New steamer / carpet cleaner UPDATE

[Herb G]

I ended up buying one of THESE.
It looks promising. If anyone's interested, I'll post updates when I actually get it & use it.

[fredhargis]

Does that have the on board heater you wanted?

[Herb G]

Yep. You have to fill it with warm water to begin with, but it keeps it hot until the tank is empty.

[K. L. McReynolds]

We have a less expensive model(same brand). Hot water part quit in less than a year.

We only have area rugs(one was $1K---$400 on sale). Leaves the rugs wet, more than damp. I have to use my shop vac to get the rugs to damp.

Not impressed.

[daddo]

We got rid of carpeting, but when he had it we found out that the soap residue left behind actually collected dirt at a much faster rate after the cleaning and we just couldn't keep the carpet clean anymore.

Also, if your carpet was treated with a dirt inhibitor agent when it was installed, you should not steam the carpets or wash them without a re-treatment- since cleaning removes the inhibitors.
Perhaps this is why ours got dirty just looking at it.

Something to check into.

[daveferg]

We got the "protector" spray on some upholstered furniture we bought. I was very impressed the it did repel stains with easy clean up with a damp rag.

As to residue, whenever I used the Rug Doctor, after the soap treatment, I filled the reservoir with clean water and did a once-over rinse. I picked up a lot of soap and more dirt that way----but again, you can never get carpet totally clean.

Herb---hope your gizmo works for you. LOML insisted we needed one of those Shark steamers for hardwood/tile floors. What a joke. No better than the liquid cleaner generally used with hardwood.

BTW, while I love the richness of the hardwood we put in, since then we found this vinyl composite (on name brand---Dura Stone) which you can get to look like tile, stone and even wood. It doesn't scratch, dent or break down under average use----easy to clean and unlike tile/stone, isn't cold on your bare feet.

[pprobus]

Herb,

Having a son with reflux and gastrointestinal issues all his life, we have had to rent quite a few of the Rug Doctors over the years. This past winter, I had pretty much had enough after a particularly bad episode (ended up with my son getting hospitalized), and after talking about it for years, my wife and I purchased a rug cleaner. Our research (Consumer Reports) indicated one of the Hoover products was their most recommended home carpet cleaner. Have used it several times since and found it works well, but on vomit, I have found you have to attack it early. It came with tools to use on upholstery and used it to clean the carpet in my car after my heater core leaked all over the driver's side of my car. It actually cleaned some very old stains as well as removing the coolant smell. I am real happy with the purchase and hope you find it as useful as I have found it to be.

[Phil Thien]

We have a Hoover. We boil the water we put into the thing, knowing this probably takes a toll on the machine and that it will have to be replaced sooner rather than later. But with such hot water it actually does a pretty awesome job cleaning.

[Cooler]

I wish you luck with this. A little vinegar in the mix helps with odors. But your house will smell like a tossed salad until it dries.

My housekeeper used to sprinkle cornstarch on the carpet before she vacuumed. I bought some wholesale and I will never use it. Send me PM if you want it. I only need to cover the shipping. I've got lots and lots of it.

You can also place area rugs and carpet runner over the old carpet once it is cleaned. The area rugs can be hosed off outdoors and that works really well.

Good luck with this. Your Chessie will appreciate it.

[DustyDan]

I have the Bissell 2x (about $150.00) It works fine. I pre-treat the spots with Resolve and then use the hand wand on those spots, then the whole carpet with the regular part of the machine.

I also run over the area with it just on the water setting to rinse out and suck up the soap residue.

I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.