Carpet/Seat Cleaning Options

AustrianOak82

AustrianOak82

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What cleaning method is everyone using to clean carpets and seats? I do some PT detailing and am weighing my options out. An extractor appears to be out based on the cost. Typically I have been using Meguiars Carpet/Upholstery Cleaner with a scrub brush and then vacuuming it clean. This weekend I tried using our carpet steam cleaner upholstery tools. It worked well to suck up the excess liquid, but trying to use the tool to distribute the hot water onto the fabric before I sucked it up was a disaster. There was literally water spraying all over the car.

Do I need to buy a dedicated steam cleaner for autos? The only other option I could think of is using our Bissel Pet Cleaner since the water is distributed into the fabric via plastic tip and not randomly onto the carpet but obviously this isn't the best option.
 
If you're on a budget then one of the small Bissell machines and Folex work well.
 
AeroCleanse said:
If you're on a budget then one of the small Bissell machines and Folex work well.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This is the one I looked at:

http://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-SpotClean-Portable-Cleaner-7786A/dp/B00AZBJ1JK/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

The thing is, it doesn't steam (and is discontinued) and for another $39.99 I can get this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G00BT72...=UTF8&colid=JNNUZDN8THR4&coliid=IWDHBL3ST09OA

I am still confused about my current carpet cleaner and why it is spraying water all over the place. I don't understand why the water wouldn't be distributed onto the fabric via the plastic tip so it's controlled. It just gets everything soaking wet.
 
AustrianOak82 said:
Agreed. This is the one I looked at:

http://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-SpotClean-Portable-Cleaner-7786A/dp/B00AZBJ1JK/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

The thing is, it doesn't steam (and is discontinued) and for another $39.99 I can get this:

Amazon.com - McCulloch MC1375 Canister Steam System - Carpet Steam Cleaners

I am still confused about my current carpet cleaner and why it is spraying water all over the place. I don't understand why the water wouldn't be distributed onto the fabric via the plastic tip so it's controlled. It just gets everything soaking wet.
Click to expand...

Two very different forms of cleaning though. For the extractor I'd be inclined to throw in the Little Green Proheat since it has an embedded heater and you won't have to worry about throwing in hot water as much.

Is the plastic tip connected fully? It should come out of a nozzle behind the carpet brush. If it doesn't click in all the way it may leak out. Also stop spraying just before you get to the edge of the fabric since it sprays behind the brush.
 
Go to one of the big box stores and pick them up, I think I got mine from Lowes.
 
af90 said:
Two very different forms of cleaning though. For the extractor I'd be inclined to throw in the Little Green Proheat since it has an embedded heater and you won't have to worry about throwing in hot water as much.

Is the plastic tip connected fully? It should come out of a nozzle behind the carpet brush. If it doesn't click in all the way it may leak out. Also stop spraying just before you get to the edge of the fabric since it sprays behind the brush.
Click to expand...

Here is a good picture of mine. The water sprays out of the white tip really heavily so it's pretty much impossible to do anything other than floors without flooding the car seats. It gets the floors soaked too. I am wondering why the water wouldnt dispense into tip itself and then get sucked back up. I guess I am supposed to spray everything down and then
suck it back up but I figured it would be used sort of like an extractor.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/He2m87ObXqI/0.jpg
 
AustrianOak82 said:
Here is a good picture of mine. The water sprays out of the white tip really heavily so it's pretty much impossible to do anything other than floors without flooding the car seats. It gets the floors soaked too. I am wondering why the water wouldnt dispense into tip itself and then get sucked back up. I guess I am supposed to spray everything down and then
suck it back up but I figured it would be used sort of like an extractor.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/He2m87ObXqI/0.jpg
Click to expand...

Hmm that doesn't make sense. I have the SpotClean and here's a picture of how the carpet brush and spray works in it, much more concentrated.
 
I read somewhere that the Bissell's with ProHeat, actually only keep the water warm and are not designed to heat room temp water up

Does anyone know for sure?

You could always use an immersion heater to get the water up to temp before filling the machine

I wonder what temperature water the Bissell's will tolerate, as they are all plastic?
 
allenk4 said:
I read somewhere that the Bissell's with ProHeat, actually only keep the water warm and are not designed to heat room temp water up

Does anyone know for sure?

You could always use an immersion heater to get the water up to temp before filling the machine

I wonder what temperature water the Bissell's will tolerate, as they are all plastic?
Click to expand...
As I recall they are designed to raise the water temp approx 25 degrees. Average setting on hot water heater is 120 degrees. So figure 145-150 max tolerance. The owners manual says not to use boiling water. I encountered the overspray you mentioned a couple of times. Shut off, disconnect hose, and reconnect. Also need to keep the tool close to the target because there is some over spray.

I have LGM pro heat, purchased from amazon this summer. If you encounter anything as dirty as mine, it's definitely not a weekend job. I used it for extraction after I used lots of elbow grease, carpet brush, folex, carpet cleaner, krud kutter, blotting with towels and finally lots of extraction with the LGM. For the seats just folex and a brush followed by extraction. Here's some before & after pics.
 
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