how do you extract carpets?

C

cruisemainst

New member
hey guys, im using 6 parts water with 1 part woolite on my carpets and mats. how are you supposed to extract it? i know it should be a no-brainer, but i actually dont know if this is right or not. heres my process:



1. vacuum with wd4050

2. spray woolite solution

3. scrub with brush

4. extract



extracting is just vaccuuming up the mats and carpet again right? when i finish, the carpets are still kinda soapy and wet. so i dont really see much of a difference from before and after the extract. what am i doing wrong?
 
what type of vacuum / extractor are you using ??



some members have found woolite to be too "sudsy" which causes the maps to become soapy. maybe you should look into another type of cleaning product for your carpeting.



i have a little green cleaning machine extractor and this is the cleaner that i use

http://www.bissell.com/Products/pro...n+FORMULA+FOR+PORTABLE+DEEP+CLEANING+MACHINES



i make a mixture and then spill it into a bucket, then scrub the carpets with a brush.

then i use the little green to "extract" the water. it may take a few minutes to get most of the water out. be sure not to soak your carpets / mats, as you do not want to have a moldy smell.

i make sure i go in all directions with the extractor to make sure that i get as much of the water out as possible.
 
Always make sure you rinse with clean water to get all the soap out! Soap left in will attract dirt and make the carpet look matted down in no time. A carpet cleaner told me that unless you rinse the soap out you are wasting your time. I use our home carpet shampooer with the upholstry attactments. it has a switch to turn off the soap so you can rinse a few times. Before I used my wet vac, 2 spray bottles, one for soap the other with water only, and several brushes.
 
I don't usea fancy machine - just a wet/dry shop-vac. It's just 2.5hp, but does the job real well.



A couple of different methods.

1) For carpet mats, they get layed out in the driveway (clean asphalt). I'll vacuum, spray with a carpet cleaner (using red devil right now, but have used bissel & others) made for machines as these don't produce suds like other soaps. If there's stubborn stains, use Oxi or Folex. Let sit for a few minutes, then work with a brush - sometime by hand, sometimes with the B&D Scumbuster. Then I hose them to get all the soap out, then vacuum to extract all the water - set asside to let dry.

2) For interior carpet I vacuum well, spray with carpet cleaner - the mix is just a bit concentrated. Then I use a small hand pump sprayer filled with HOT tap water. After spraying the water I work with a brush. Then spray with more hot water and vacuum again. If necessary, I'll spray with hot water and vacuum again.



This process is working really well for me. Of course there are always some challenges with some stains or really neglected carpet - you know, the carpet that has almost NEVER been cleaned. So these situations may involve stain removal sprays and/or the above process repeated.



Footnotes:

1) You can, but I don't think I'd use regular Woolite if thats what your doing - I believe Woolite also makes a low sudsing carpet cleaner.

2) I think you need another "rinse cycle" in your process to ensure that you get the soap out.
 
i do not have a rinse cycle,



is this bad ??



i have detailed many cars, but i also detail the "family" cars and so forth.

never noticed the carpets getting dirty right away due to "soap" left over :o



am i lucky or what ??

curious now :(
 
In addition to removing dirt, grease and grime from the carpet, you want to remove the soap/cleaners as well. Carpet manufactures are quick to point this out as residual cleaners/soaps attract/trap dirt, degrade carpet fibers and accelerate wear. We probably can 'get away' with it more in the vehicle because of a lack of foot traffic.
 
Rinsing out the detergent is a key factor as abbeysdad says. Skip it and you'll likely have very quick resoiling problems.



Rinse with clear water or a dedicated rinsing solution.



There is nothing wrong with using the shopvac method it works and works well. Woolite improperly mixed can foam up pretty bad, in your vacuum hose that foam custs down air movement reducing the amount of moisture you can remove. Leaving the carpet wetter.



There is also some debate as to woolite having Optical brightners. The woolite for blacks I have that was purchased a little over a year ago continues to have optical brightners. Woolite, says however it's current run of products do not have OB's.



these are out of context but the information is good.

Well the key is knowing what your doing. If your taking a stab in the dark, then you really don't have a clue. IMHO you should seek some good training. Via IICRC classes. even the basic classes will set you on the right road to a sucessfull cleaning system.



You can effectivly clean a carpet in a car with



1/2 gallon garden sprayer,

the right chemicals

a shop vac

a small fan.



you can clean a carpet effectively with

a hotwater truckmount

and chemicals



you can clean it effectively with

a dense sponge,

bucket,

vacuum

towels



you can... well you get the picture. It is about knowing the process the chemicals, and what each situation entails. Some will take far longer than others, some will take less.
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It is possible to use it as a agitator to work in the chemical product to reduce the time or heat needed for the product to work.



In that instance you could do just as well with a wool or terry bonnet, as it will not heat up the fibers as much as a brush. The fibers ina car are very heat sensitive.



Now if you wanted to aid your drying process after you cleaned the fiber, take a clean dry bonnet or wool padd an run it over the top of the fibers, switching bonnets when it becomes too wet.



This is commonly refered to as bonnet cleaning, In many cases i have used it in comercial buisness to keep the fiber from wicking caked in dirt up to the surface. Carpet and fiber dries top bottom up. It evaporates from the surface drawing the remaining moisture to the surface, in many cases bring the dirt and grime with it. It's rare for it to bring dirt from the backing, or pad. It's possible but you'd have to basically flood the car.



In reality even with the best combo of systems you can only clean about 70-80% of the fiber carpet surface, so you will have grime and soils left in the carpet. The key is to leave so little moisture that the carpet does not have time to migrate those soils to the surface.



