Carpet cleaner?

[GEO-TH, In]

Need a cleaner that has two tanks. One
for the clean water one for the dirty
water. Want one that picks up most of the
water.

What do you recommend?

 

[Mike M]

We have an older green machine. It is set up like that. Seems to work ok ? It is the size of a shop vac. Not sure if they make this style anymore or not ? Any local hardware's rent one ? some of ours do. And then there are the guys with trucks with really good systems that clean really good.

 

[Mule Meat]

You can make a carpet surface look good and smell nice.

But to actually clean a carpet. No.

 

[kcm.MN]

I used to clean carpets. Here's a couple of things you ought to know. First, the ONLY way to get a carpet truly clean is to first pull it up and clean everything that's underneath, then clean the topside. Nothing....and I mean NOTHING can truly clean the underside of carpet. Sand, pet/child urine, vomit, wine/soda, oils (including from pets)....it's all there.

I mentioned sand. Well, here's the thing on sand. When young, I tried getting into selling Kirby vacuums. They had a special filter attachment, and part of the "demonstration" was for me to vacuum the potential customer's floor until they believed it was clean, then to vacuum even more. Then I'd switch to the Kirby with special "see-what-it-still-picks-up" filter. The people who were amazed by this would often buy a unit. Fact of the matter is, even when you believe the Kirby (or any other machine) has picked up all the sand, it hasn't. There's always more!

Best thing I ever used was a floor buffer with soft brush attachment using Tide Free & Clear, then suck it all up with ample amounts of water. It'd take 24 hours before the customer could let their furniture touch the carpet. However, I got out stains that other companies couldn't get.

Nowdays, I don't worry so much about getting it that clean. Any high-rated upright carpet cleaner from any kind of box store does an adequate job. Those home units are leaps-and-bounds better than what they used to be. For a decent unit, expect to pay about $250 or more, but might be able to find one on sale, or used. Be careful of used -- you never know where they've been.....and I mean that literally! :shock:

 

[kcm.MN]

One more thing that I need to say specifically:
Vacuum the carpet THOROUGHLY before you clean it. Vacuum as best you can. Pre-treat stains using your favorite laundry stain-fighter (test in an inconspicuous area first). Any stains that just won't come out have likely dyed the carpet to a different color/shade/hue. You can't take out dyes -- can only dye it darker to cover it up, or replace.

 

[Mike M]

I just remembered it is a Bissell brand.

 

[showcrop]

We have a Bissell at my church that I use for cleaning spots. We get it professionally steam cleaned every 6-8 years, and it is vacuumed weekly. I do spots every three months or so. It has the two tanks, so you can go over the area until it stops sucking water. I find that pre-spraying helps a lot. I go around with a spray bottle first to ID and pre-spray them so that the cleaner has time to work.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I've always used a professional with a 4 cylinder diesel powered carpet cleaner to do my rentals, which usually costs about $150. I'm planning to pre clean some spots before I call him in. That's why I want a carpet cleaner. If I can't get the areas of concern cleaned, I'll replace the carpet and save $150 cleaning fee.

 

[showcrop]

Geo, my Bissell makes the stains very light but never gets them completely out.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

My carpet guy can work most stains out, up charge.
My concern is getting the smoke smell out, which may not ever happen.
My carpet guy uses ODO BAN. There will be no need to call him in if I can't work the smell out.
Other than smell, carpet is in good shape.

 

[Texasmark1]

I use a Hoover "Steam Vac". Put detergent/water mix (WW generic works just fine) in storage tank using hot tap water. Push machine forward with flow button depressed. Release flow button and pull machine back across where you made your forward motion.

Fill tank easily snaps in or out. Dirty storage tank is removed by 2 handles that allow the top part of the machine to lay back giving quick access to dirty tank. Works really well and on really soiled spots, I will come back over them after a few minutes to give the first application time to soak in and loosen dirt.

Cheap, light weight, and works!

 

[kcm.MN]

(quoted from post at 06:20:09 06/30/19) I use a Hoover "Steam Vac".

Thanks Mark. Had been trying (not very hard, but...) to remember which brand ours is. Best upright I've used is the Hoover Steam Vac, which actually didn't use steam at all. Last I knew, I think there was a machine (Bissell, I think?) that had a steam burst feature, but I've been happy with the Hoover machines. We've had two and actually preferred the older one that we literally wore out. This house has no carpet to speak of, which is why I couldn't remember the name of the dang machine. :? The newer machine we got for Dad's place before selling the house, so bought it probably 2016 or so. Haven't used it since, except for sucking up some water from the basement floor.

Only bad thing about these units is how often you have to stop to fill/empty the tanks. So is best to work small areas. Also, work one pass in one direction, then work perpendicular direction. Makes a huge difference. Best would be to work 4 directions, but that's overkill in most circumstances. With the floor buffer, only had to work the carpet one time as it got in all directions. Just took more clear water to rinse afterwards.

 

[circus]

Tried all the brands, junk. Finally I just spray detergent using a garden hose and herbicide nozzle, scrub using a Koblenz floor scrubber, vacuum using the shopvac with a wide homemade nozzle. A little degreaser for the tough spots. Rinse.