Carpet cleaning

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BMW335i

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What kind of tools and process should I use for cleaning generally dirty carpets. Also, I need somehting that will neutralize the odor emitting from them, as I believe carpets tend to absorb smells and hold them in, making the entire interior smell musty. The dirt is nothing serious, just build up from normal use. I don't want to buy an expensive extractor or anything. Thanks.
 
Normally I start out with a thorough vacuum. Take out the carpets/mats, spray them with Meguiars APC 4:1. Let that sit and absorb for a few minutes. Agitate with a terry towel to get out all the crap/stains that the vacuum couldn't take out. LGCM to extract. I have not found a better process to clean carpets yet. They always come out brand new looking, and the scent of Meguiars APC eliminates virtually any odor.



I know a few people who like to use their PC with the brush attatchment to clean as well.
 
If you have specific stains try removing them before you start scrubbing away. Sometimes if you brush a stain you can set it. Also if it something in the stain that is causing odor you can avoid spreading it around. Pretreat area with a cleaner, let it dwell and then agitate it with a wash mitt, towel or brush. You can then dry the area with towels. If you don't get it very wet it won't take long at all to dry. If you have a wet vacuum you can rinse the carpet by using the vacuum along with a sprayer like a 2gallon sprayer. If you don't have one you can use a mist setting on a garden nozzle. As you spray you should be immediately vacuuming. If you have an odor problem removing the source of the odor will help. There are also enzyme cleaners that will work on organic stains and odors. Different stains will need different chemicals. Some come household products may be of some use too if you don't have dedicated cleaning chemicals. Vinegar, Club Soda, Brake Cleaner fluid, Baking Soda, Peroxide and such. You can read more about those here Carpet Cleaning | DoItYourself.com
 
For carpets I usually:



-Vaccum

-Steam Clean

-Mist Woolite/Water 6:1, then scrub with a brush

-Steam again

-Brush again, without adding more cleaning solution

-Vaccum

-Repeat as needed



This process works great on *all* carpets for me, lightly or heavily soiled/stained.
 
Bigpoppa3346 said:
For carpets I usually:



-Vaccum

-Steam Clean

-Mist Woolite/Water 6:1, then scrub with a brush

-Steam again

-Brush again, without adding more cleaning solution

-Vaccum

-Repeat as needed



This process works great on *all* carpets for me, lightly or heavily soiled/stained.
Click to expand...



what kind of steamer are you using?



I need to get this 100% nailed down (hardware product in hand) before Aug 4 as I have to do a customers carpets on that day.



Right now i am thinking of either getting the green machine cleaner OR a wet/dry shop vac a brush attachment for my PC and some chemicals.....



Suggestions?
 
I personally have a mytee Grand Prix 100 (about $1500 give or take) However the key to carpet cleaning is alot of elbow grease. soak it down with any kind of carpet shampoo in a nice spray bottle get any sort of nylon bristle scrub brush that will suit your fancy and scrub the ever living dickens out of it all. It's the scrubbing that nakes the difference. Just wait until I post up some pics of this malibu we did today. It was probably one of the grossest interiors I've ever done. Came out looking like a champ. Doing carpets is probably one of if not they toughest part of a detail in the sense of pure physical labor.
 
Ok well I've decided that I am going to buy brushes for my PC, some cleaner (woolite or the stuff scott recomended) and a wet/dry shop vac.



Only 1 question left on this one.. how powerful of a wet/dry vac would suffice for this?



I saw a 20gal 6.5hp wet/dry shop vac at biglots for $60.. is this overkill?



I'm also looking at a 12gallon 4.5hp shop vac that doubles as a hand held leaf blower (for drying if powerful enough)





So any suggestions on the above options and I'll be all set



Thanks!
 
I ended up getting the 12 gallon, 4.5hp wet/dry vac that doubles as a leaf blower, $69 @ walmart



I have always been leary of "all on one's" for fear that one of the all in ones would have to be at a comprimise but after looking at and understanding how this one does both I bought it.



Great suction and it blows really good, I can tell already it will be perfect for drying the vehicle as well as carpet cleaning



It'll pay for itself after one use!
 
IMHO, the most thorough and efficient way to clean carpet and upholstery is with a powerful hot water extractor. Yes, they can be expensive, but in the long run they save you money because you can get the job done faster. My process is simply to pre-spray with TOL Rug Renew (8oz per gallon) and then extract with TOL Rug Renew dilluted .5oz to one gallon.
 
Scottwax said:
Get a gallon of Bio-Kleen Traffic Lane Cleaner, 32:1 dillution ratio, should last you years! Spray, let dwell for 5 minutes, scrub as needed, blot or wipe up with a terry cloth towel, then wet vac.



Carpet Professional | Biokleen
Click to expand...



Scott,



When wet vacuuming do you remove your filter? I use a Clean Stream HEPA filter (gore tex material) that is OK to get wet in a Rigid Shop vac.



Would you recommend removing the filter altogether or vacuuming with the filter and then later cleaning out the vacuum drum and filter using fresh water from my hose?



Just curious what you recommend since I don't have an extractor and I'm trying to work on my technique to really get carpets clean (and I just can't justify an extractor for the few cars that I maintain).



Thanks. - Cliff
 
ssmokn said:
Scott,



When wet vacuuming do you remove your filter? I use a Clean Stream HEPA filter (gore tex material) that is OK to get wet in a Rigid Shop vac.



Would you recommend removing the filter altogether or vacuuming with the filter and then later cleaning out the vacuum drum and filter using fresh water from my hose?



Just curious what you recommend since I don't have an extractor and I'm trying to work on my technique to really get carpets clean (and I just can't justify an extractor for the few cars that I maintain).



Thanks. - Cliff
Click to expand...



I was advised/directed by a seasoned detailer that when slurping up water to remove the paper filter but leave the foam one on.
 
I believe that you should remove the filter when you are doing wet vacuuming. Also, if you are detailing in a car, why do you need to waste the HEPA filter?
 
I will have to take a look and see if my local grocery store carries that BioKleen carpet cleaner. Thanks Scott



My wife was shopping so I wandered over to the cleaning supply row and was checking out what they had. I noticed they had a large stock of BioKleen products and I have used a few around the house (Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator, great for animal and infant messes) and began wondering if they would be good for use with the car. The two products I was looking at was a carpet cleaner and an APC. Anyone ever try the BioKleen APC's? (General | Biokleen)



chris
 
I use a Mytee Spyder carpet extractor for carpet cleaning. I like to use a steam cleaner on spots and smaller areas.



The first thing I do is vaccuum the carpets and then dry brush to bring up more particles and vacuum again. Now I spray Prochem Ultrapac Traffic Lane Cleaner and let it dwell for about 5 minutes, next I take my Cyclo with brush attachments and agitate. I mix Prochem All Fiber Rinse in my solution tank of my extractor and extract. This method works great for me.
 
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