton bonnet and much of it stays in the bonnet instead.

Chemistry is in Encapsulation & Bonnet Cleaning, hard floor pads in Floor Pads, orbital machine spares in Orbot, and presprays in Carpet Presprays.