Steam clean or hot water extractor

I've had better luck with extractors. However they tend to be a lot more costly. My extractor cost $1500 on sale. Where you can get a steamer from your local appliance store for under $100 full retail.
 
Has anyone every tried using the hand held attachment on a Rug Doctor? Since I plan to rent one for the carpet in my house, I am wondering if I could use the attachment for my car's carpet?



For any of you who have tried it before, did you use the Rug Doctor cleaner? Or did you spray normal auto carpet cleaner on the carpet and "work it in" with the Rug Doctor attachment?
 
I don't own a HWE, but I use a spotter with pre-heated water and it is much more effective on deep cleaining nasty carpets than steam. So for carpets only, I think the extractor would be more effective.



However, the steam cleaner is much more versatile and can be used on many more surfaces and materials.
 
I use the steam, chemicals and brushes for spot cleaning. Then I go over it all with a hot water extractor with a carpet cleaning solution.



Prices: roughly $550 for the TR5 Steam Cleaner and about $650 for the Mytee 8070 extractor.



I'm happy with both for my mobile business. Now, If I could only fit a compressor on the back of the explorer... :D
 
kapinnn said:
I use the steam, chemicals and brushes for spot cleaning. Then I go over it all with a hot water extractor with a carpet cleaning solution...
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smprince1 said:
..So for carpets only, I think the extractor would be more effective.



However, the steam cleaner is much more versatile and can be used on many more surfaces and materials.
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Yep, what they said. The two tools are IMO so different that it's not an either/or sort of comparison.



Oh, and I found a *world* of difference between consumer-grade steamers/extractors and the pro-level ones. Biggest difference seemed to be between the various steamers, at least with regard to functional ability. Carpet extractors sorta all boil down to being wet/dry vacs...some have potent solution sprayers and some are heated (big plus IMO) but they all do the same basic job. But with steamers, ones that really put out a lot of pressure do jobs that I simply cannot do with lesser units; I'd rather go back to Bissell extractors than give up my Daimer steamer.
 
Well I went out and bought a steam clean and hot water extractor (Shark and LGM). I tried the LGM on the carpet and then I tried the Shark on the carpet too. It look to me that the steam got the carpet clean then the LGM. Or was I just doing something wrong with the LGM.
 
jesselyons2002- I'd guess that the steam penetrated deeper into the carpet fibers and emulsified and/or otherwise loosened the dirt better than the LGM's sprayer. The LGMs that I've tried (older vintages, nothing current) didn't spray the solution very strongly so it didn't get too far into the carpet.



Also, the steam can "blast" stuff loose. With an extractor, I always use some kind of brush to agitate the carpet (usually brushes on the Cyclo) and that helps loosen dirt.



But what I'd probably try in your case is blasting the carpet with your steamer and following behind that with the LGM, letting the LGM pick up the loosened stuff and also suck the carpet dry. Pretreating the carpet with solution (before steaming) will probably help a lot too.
 
Accumulator said:
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Yep, what they said. The two tools are IMO so different that it's not an either/or sort of comparison.



Oh, and I found a *world* of difference between consumer-grade steamers/extractors and the pro-level ones. Biggest difference seemed to be between the various steamers, at least with regard to functional ability. Carpet extractors sorta all boil down to being wet/dry vacs...some have potent solution sprayers and some are heated (big plus IMO) but they all do the same basic job. But with steamers, ones that really put out a lot of pressure do jobs that I simply cannot do with lesser units; I'd rather go back to Bissell extractors than give up my Daimer steamer.
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Are there any consumer grade steamers that you would recommend for the guy who just does his personal cars, along with the occasional friend/family/acquaintance vehicles.. In the average month I do one full detail (paint correction, carpet extraction, underhood, etc), and 4 wash/wax/interior wipedowns..
 
kapinnn said:
I use the steam, chemicals and brushes for spot cleaning. Then I go over it all with a hot water extractor with a carpet cleaning solution.



Prices: roughly $550 for the TR5 Steam Cleaner and about $650 for the Mytee 8070 extractor.



I'm happy with both for my mobile business. Now, If I could only fit a compressor on the back of the explorer... :D
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same two machines in my garage. love them both and couldn't do without either. i think both are very good values. i paid a little less for the tr5 but a little more for the mytee because of the floor wand i added.
 
DantheMan said:
Are there any consumer grade steamers that you would recommend for the guy who just does his personal cars, along with the occasional friend/family/acquaintance vehicles.. In the average month I do one full detail (paint correction, carpet extraction, underhood, etc), and 4 wash/wax/interior wipedowns..
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Yeah I was wondering this tool. Cause my family has 8 cars total.
 
Hey I have used the rug doctor on my car and it works pretty well with the attachment. The key is to go really slow and make sure you get all the bad crap out cause the attachemet doesnt have much suckin power.
 
pt91 said:
same two machines in my garage. love them both and couldn't do without either. i think both are very good values. i paid a little less for the tr5 but a little more for the mytee because of the floor wand i added.
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you are right... I checked my invoice. I paid $450 shipped.
 
DantheMan said:
Are there any consumer grade steamers that you would recommend ..
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I guess I'm the wrong guy to ask. My previous steamer (still have it) is a DeLonghi Euro Steamer, with specs similar to the TR5/etc. models that most people are so happy with. I replaced it with the Daimer because I needed the better unit...and I'm only doing the cars in my household (number varies between ~6-9 ).
 
Accumulator said:
I guess I'm the wrong guy to ask. My previous steamer (still have it) is a DeLonghi Euro Steamer, with specs similar to the TR5/etc. models that most people are so happy with. I replaced it with the Daimer because I needed the better unit...and I'm only doing the cars in my household (number varies between ~6-9 ).
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Sorry.. I read it like you had been through a few of the consumer ones before stepping up..



I would love to binge for a commercial steamer, but I just can't justify the cost at the time. And since I've been pretty happy with my bissell LGM for the money, I figured there would be a decent steamer for me as well.
 
DantheMan said:
Sorry.. I read it like you had been through a few of the consumer ones before stepping up..



I would love to binge for a commercial steamer, but I just can't justify the cost at the time. And since I've been pretty happy with my bissell LGM for the money, I figured there would be a decent steamer for me as well.
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I tried the hand-held ones under different names..forget what the brands were except for a Bissell-labeled one that I only remember because it popped a leak and burned my hand but good. I also tried something called a Steam Buggy. Those were all better than nothing (well, except for the one that hurt me) but they simply didn't compare with the DeLonghi, which in turn didn't compare with the Daimer....so I guess it's all relative.



That Steam Buggy thing might be worth considering. My late father *loved* it and when he died I gave it to his sister because *she* also loved using it. Both my dad and Aunt Betsey were, uhm...sorta hard to please ;) so if they liked it it must've been pretty OK and it did last forever.
 
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