Recommend a steam extractor?

[Stokdgs]

Class----

Everyone needs to do research - on their own - at places like this - Carpet Cleaning Supplies, Equipment & Chemicals | Jon-Don

Or here --- Steam Brite: Carpet Cleaning Machines, Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Machine, Air Duct Cleaning Machines

You may even find a local professional carpet cleaner supply store nearby - go visit that store, look at everything, ask those guys questions...

They will sell most every kind of Extractor and even those huge ones that go inside a big Van or big Truck..

They will have lots of the stainless steel extractor tools that you need to look at, and every kind of soap, defoamer, stain remover, known to man...

Hope this helps -
Dan F

[ShaneB]

The Daimer 1000cv is a steamer vacuum with some *really* impressive specs. It`s awfully pricey, but I just got an email from them saying it`s currently on sale. Still pricey though.

Looking at it, it looks like a rebranded Dupray Carmen super inox, for $1000 less. Pricey but if it works as good as the numbers seem to say, it could pay for itself quickly. I need to find a way to test one

[JustJesus]

Class----

Everyone needs to do research - on their own - at places like this - Carpet Cleaning Supplies, Equipment & Chemicals | Jon-Don

You may even find a local professional carpet cleaner supply store nearby - go visit that store, look at everything, ask those guys questions...

Hope this helps -
Dan F

Indeed! Thanks for the link.

[Accumulator]

Looking at it, it looks like a rebranded Dupray Carmen super inox...

I never researched it enough to know who really makes what, but as best I can tell a whole lotta this equipment is made by [whomever] and then just gets sold under various, different brand-names.

[Accumulator]

Indeed! Thanks for the link.

Thanks from me too, I see that Century`s Ninja line has been significantly upgraded since I got mine.

[Stokdgs]

Thanks from me too, I see that Century`s Ninja line has been significantly upgraded since I got mine.

Mi Amigo !
Glad to help !
Here is another good place for that - Steam Brite: Carpet Cleaning Machines, Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Machine, Air Duct Cleaning Machines

Dan F

[Accumulator]

Here is another good place for that - Steam Brite: Carpet Cleaning Machines, Truck Mount Carpet Cleaning Machine, Air Duct Cleaning Machines

Yeah, that`s another good one. And there`s always Brian at Cleanfreak (or however they spell it).

[bennylava]

I need to find a way to test one

That would be really nice. If I could go somewhere and test a bunch of different machines, to find the one I like. Not real sure if that would ever be possible though. It looks more like you just have to do your research, then just buy one and hope for the best.

[Stokdgs]

My Little Green Machine (mini version of a hot water extractor) arrived at my home today. I intended to run nothing but clear water, just like you.

BUT, what is this "defoamer product" you speak of? I`m still an interior noob, and from the research I`ve done, this is the first time I`ve come across such a product!

It`s funny, I actually forgot to pick up some stain removers. Any suggestions?

My Friend !

There are specific Defoamer products sold at those carpet cleaning supply houses, I left Links to --

The one I use very successfully is Chemspec Crystal Defoamer in a big white plastic bottle... Its a powder...

I am sure that Accumulator will also have a very good product to look at too..
Dan F

[Stokdgs]

Bennylava --

Ok, Ref your Post # 14 -

what is being referred to with the Extractor heater On or Off is that with the 15amp normal electrical circuit, this particular extractor or any machine that needs a 20amp circuit will keep popping the 15 amp circuit breaker when its all on and you are running it...

With the HP60 extractor and I am sure others, the Heater is on a separate switch, so it can be turned On or Off at will..
Knowing that the Heater uses the most Amps, if it is turned Off when the water is heated up, then the chances of popping the 15 amp circuit breaker Off are way less, because the rest of the extractor does not require as much power to run, get it ?

Yes, you can get a less expensive Extractor without a Heater but that would definitely defeat the purpose of using hot (more efficient at cleaning) water and only each person can decide how important that is to their own Business Process...

I purchased my Mytee HP60 Spyder Extractor from Steambrite out of San Antonio, Texas about 10 years ago..

