Carpet Cleaner

[Millan]

I was watching an episode of the House Doctor. I that a guy cleaned the
carpet and sofa and it came up like new.
I have a vax washer and my carpets come up nothing like they did on the HD.
Does anyone know the kind of machine that would be used to professionally
clean carpets and upholstary. Also what are the RugDoctors like for carpets?
Thanks Millan

[Michael A. Ball]

What sort of equipment was the guy on TV using? I looked at some of the Vax equipment, and frankly, home-use equipment just can not compete with professional equipment. Professional equipment is larger and far more expensive, but it has the horse power to get the results you need.
If you ever use a professional machine, even once, you always despise RugDoctors rental machines. I bought a demo Power Eagle 1016 in 1996, [$1,600] and later added a 20-foot hide-a-hose, stairs tool and drapery/upholstery tool. The machine has five nozzles for carpet and a horizontal rotary brush in a double chevron pattern.
What makes a good professional machine? Pump pressure to feed the nozzles. Water capacity and temperature. Agitation and recovery rate. My little machine holds 16 gallons of cleaning solution and has a recovery rate of about 80%--which is not as high as I'd like. [Note: the Vax-026, as an example, has a 3.5L solution tank and only a 2.0L recovery tank. So, the recovery rate is just over 50%]
Want more punch? A truck-mounted system can power multiple wands and extractors and has a high recovery rate. It recycles the water--reheating it and so forth.
The shampoo solution can be almost anything from Resolve to liquid Tide; just look for the term "optical brighteners" in the product description. The most common mistake is Not properly diluting the shampoo. In reality, most shampoos will do a fine job at a weaker solution that the package recommends--but that reduces sales. I never use a defoamer.
________________________ Whatever it takes.

[ilaboo]

i found a a shop wet dry vacuum to be the best--use tide liquid detergent and use a liot of the solution i use warm water--rinse with warm water--just pour it on teh rug and vacuum it up--do it on dry days
hth peter