Vacuum for the weekender

The reason I do not use a Wet/Dry shop vac for extracting is getting filter wet and then forgetting to take care of it when done. I suppose you could use two different filters, but leaving a wet filter in a shop vac could get moldy in the summer if you live in a humid climate environment. I dislike (AKA hate) vacuuming up anything wet with my shop vac, but sometimes it cannot be helped, like dirty winter garage floors with melting snow or wet car interiors when someone leaves a side window down in a rainstorm. The muck that accrues in the attachments and hose needs to be washed out with various brushes OR my home-made cleaning string tool that I pull though my vacuum hose that looks like something clarinet musicians use.

Yes, the Bissel Green Machine is NOT a powerful suction machine, but you get what you pay for. I borrowed mine out once and it can back because it did not "work" the way the individual thought it would. Not for cleaning an entire house of floor carpets on your hands and knees, anyway! By the way, I see the Autopia Store is now selling the "commercial" version of the Bissell BigGreen Deep Cleaning Machine: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/bissell-biggreen-carepet-cleaner.html#.XdVYjpNKj3g
Anyone have this machine yet for a car-cleaning extractor and how well it works for that??

I think Rasky1 has the method of cleaning dirty carpet material floor mats with a power washer, drip drying as much as possible by vertically holding them with heavy spring clamps on a plastic-wrapped wire cable clothes line or workhorse, and then vacuuming them. Few stains survive a power washer and cleaning soap.
 
Lonnie said:
The reason I do not use a Wet/Dry shop vac for extracting is getting filter wet and then forgetting to take care of it when done. I suppose you could use two different filters, but leaving a wet filter in a shop vac could get moldy in the summer if you live in a humid climate environment. I dislike (AKA hate) vacuuming up anything wet with my shop vac, but sometimes it cannot be helped, like dirty winter garage floors with melting snow or wet car interiors when someone leaves a side window down in a rainstorm. The muck that accrues in the attachments and hose needs to be washed out with various brushes OR my home-made cleaning string tool that I pull though my vacuum hose that looks like something clarinet musicians use.

Yes, the Bissel Green Machine is NOT a powerful suction machine, but you get what you pay for. I borrowed mine out once and it can back because it did not "work" the way the individual thought it would. Not for cleaning an entire house of floor carpets on your hands and knees, anyway! By the way, I see the Autopia Store is now selling the "commercial" version of the Bissell BigGreen Deep Cleaning Machine: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/bissell-biggreen-carepet-cleaner.html#.XdVYjpNKj3g
Anyone have this machine yet for a car-cleaning extractor and how well it works for that??

I think Rasky1 has the method of cleaning dirty carpet material floor mats with a power washer, drip drying as much as possible by vertically holding them with heavy spring clamps on a plastic-wrapped wire cable clothes line or workhorse, and then vacuuming them. Few stains survive a power washer and cleaning soap.
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OK, I see. So its not about the vacuum not being good for the job its about maintenance afterwards. I just dump the vac bucket and havent had a filter on it for over 10 years. I dont do much dry vacuuming with it so having no filter is much easier maintenance wise.
 
Im shoccked that autopians haven`t "found out" about the Numatic vacuums from england (that are available in USA now). In particular the "George" model is like a vacuum they designed specifically for autopians. Wet/Dry capability, hepa filtration (and a BAG) for dry capability, and wet extraction capability. Ultra quiet, ultra powerful, ultra durable (they have like a 2000 hour motor life). I sound like a salesman but i`m not, just an extremely happy purchaser of one that ive had about a year and a half now.

Check out the Numatic George - its 100% what I would buy again, and bear in mind I have a vacumaid garage vac, a Metro Vac n Blo professional, and a Miele canister vac - so I`m comparing it to some legit and pricey options.
 
That may well have been Rasky1 (RaskyR1? why do I think that`s his username? Oh man, I`m embarrassed that I don`t know for sure having shared these Forums with him for so long :o ) who pressure washed his mats, I can`t quite recall. I remember that the (now MIA but still highly respected) ScottWax would really *soak* mats too, and I`ve done that a few times with the oe ones in the A8 (yes, still using them after 19 years and we leave `em in during the winter too).