No matter how you use the machine the jet that sprays the mixture of soap and water or just plain water WILL be extracted all up as the vacuum end of the tool passes over that line.. You will, as you already know because you did this when you were younger, make multiple passes over those places you used the tool on when you keyed the water jet ON, so all the water injected into the carpet and hopefully, all the dirt and gunk will come out with it...

To be Clear again as already posted before, the Mytee HP60 has a very high Water Lift Number which means ideally, it will pull up more water, moisture, out of the surfaces.. It has a 3-stage motor, and that allows it to run up even higher than a single stage motor to really work at removing the water and dirt out of carpets...

Regarding your experiences with that machine at the dealership, can you remember what was loaded into the tank to make it work like that ?? This will help you better evaluate how you want to use your future machine... It sounds to me that they were using some type of chemical in the water tank to clean and rinse up all the gunk really nice... But the caveat - and there is almost always one - is how did the carpeting when dry - completely dry afterwards feel ? Was it stiff ?

If so, then all the soap and of course, all the gunk in the soap, was not removed and rinsed clean... This will cause the carpeting (even though it will look clean for awhile), to begin to mat down and start to attract even more dirt faster, because pretty much all soaps that are chemically made, have a lot of things like surfactants, etc., in them, that always leaves a film which is very hard to rinse completely off..

This is also the reason why sometimes when you have a "professional" (?) carpet cleaner come out and they quickly make all your carpets look great - and it only lasts a little while and then they are dirty again - maybe even dirtier than before - because the soap and water mixture was off, and they didnt spend enough time just extracting it as completely as they should have...

So my approach to this mess is to just run clean water in my machine, use the most awesome cleaner ever invented - Meguiars APC+ with a Tuff Shine Tire Brush, on the carpets; a little more on really dirty places like where those dang Washington people spill all their dang Latte`s all over the place, then sometimes run my Steamer over that area to get more heat down there, then Extract everything out using as little hot water out of the Extractor as possible...
Yes, I have to use some water, to completely rinse all the soap out, but I will have it all out and the carpets will be really clean, smell good, and be very soft to the touch and not attract dirt to them as quickly because there is nothing in them for it to stick to...

I dont believe you can find Meguiars APC+ except in 55-gallon drums now, last I heard...
And you know, if I was Detailing full blast like I was a long time ago, I would have purchased this in that size if I could justify the cost..
This product is that good... Very low foaming, Very good cleaning, Rinses very easily because it is low foaming, leaves a great, clean , smell to the vehicle that dissipates, quickly...
It also cleans Headliner stains very easy leaving no rings etc...
And it also Kills all that dirt/body oils out of Seatbelts....
Dan F

[Accumulator]

..pretty much all soaps that are chemically made, have a lot of things like surfactants, etc., in them, that always leaves a film which is very hard to rinse completely off..

Yes indeed! Lots of Carpet Shampoos are really tough to rinse out, and on top of that they don`t even clean very well.

This is also the reason why sometimes when you have a "professional" (?) carpet cleaner come out and they quickly make all your carpets look great - and it only lasts a little while and then they are dirty again - maybe even dirtier than before - because the soap and water mixture was off, and they didnt spend enough time just extracting it as completely as they should have...

Oh man, get me going on "professional" (scare-quotes intentional) Carpet Cleaners! One of the most satisfying decisions I`ve ever made was when I quit using them and started DIYing it. Even for the Oriental rugs- I sneaked back into the "!No Customers!" area of the rug place to see what the "special equipment" was and they were using the same Century extractor I have, scrubbing with the same brushes-on-Cyclo Model5, and even using the same ChemSpec products! And they weren`t being, uhm...Autopian about how well they rinsed out the shampoo or sucked out the water either.

[bennylava]

Thanks Stockdogs for the reply! I don`t remember all that much from about the steamer at the dealership where I was detail boy. It was about 13 years ago. And, to my dismay, I was fired after only working there for 3 months for powerwashing a silver dollar sized chunk of paint off of the front bumper of a customer`s mustang. The mistakes of a teenager. Won`t be doing that again! lol

But I do remember that they didn`t give me much instruction on the use of the extractor, other than the basics. How to fill it up with new water and soap, how to dump it, etc. I don`t know what they did in the winter, because I only worked there in the summer. But the seats and carpets felt wet when I was done. I was to park all finished cars, out in direct sun with the windows down. The heat of the Texas summer would evaporate most (sometimes all) of the water before the customer came to pick up the car. They made sure there was extra time for this. They told the customer the car would be not be ready for 6 hours. I had two hours to detail, then 4 hours for sitting in the sun to dry. This was the Ford house in Cleburne, TX.

