Best Carpet Cleaner?

TheSopranos16

TheSopranos16

New member
I detailed an old Mercedes last week and I cleaned the carpet with Eiman Fabrik Spot Remover. It does a great job getting them clean, as I have used it in the past. The problem is, when I was done, the gray carpeting had a purple tint to it!!! It definately affected the color. So, what does everyone on here use to shampoo the carpets? I dont' have a water extractor, I scrub them by hand, then steam them and finally rinse with a hose and suck out the water with a wet/dry vac(Its kind of a home made cold water extractor). I'm looking for something versitile that will make easy work of cleaning the carpets, but also something that is safe for them. Any suggestions?
 
It doesn't get better off the shelf than Prestone Foaming carpet cleaner in the red can. It has to be the Prestone brand. there are other foaming carpet cleaners in red cans, but they suck in comparison. I love the Prestone. I buy it by the case because I am so impressed.

The other product that really impresses me is one called advanage. That stuff is super cool. It dilutes into anything from glass cleaner to engine degreaser. It is absolutely amazing at everything I have used it for. Stains that I never thought would come out were removed with that stuff. I would prefer to use that all the time. I use Prestone when I run out of Advanage.
 
I've used degreasers on carpets for a long time. I've found that they all work pretty much the same. I have never found one that is significantly better than another. Right now I've got a bunch of Kirklands cleaner degreaser, purchased it at Costco in 1.5 gallon bottles.

For stubborn stains, I use SuperSolve. It's a carpet solvent I buy from a local carpet chemical manufacturer called Specialty Products, I think they do mail order, they are in Wheatridge Colorado. It does wonders on tough stains like from foods. Doesn't work on red. For that you need a heat activated cleaner designed for red dyes. The stuff I use is called RedOut. Comes with two bottles you mix and put on the stain, then activated it with an iron. Doesn't always work but always at least makes the stain better. RED STAINS SUCK!
 
I use a product from a local distributor called Extract It and it works very well. In conjunction with the brushes attached to my Cyclo, it's awesome.
 
I just got this stuff from DM called what else, spot remover. It comes in a tin can it's so strong. Any spot you just put some on a cloth and rub and it's gone. It's like something you see on TV. I'm now using that with Pro's Extract Power with an extractor, but I see no reason why you just can't spray, scrub, vac it.

BTW, for red stains use Red Blaster. It's sold at www.topoftheline.com It's either gets them out or lightens them up enough that you can use some liquid dye to cover the rest up. Just a warning it's has a VERY strong ammonia smell that I found out the hard way it had, I opened the bottle and sniffed. You'll want to use a scent after using it as it tends to linger awhile.
 
I've had good luck with Meguiar's APC+ diluted 12 to 1. However, I may have to try that Prestone foaming carpet cleaner though............ I like foaming cleaners!
 
I used Pro's extractor pro cleaner diluted in a spray bottle, and full strength on spot. P EP as a nice clean fresh scent, which disapates quickly, is low foaming and rinses clean (does not leave a sticky residue). Becareful with the Extractor Pro as it is very strong stuff and stripped a part of my black mag light down to bare metal. If this does not work I use Folex, 4* white lighting or 4* Carpet cleaner, which are good cleaners on their own.

Eric
 
I prespray carpets with a product called Steamway Max Pax. Just spray it on and scrub it in. I extract with Steamway Extraction Power HP. For Stubborn stains I use something called Grease Eraser. Spray it on full strength and it takes care of just about any stain. As denverdetail said, RedOut is a must for red stains but it is a PITA to use.

Soprano, what year was that Mercedes? I believe Mercedes used wool carpeting in some models until about 1984, but I could be wrong.

Matt
 
95YJWRANGLER said:
Soprano, what year was that Mercedes? I believe Mercedes used wool carpeting in some models until about 1984, but I could be wrong.

Matt
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I believe it was an '83. Here is a picture of the Carpet. This is a before so it was still very dirty (and gray). I don't have a pic of the after, but it was nice and clean but with a purple tint to it...
 
Soprano,
From the picture, it is hard to tell if it is wool or not. If the mat had a jute type backing (not rubber) it is probably wool or at least has some wool content in it. If it was wool, my guess is that the steam caused the color to bleed. Wool must be cleaned cold only. Of course, the spot remover could have also done it, but I doubt it. I would not worry to much since the carpet was early 1980s and you did get the stains out. I'm sure it looked much better than when you started. Your method sounds good, what do you use to steam the carpet?

Matt
 
The carpet did not have rubber backing, so you are probably right about the wool. Yes it also looked way better when I was done anyway, I just wish I would have known abou the wool from the start that way I could have avoided the problem. I use a device called the Steam Buggy on the carpets. Its not anything special, they actually have it on infomercials, but it gets the job done. It has some attachments with brushes so I am able to steam the carpet and scrub it with the same wand. It helped a lot on those white "Mercedes Benz" letters. They looked really bright when I was done!
 
Soprano,
I've seen those on TV! Do you know what temp the steam is? I work as a commercial carpet cleaner and I'm just curious about it.

Matt
 
I use PRO's Heavy Duty Interior Cleaner. Works well on carpets as well as dash, vinyl, door panels, etc.

For stubborn stains I use PRO's Seat Belt Cleaner.
 
95YJWRANGLER said:
Soprano,
I've seen those on TV! Do you know what temp the steam is? I work as a commercial carpet cleaner and I'm just curious about it.

Matt
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Water boils at 212 at sea level. So, it's probably got to be over that to get a good amount of steam going.

My carpet extractor gets water to 180 - 200 degrees and I don't see much, if any steam coming off it.
 
Intel486 said:
Water boils at 212 at sea level. So, it's probably got to be over that to get a good amount of steam going.

My carpet extractor gets water to 180 - 200 degrees and I don't see much, if any steam coming off it.
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Lol, yeah thats true!!! I got 150-200 from a web page that was selling it because I really didn't know the exact number. Maybe they mean thats how hot the steam is when it leaves the wand??? I'm really not sure :dunno
 
TheSopranos16 said:
Lol, yeah thats true!!! I got 150-200 from a web page that was selling it because I really didn't know the exact number. Maybe they mean thats how hot the steam is when it leaves the wand??? I'm really not sure :dunno
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It's possibly that the tempt drops down to that once it gets out of the wand but then you'll probably also be getting a lot of water drops instead of steam.
 
Yea, I would say it looses tempature at the wand. I know when I clean carpet I set the temp. dial at the truck mount at 310F but I only get about 260F at the wand jets.

Matt
 
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