Be a little careful if pressure washing them, no way I`m gonna kill those A8 mats by being that aggressive, but hey they`ve been through a lot. But generally, yeah...you can get them awfully wet and they still come out OK (dunno about using really hard water though, might leave mineral residue).

SuperBuick- Thanks for posting about the Numatic, With the other units you have you`re certainly in a great position to offer an opinion!

I myself would possibly choke up over the cost/availability of filters/bags for it, wonder if those are available (cheap ;) ) from the aftermarket...

Lonnie- Thanks for explaining, makes perfect sense as yes indeed damp filters make for a nasty situation. Sorta like dcjredline, I dedicate my shopvacs to wet/dry use, easy for *me* to do since I have so [darn] many of them, but undoubtedly not feasible for everybody.

While I haven`t used the Bissel upright you linked, IME few upright extractors work all that well when you switch them to the "Hose/Tools" configuration. That one *appears* to be the same model you can rent from various places (I didn`t research the actual model#), so maybe somebody will do that to Test Drive it. I thought about getting one like that when our last upright died, but ended up just buying another consumer-level model (a Hoover) that`s more suitable for our particular needs in the house.

Heh heh, I sometimes feel silly having, uhm..accumulated..so many vacuums and extractors, but I do use most of them frequently and I guess it`s like having plenty of screwdrivers...maybe :o
 
Accumulator said:
SuperBuick- Thanks for posting about the Numatic, With the other units you have you`re certainly in a great position to offer an opinion!

I myself would possibly choke up over the cost/availability of filters/bags for it, wonder if those are available (cheap ;) ) from the aftermarket...
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It really is a great unit that does Dry, Wet, and Extraction as good as anything I`ve used separately.

The bags are huge - and with the way you and most autopians keep our cars, it would take a long time to fill even one up. 10 bags is under $20. I can`t even imagine using a bagless vacuum for anything - much less a shop vac. The filtration is wholly inadequate at a particle level. My health is too important than to breathe that junk in!
 
Well, my Craftsman 12 gallon 5 HP unit (at least from the 90s) must have "heard" this thread going on and decided it should retire itself in the middle of a vac session. It wasn`t without some warning, I have heard the sound of what might be a bearing going out after turning off the unit for the last couple of months. Alas, I caught whiff of something burning. Never saw smoke and no flames. I have maintained my unit with frequent filter (dry) rotations and cleaning the body as well as the hose/attachments regularly. Unfortunately, I still have a new HEPA filter and am hoping that I might find a unit that will accept it, probably not. It may be a coin toss between the Shop Vac 16 gallon 6.5 HP SVX2 (don`t know what that means to me) (75 inches of water lift) and the Ridgid 14 gallon 6.0 NXT (see above comment re SVX2) water lift unknown.

Count me among those who will scrub carpeted floor mats, rinse them, give them a quick blow with the leaf blower and then hang them to dry. I only employ that process during the summer months when temps assure a quick dry. During cooler months, like many others I "damp clean" extract what I can with the wet/dry vac, blow off with the leaf blower and finally if necessary mop up with MF towels.
 
I have used a 9 gallon Ridgid shopVac from Home Depot for years. As long as the filter is kept relatively clean, the suction is enough to "lift" the carpets. I also use it in the house too.
I have learned to keep 2 filters which I clean and hose off with water and let air dry then just swap them out. Admittedly I have never used it as a wet vac!
 
Mr. Clean- Aw gee, sorry to hear the Craftsman finally died :( And yeah, a still-OK HEPA filter is a pricey thing to have no use for!

Arn560- Smart move with the spare filter.

And a belated Welcome to Autopia! Gotta admit a little curiosity regarding the "560" in your user name :D
 
Mr. Clean touched on a related topic- hanging the mats up. TOL used to sell some stainless clips you mount on the wall, but I never ended up doing that..wondering what others do?
 
Billy Jack- Ah, yeah..I use clips like those to distinguish my Rinse buckets (once they get full of suds they look like the Wash ones).

I`d utterly kill the aesthetics of my shop if I did it the way that guy did, but it might be just the ticket for somebody else.

