Hey guys, So Ive found myself needing a carpet extractor for the occasional heavy interior detail. Some customers need spot removal and some carpet freshening, and I think I've reached my limit with the shop vac and carpet shampoo. So I've looked at a few small carpet extractors and found a few: Amazon.com: Dirt Devil SE3890 Purpose for Pets Portable Extractor: Kitchen & Dining Amazon.com: Bissell 1200A SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion: Kitchen & Dining Amazon.com: Bissell 1425B Little Green Proheat Turbo Carpet Cleaner: Kitchen & Dining Out of the three I think I'm leaning towards the Bissel Little Green ProHeat. Some problems people have had are the brush stopped rotating and the suction not being strong enough. So I have a question. I already have a powerful-enough shop vac and a brush attachment for the porter cable to agitate... so will this make up for the shortcomings of the BLGP? If you guys have some better recommendations on extractors, let me know! I just need a tool for the occasional heavier interior detail, and I don't see a need for one of the pricier and bigger, say Mytee machines. Any input you can send my way is greatly appreciated! Best, Jake
I'm not at home right now so I can't look :[[ what factor does that play except suction power in my extracting process? Is there a certain HP i should be above to be effective at cleaning? Thanks!
Well the Bissell doesn't have all that much extraction power really. I mean it works but I believe if you have a 5HP shop vac or stronger, it should have stronger suction than the Bissell.
oh yea the shop vac definitely has a better suction than that thing. The shop vac is easily 3 feet tall and just as wide, a larger model. I should just use that for suction then so I am kind of new to the extractor game. SO you vacuum, agitate and remove all loose dirt, then use the extractor to pump hot water into the carpet and it removes it also? When do you spray on cleaning solution (read this was best to do on this forum as to not clog or mess up extractor internals)? Then do you vacuum once more after?
Go to your local vaccum supply shop, pick up just the attachment for the end of the hose used for the extraction of the product/water. If you have the 2.5" hose, you will need the reducer for the hose, the attachment is 1.5". It will probably only cost you about 6 bucks from the vaccum supply place. My method of cleaning the carpet is to thourghly vaccum the carpet, possibly using a all purpose brush to bring up any imbedded crap if it is really dirty. Mist with a bottle of water, then spray with APC or whatever you are going to use to clean the carpets, agitate until you are happy and spray it down with the bottle of water. I usually break down area into 4's. I have had great results with that, and the carpet is always dry by the time i'm done taking car of the exterior, which is atleast an hour.
so what does the extractor attachment do, say versus a regular vacuuming attachment? Then what's the advantage of having an extractor system (one that heats water, soaks carpet and removes it) versus the attachment you said?
The attachment, like the one that you would get with the LGCM has a very narrow gap that concentrates the vaccum power at that point, pulling up the carpet fibers removing the moisture and dirt. The advantage of have a true carpet extractor would be the head that is usually provided with them, little bit wider, the opening is a little bigger allowing more fibers to be drawn up at a time. The heated water is great to help solidify the dirt and solvents in your carpet cleaner, providing a better cleaned carpet, but the downside is that those systems cost atleast 400 dollars, and if you are just cleaning a few cars a year, my route would work just fine, but if doing this as a business, a dedicated powerful extractor will pay for itself with the ease at which it cleans carpets. I have not used an actual extractor so I cannot compare the time savings, but usually cleaning 4 floor mats and the carpets front and rear of a standard size sedan takes me about an hour.
Okay, awesome! So my shopvac has a 2.5 inch hose, so I'll be needing the 1.5 inch downsizer, and that attachment. Any recommended places to pick those up? The one you posted looks like it has a brush attachment; kind of a good idea :] Where did you get this one exactly? What chemicals do you use top clean carpet/upholstery? If you need hot water, what do you use to heat it/spray and work it into the carpet? thanks so much for your help, you just saved me 100 bux purchasing something I am probably not going to need untill I need a full blown hot water extractor
look in the phone book for a local vaccum repair shop. I use Meguiars APC to clean carpets, might be switching to Folex if I could ever find it in stores, heard alot of good things about it. I just use hot water from the tap, it will obviously cool down by the end, but I usually refill it atleast once ( I need to get another bottle) one way to tell if it is working, is take a white towel when done, and rub it across your carpets, if it is clean, then your done, if not, keep scrubbing...it doesn't need to be spotless though on the rag.
alright, sounds like a plan. I'll take a trip and see what I can find. What dilution do you use for your apc? I have a gallon of the stuff, so I can just use it there!! Another method I cam across is using my DA with a brush attachment to agitate shampoo in the carpet. What's the advantage to shampooing carpet, versus just cleaning it with APC, agitation, and vacuuming?
