Equipment AND Chemical Questions - Ford Fiesta ST/Recaro/Leather

[AfroPope]

Hi all,

Long-time lurker, occasional poster, checking in again.

I think I've got my exterior car care pretty well sorted out as far as products I like and feel like I should start focusing a bit more on my interior. I've done a good amount of research and have a few questions regarding both equipment and chemicals.

Question one: The Bissell Little Green Machine vs the Kenmore Spotlite KW2001 - the LGM seems to get a lot of love, but the Kenmore seems to win pretty much unanimously in comparison tests. Both are on sale right now - for those of you who have used both, is the Kenmore really a lot better? Both are in the budget, the Kenmore I'd just have to buy online, which is a hassle if I need to return it (the LGM is available at Costco five minutes down the road).

Next set of questions: It appears that Bio Break and Flex Ice are the gold standard for interior carpet cleaners, and as a bonus they seem to finally be available in reasonable quantities for a hobbyist (shown here, no affiliation with this company and haven't purchased yet: https://melgarautodetailsupplies.com/products/bio-break-with-citrus-solv-800g). As an additional bonus I could probably use them to deep clean the carpets and sofa in my apartment, which I share with a very fluffy and old black cat who loves to make a mess of things. So,
1. Are Bio Break and Flex Ice still what everyone loves for carpet/upholstery cleaners?
2. Are they also safe for the fabric upholstery of the Recaro seats in a Ford Fiesta ST? Recaro offers no insight as to which products should be used to clean their upholstery, and I wouldn't use it on the leather parts unless instructed by a professional, the Recaros just seem sort of picky.

If the answer to either of the above questions are "no," please feel free to make recommendations on products I should use.

Thank you!

 

[Dan]

Honeslty if its for one car, and you already have a shop vac, just use sprayers and the shop vac with a crevice tool as the extractor, you'll have as much power as the LGCM if not more. I'm old school for interiors, including carpet, I love Megs APC, its proven over time not to wreck anything for me and short of really hard stuff to get out like oil/grease or ink, it does very well.

 

[AfroPope]

Honeslty if its for one car, and you already have a shop fav, just use sprayers and the shop vac with a crevice tool as the extractor, you'll have as much power as the LGCM if not more. I'm old school for interiors, including carpet, I love Megs APC, its proven over time not to wreck anything for me and short of really hard stuff to get out like oil/grease or ink, it does very well.

Fair enough! I think I have a 20+ year old shop-vac and have no idea how well it does for wet, so a purpose-built solution such as the LGCM or the SpotLite may be a better buy for me under the circumstances. That said, I will give it a shot because I am nothing if not resourceful and a serious cheapass.

 

[Dan]

The key in doing this right, no matter what the equipment is to not water log the batting underneath the carpet. Go easy on the liquid and don't drench anything and you will be fine. Stick a box fan or similar in the window for the afternoon in the sun and it will be dry by evening.

 

[AfroPope]

The key in doing this right, no matter what the equipment is to not water log the batting underneath the carpet. Go easy on the liquid and don't drench anything and you will be fine. Stick a box fan or similar in the window for the afternoon in the sun and it will be dry by evening.

Yes, that I do know - I am waiting for a very hot day where I can do this early in the morning to air everything out, or will pull it into the garage and run the big dehumidifier we keep in the basement in the car with everything closed (this worked like a charm the one time I left my sunroof open during a downpour).

Thanks! Also, a test spot has confirmed that my ancient shop-vac is just not equipped to deal with any real volume of water, so I'll probably spring for a real upholstery cleaner like those mentioned in the OP, but I appreciate the suggestion.