I could never figure out where I`d put clips in the current shop what with my side walls all filled with lights/conduits/etc. Something didn`t consider when building the place :o
 
^^^^^ We are not allowed to link or insert ads for products that directly compete with products or like products that the PBMG stores sell. It has never been allowed. We can discuss these products until the cows come home but the site isn’t a portal for other retailers who sell like products. This thread is a perfect example, PBMG sells vacuums. It’s okay to discuss other sources that sell vacuums but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to open the door to get there. Now if you want to link to a 20 ft. ladder or a ceiling fan for the family room that’s a different story all together.

It is an expense to keep a site like this operational and the hope is that we’re buying from Autopia, AutoGeek and other in the family stores. Just doesn’t make sense to show someone the way to buy from competitors. Hope this makes sense.

-GH
 
I take it that it’s also probably not a good idea to post screen shots of other non-PBMG sites displaying the products being discussed or is that just a way around posting direct links?
 
GearHead_1 said:
^^^^^ We are not allowed to link or insert ads for products that directly compete with products or like products that the PBMG stores sell. It has never been allowed. We can discuss these products until the cows come home but the site isn’t a portal for other retailers who sell like products. This thread is a perfect example, PBMG sells vacuums. It’s okay to discuss other sources that sell vacuums but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to open the door to get there. Now if you want to link to a 20 ft. ladder or a ceiling fan for the family room that’s a different story all together.

It is an expense to keep a site like this operational and the hope is that we’re buying from Autopia, AutoGeek and other in the family stores. Just doesn’t make sense to show someone the way to buy from competitors. Hope this makes sense.

-GH
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That makes sense. I actually didn`t think about that when I posted some links in this thread. Being a forum member to another interest I have I should have known links weren`t allowed. Are other retailers allowed to be mentioned, ot is it just links to the other retailers websites?

That being said

Accumulator, you mentioned everyone should have a mini attachment kit. What all nozzles and attachments come with something like that?

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk
 
Bill D said:
I take it that it’s also probably not a good idea to post screen shots of other non-PBMG sites displaying the products being discussed or is that just a way around posting direct links?
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That’s a good call Bill, posting another retailers ad is simply making the Autopia Forum a weekly circular for them. It’s advertising they didn’t even know they had.
 
Astouffer512 said:
That makes sense. I actually didn`t think about that when I posted some links in this thread. Being a forum member to another interest I have I should have known links weren`t allowed. Are other retailers allowed to be mentioned, ot is it just links to the other retailers websites?...
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You may discuss other retailers, in fact we encourage it. This isn’t the case for our sister site AutoGeek. They reserve their site to discuss only products that they sell. Autopia is an open forum, within reason. The owners of this forum know that every detailing purchase our members make isn’t going to be made at a Palm Beach Motoring Group (PBMG) store. We hope that you’ll give the Autopia store a look. The store meets or beats any advertised price and you earn points towards future purchases. That said, it isn’t Autopia’s intention to give the competition a boost up by making a purchase of their products only a click (copy and paste) away.

Not every link is one that would be automatically pulled. If you look for instance at post #31 in this thread Billy Jack posted a link to Lowe’s. That link was left active because it represents a product that is useful to our members and detailers in general and isn’t a product that PBMG sells. We try hard to look at links and make sure we’re not pulling them simply for the sake of doing so. The problem here is that if we are to leave one, others assume links are okay across the board. We simply ask our members to be wise in what it posted.
 
Astouffer512 said:
Accumulator, you mentioned everyone should have a mini attachment kit. What all nozzles and attachments come with something like that?
Click to expand...

The primary components are:

-A pair of reducers/adaptors that slip into the end of a regular vacuum hose. It`s a friction-fit thing sized for normal household vacuums and/but it`s easy to cobble together something to make it work in larger hoses like on a shopvac/extractor. It has a rotating vent ring that exposes/covers air slots to allow fine-tuning of the suction (that`s what I taped up for greater effectiveness; INSERT "don`t try this at home, kids!" disclaimer)

-Extensions of various lengths, including an angled one and a flexible hose, that fit into the above

-Coupler(s?) that fit the various extensions/nozzles together

-Little nozzles and one with a brush that fit into the above.

This is sold for non-Detailing tasks too, like vacuuming keyboards/etc.

Do an internet search on "Micro Mini 32mm Vacuum Cleaner Attachment Toolkit" and I`m confident you`ll find `em. Shop smart and it`ll be under $10 ;)
 
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