Carpet Cleaning Machine

[Less]

I`ve seen alot of click & brags where the detailer used a carpet extractor to clean filthy old carpets and make them look new again. I looked and they seem to go for anywhere between $600 and $3000. That is a little more than I want to spend since this is just a hobby for me right now.



I was hoping to get something that I can use on my personal vehicles to remove stains and dirt from carpets and floor mats. After driving around with a 5 yr old and a 1 yr old for a while, my carpets need some attention.



Would something like this work?

Dirt Devil.com - Product Detail (http://www.dirtdevil.com/Products/productDetail.aspx?id=35627)



I would like to buy something for less than $100. Do those carpet shampoo machines at gas stations work at all?

[imported_never gone]

For sure it would work. Maybe not on super hardcore stains but for a good basic cleaning it will work.

[ron231]

I have tried the cheap ones, even the $300 consumer ones, and they really do very little.



I now have this Cleaning Stuff, Professional Cleaning Supplies For Less (http://www.cleaningstuff.net/-strse-14486/Carpet-Extractor-Sandia-Super/Detail.bok)



with this



Cleaning Stuff, Professional Cleaning Supplies For Less (http://www.cleaningstuff.net/-strse-14482/Carpet-Extractor-Floor-Wand/Detail.bok)



Honestly, you can try what I did and go with the consumer ones first, but I`d be willing to bet you are going to have the same issues with those that I have and end up getting a professional model.



Oh yea, did I mention it`s great in the house too :) if you have kids, its a must for carpet stains.

[orngez]

other than a steam extractor...all water injection/extractor machines are the same....a spray bottle and shop vac are just as good as any wet extractor...and have more uses...not just one...multitasking machines are always the best...although i do like my little green clean machine...easy to bring into the car with you...and sets up and cleans up quick...works in the house for spot spills as well...

[Accumulator]

Less- As a multiple-pet owner, let alone for the detailing, I`ve used a *scad* of these things over the years (literally lost count), and currently still have two canister-style Bissells (one is over 20 years old and still works great), a small Hoover SteamVac Jr., a carpet-cleaning attachment for the Sears wet/dry vacs, and a Ninja/Century 400 extractor (also currently have two steamers, one of which is a pretty good commercial one from Daimer). Crazy collection...eh..."accumulation" of carpet sucking machines, huh :o



Yeah, a combined steamer/extractor would be great; if I were buying again now I`d certainly look into them. But they`re not cheap so they might not be in your price range.



Yeah, the pro extractor works a lot better than the consumer ones, but it costs a lot too.



The Sears setup is also better than most homeowner carpet machines. But even the crappiest one I ever had was a *LOT* better than nothing. All seem to have strengths and weaknesses.



The little ones` greatest strength (IMO) is their portability and the ease with which you can get them into action when needed (e.g., pet accidents). But the chemical/solution injection of the ones I`ve had was pretty lousy; the ones with a finger-pump trigger are just *awful* in this regard and I don`t even bother using that "feature" on the StemVac Jr.



I`d probably steer you towards a wet/dry vac with a carpet-cleaning attachment. IMO that`d give you the most for your money overall. Often, regular vacuum nozzles come in handy for sucking dirt/moisture out of tight spots too, and they`re easy to use with a "regular" wet/dry vac, easier than with a small extractor like the Dirt Devil one or my SteamVac Jr. But of course it`s a lot easier to just grab the little unit for a quick job (always a trade-off :D ).



Oh, and IMO perhaps the best use of the chemical/solution sprayers is to spray clear water for a thorough rinse. One nice thing about some of these things (including the attachment for the wet/dry vac) is that they have a siphon-feed for the shampoo. You can just pull it out of the shampoo bottle and have clear-water rinsing. This is so handy that I genuinely miss it when I use my fancy Century extractor with its high-power solution sprayer.



Oh, and Grouse knows a *LOT* more than I do about this topic, you might search out some of his posts on the subject.

[JDK]

I too didn`t want to put hundred`s or more into a cleaning machine so I bought a Bissel Little Green Machine w/Heater for $89.95 and thought it worked very well. I used it on a customers `96 Camery who is a smoker and the interior really smelled and coated with smoke I pre-treated with "Awesome" ($1 at the Dollar Tree) and went to work. The built in water heater was a big help but there were places the Turbo Brush just wouldn`t touch so I used my Megs carpet brush to hit those areas. The LGM did about 90% of the work and after 4 mats and the passenger sides seats and floors the water looked like this:

(sorry about the thumbs, I need to figure out the picture system!)



IMG_1842.JPG (178.5 KB)