Here was the process they had me doing:

First wash the outside. Then use their buffer and... some kind of polish. I left a lot of swirl marks that I had to be taught how to avoid. Then, after the buffing, wash the outside of the vehicle again. Kind of odd... And that was it for the exterior, unless the car had stickers on the outside (like other dealer`s stickers on the back) in which case I`d take mineral spirits (from a blue metal can with the ford logo on it) and a razor and peel off any stickers. Typically this was used stuff they were going to sell somewhere. Customer cars we still peeled off dealer stickers though.

Then I`d clean the interior with water and a rag, and just scrub dirt off the door panels, and anywhere else like that. Then dry it a bit, but usually it was all already dry before I got to armor all. Well I don`t actually know if it was armor all, it was just something in a big spray bottle with the ford logo on it, that shined up the interior plastics. Then vacuum and use the extractor. Then park the car in the sun. Sometimes they`d ask me to go out there and check if that car (or truck) was dry. I`m guessing the customer was calling and asking if it was ready.

And it seems that they sell Meguiars all purpose cleaner, in gallon jugs on ebay. It appears to be a green liquid.

So I wanted to ask... is there any case where I can just spray that cleaner on the carpets and seats, and not have to scrub? Or do you always scrub, even the spots that don`t appear to be very bad? I don`t mind scrubbing the bad spots, but it would be really nice if the good spots could just be sprayed with the cleaner, and then run the extractor over them.

[ShaneB]

You should always scrub at least a little bit. Even the clean stuff. The point is to get the cleaner down to the root of the fibers and agitate any dirt down there. Kinda like just pressure washing a car doesn`t get it completely clean, needs to be agitated.

mega still makes their APC, which is green, but foams a lot. The other stuff, APC+ is a low foaming version that they discontinued except the large drums. I forget exactly why but I believe it had something to do with one of the chemicals used in it. I didn`t use more than a gallon and didn`t get a chance to compare it to anything before it was discontinued. I eventually found my way over to using OPC and haven`t looked back. It`s a little pricier (about double the cost of the mega) but it works really really well

[Stokdgs]

Bennylava ---

Ref you said - "So I wanted to ask... is there any case where I can just spray that cleaner on the carpets and seats, and not have to scrub? Or do you always scrub, even the spots that don`t appear to be very bad? I don`t mind scrubbing the bad spots, but it would be really nice if the good spots could just be sprayed with the cleaner, and then run the extractor over them."

You can certainly try this but Im not sure how good it will work...
A lot depends on the cleaner, and its ability to break down the stains - and the type and severity of the stain - in the carpeting without agitation with a brush, and then then rinsed and extracted with hot water from the extractor...

Im guessing back then when you are just a kid, the chemicals used were way stronger and probably more hazardous to health, and those chemicals have been long gone for some time... Certainly those stronger things could probably remove most dirt and stains out but that was then...

Of course, every Interior will be different in the amount of dirt,etc., to remove, so there is no hard and fast rule here or actually Anywhere in the Detailing World..

I would follow what Shane B said in post #28 above - Try Optimum Power Clean, which from what has been said from numerous sources, is really a great cleaner today... Look here - Optimum Power Clean 128 ounce, All Purpose Cleaner, APC

That Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner is still available; its still green, smells good, but foams like bubble-soap-on-crack if mixed to heavily...
Perhaps you experiment on your vehicle or something like that, and get a good process started.. Document the mixture amounts so you dont forget and then mark a 32 oz spray bottle with a line that tells you how much actual soap concentrate goes in there and then the rest is water...

Good Luck !
Dan F

[bennylava]

Hmm.. OPC is expensive!

Optimum Power Clean All Purpose Cleaner 1 Gallon Car Auto Wheels Tires Vinyl | eBay


Perhaps you dilute it some? If so, what ratio should I use, that will still be effective?

The chemical soap I used at the ford house (in the extractor) was orange, and it smelled powerful. I didn`t like smelling it much.