My new carpet aresenal!

[rmccall6]

I have just completed my new carpet detailing aresenal. Not to blow my own horn, but I (like most autopians) do a great job on the interior, but i always thought that my carpet detailing results werent up to the level of some profesional detailers. I spent time and effort on them but i just really didnt have the right tools. Ok heres what i have acumulated. My vacuum is an old rainbow, its fancy home vac buts its got lots of power and nice attachments, plus i got it for free. I have EF-Carpet cleaner, which i have used before and found worked really well. Now for scrubbing, i just bought CMA`s PC carpet brush attachment, "Mr. Tufty". I cant wait to use my PC on carpets (I`ll use the lowest speed, dont want to tear the carpets to shreds:) ) Then on RonK`s sugestion, i purchased a hot water extractor, $90 at Target. Its portable, and is a hot water extractor which Ron said is a must. I cant wait to use my new aresenal and will post the results.:up

[Josiah]

Cool Brad! I rather enjoy doing a good job on carpets, the results are easily visible I guess. They are a big part of the interior.



About the extractor you got... what brand is it? Is it the smaller, non-commercial strength one? I would like one for my business, however am not going to spend upwards of $800 on one right now.



The PC attachment for carpets sounds interesting...

[imported_BretFraz]

Well, if Brad posts his interior cleaning experiences, I`m sure it will be through, like his posts about Blackfire. Brad, don`t forget pics.

[Langley Interior Car Kare]

:p i was checking that PC attachment out last wk...mr tuffy or whatever....better practice on the carpet in your trunk first....:D ...best vacuum...the free kind..lol....post pics dood!!!:up

[rmccall6]

Thanks guys. (i really dont want to make reviews so long but i just have so much i want to say...). Ill try to post pics, I shampooed the carpets in my dads lexus (he doesnt wipe his feet ever), and since i didnt extract all of the cleaner with an extractor, the carpets attracted dirt really quickly (this is what Ron said would happen). About the extractor, i was thinking of a profesional one but like you wasnt really ready to spend 800-1000 dollars. He said that if you dont extract carpets every day or so, like a real buisness would, then just get a small comercial one. Heeding his advice I got the Bissell ProHeat Turbo Brush portable extractor, the heat helps get the cleaners and dirt out of the carpets much better. Use your own cleaner in a spray bottle (i use EF), scrub, then use the extractor to mist, then extract, and repeat if necesary. The cleaners that come w/ machines are usually crappy.

[Langley Interior Car Kare]

i also remeber Ron saying that...dont use the machine to spray the cleaner...spray it directly on the carpet(and work it in)...and use the water/heat part of the bisell to suck it up......

[rmccall6]

Ok, i truied out my new combo today on one of our home rugs I vacuumed with the rainbow, and like always worked fine. Then i misted the carpet with EF and whent to work with the PC w/ Mr. Tufty. This worked much better and was much easier than brushing by hand. Next i used the Bissell heated extractor. The bissell worked quite good, its suction wasnt awesome but was definately adequate. After the Bissell i dried the carpet with a cotton towel, and the carpet was completely dry in about an hour. The carpet wasnt dirty to begin with but it definately looked a little better. I highly recomend all of these products.

[JonB]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

The carpet wasnt dirty to begin with but it definately looked a little better.</blockquote>

Now some people would question why you would spend a couple of hours cleaning something that wasn`t dirty in the first place!!! But I know better..... ;)

H

[Langley Interior Car Kare]

WE ALL USE IT...OTHERS say it dont make sense but.......as bg said.we know better.....:p ;)

[boywonder]

That`s an interesting approach to carpet cleaning. Considering that a PC is in the plans for my spring detailing, the carpet attachment would not be a bad idea. However, I am interested in seeing how that combo would work on a substantially dirtier interior.

[rmccall6]

You know you have to be an autopian to get exited over carpet shampooing suplies. As for a substantially dirty interior i can take a pretty good guess. What i used to do was, vacuum, spray EF, agitate by hand and vacuum again, and i got quite a few stains out that way, the carpets sometimes were not perfect which urged me to get some new suplies. Now, with machine agitation and a hot water extractor, the results should be much better. Yes, the PC attachment, Mr. Tufty (i dont know why i love that cheesy name:) ) is nice, it scrubs better and takes less effort. Just dont have it on really high speed and bear down with it. I had mine at 1-2 and varried pressure.

[boywonder]

But what about vehicles with unusual carpet layouts(e.g. Maximas)? What do you do for tight spaces?

[rmccall6]

Well the Bissell has a 4" head so that should be able to get into some tight places. If i cant get the 5" PC attachment into a tight spot I`ll just use my regular carpet brush and attack it by hand.

[JasonC8301]

Brad, How was the Bissell portable Pro Heat



I saw one at the Home depot for like $90. I was about to buy it, but didn`t really see a need for it, so I went ahead and bought the $30 wet/dry vac.



Well, maybe next christmas I`ll treat myself to one of these hot steam type cleaners, maybe even an extractor.



Thanks

Jason

[rmccall6]

I just finshed detailing the interior of my fathers lexus which needed it badly. We felt like we were in Seinfeld, the episode where the vallet (or the chicken) stink up the car like BO and the detailer who charges Jerry $200 cant get the smell out, well we had some chicken and other things in the car and it stunk the whole place up to high heavens. Well I got to test out my carpet aresnal on some auto carpet for the first time and all i can say is that i was really impressed. The floor mats, especially driver side were dirty, and Id say they are 95% better (few really stuborn spots on the drivers mat which are now alot better but still there). The PC was able to get into some tight places as well as the Bissell. Then I proceded to clean the whole interoir, de-odorize it w/ Atmosklear, dress w/ 303, and give it one shot of Ozium new car smell, and it was like brand new again. Yeah Jason I really like the Bissell. What drew me to it was that it was heated, portable and was inexpensive. Downsides: power is adequate but not awesome, the switch to toggle between "suction" and "scrub" is right where you grip the nozel so I kept accidentaly switching it to "scrub" (the scrubbing is pathetic compared to Mr Tufty). Also, the water thats in the hoze tends to cool down so you have to spray for a few seconds until you get some hot water. The least two are just really minor though.