To do this you should follow a very tight regimn of cleaning proceedures.



1) dry vac



2) dry vac again.



90-95% of the soils in the fiber are dry particulate dirt, best removed by dry vacuuming. if you add moisture to a poorly vacuumed fiber/carpet you have to work 10 times harder than needed with 10 times the amount of chemical and water than is needed. With 3-4 times the drying time. So dry vac very thoroughly. Use multiple attachments.



3)Pre condition stains and spots.



Why do this now? Because stain removers work best when applied to virgin stains, In many cases if not all that i can think of right now detergents will inhibit the stain removers if applied before the stain remover. So spot treat trouble areas first, Buy specific products for those areas. lightly rub them in and let them sit while you prepare you chemicals for the main area.



4) Pre treat the fiber/carpet with cleaner.



use a proper cleaning product. Read the dilution ratio's More product is not better or, lower dilution. These products work in conjunction with water, improperly mixing them will provide very poor results. Normal carpet cleaning agents are 32 parts water to 1 part solution. Once applied Brush in with your brush or PC if you feel the need. Despite what you think agitation will not improve your dirt removal. In many cases you'll keep the detergent from working by agitating too much. In some cases you will distort the fiber. (velvet it) The purpose of agitation is not to break dirt free, but to get your cleaning product to as much surface of the fiber as possible. So light agitation will suffice.



5) Extraction,

You can use a bonnet method i mentioned above, think Chem-dry the nationally owned chain.

You can extract with shop vac and 1/2 gallon pump sprayer of clean water or water 1ith 1/2 oz of vinager mixed itn

You can extract with LGCM or similar tool.

You can extract by buffing with a towel.

You can use a HW extractor.



The key is to get the fiber clean, then get it dry as possible, then get it set up for the shortest drying time as possible.



6) Drying.

There is little air movement in a car, So turn the fans on crack the windows, set up small portable blowers. The faster you get this dry the less soil wicking you will have. Adding significant air movement and ventalation will cut drying time in half if not by 3/4. Adding the bonnet buffing i mentioned befor can make even a HW extracted carpet dry with in 45-1 hour of finishing.
Click to expand...





I disagree autopresise. but as they say Put ten carpet cleaners in a room and you'll have 10 ways to clean carpet.



Rag the key is to dry the fiber in about 4-6 hours. any more than that and you could have wicking of soil to the surface.



tufted fiber dries top bottom up. That means it evaporates from the surface drawing the remaining moisture up. If the drying time is excessive it will also bring up any remaining soils.



so, how do you get it to dry in 4-6 hours.



first you dry vack with hotwater extractor about 3 times for every time you pull the trigger on the hand tool. that is the basic standard 3:1, if carpet is exceptionally soiled 4:1.



finally you add air movement. Lots of it. get that air moving accross that fiber to dry it off. what is small and would fit in a car,truck? drop two of these in the rear or in each seating section blowing dry air across the fiber. drying time should be cut by as much as 4 hours for really wet fiber.



http://www.interlinksupply.com/index.html?item_num=AC081+++++++++++++++



the first one is new to me. but I used these in the carpet industry for tight spaces and steps because of their size.



I purchased one for my dad for christmas for his boat. I prefer these over the first one because you can set this one up side down to blow air under seats. I've used it once or twice in my mom's car to very good effect.



7631245541
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Depending on the PH of the product you use you'll want to bring that ph back to Neuatral before you apply any protectants.



Neutral detergents make for (in general) poor cleaners, They make better specific spot removers.



alkaline cleaners make for great dirt and grime cleaners. but do very poorly on tanins, urines, and protien based soils.



Acidic detergents make for poor dirt removals, but do very well on urines, tanin, some protien based stains, and some food based dyes.



Enzymes are usually reserved for organics like foodstuffs, grass, and others.



Solvents, make for very poor detergents as they have almost no cleaning ability. However wehn combined with an alkaline detergent you will finde a combo that will defeat many oily soils found in cars. Apply the solvent to fiber first, work in with brush, then apply AK detergent.



The kicker is nearly every car is going to have a combo of this mess. So you need to be knowledgeable to address each with the propper product so you will have the best chance of sucess.
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mix it up in a garden sprayer with as much hot water as you can. (be careful the hot water and chem will create pressure in container.)



Spray liberally in to fiber area.



Brush into fiber, Not so much for agitation but to be sure the product is completely coating the fiber.



Let sit or dwell for 20 min or so. give or take.



Here you might be able to apply the steam to improve the cleaning potential. it's worth a try.



With a second garden spray spray with clean clear hot water. spray one section at a time.



extract with shop vac.



spray rinse water again in same area. I believe you'll need to rinse it at least 3 times to get as much of the slurry or TLC out of the fiber.



Dry with vac between each rinse.



Set up fans or blowers to move the air with in the vehicle to speed drying process.
Click to expand...
 
awesome, thanks for all the good info! lol i guess im missing a whole step.. so heres the revised process:



1. vacuum with shopvac

2. spray woolite solution

3. scrub with brush

3 abd a half. rinse

4. extract with shopvac



what other methods can you rinse the mats other than with a water hose? it seems that it would take too long to extract. you cant rinse the interior carpet with a hose either. can you just take a simple squirt bottle with warm water and spray generously over the mats and carpets for the "rinse" stage? sorry, in the only rinse disciption i understand is the one with the that involves the garden hose.
 
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282.jpg


the python

python_a.jpg


PYTHON Price - $1099

Specifications:

Body Rotational Molded High-Density Polyethylene

Solution Tank 6 Gallon Capacity

Pump 100 PSI

Vacuum Motor 3 Stage Lamb Motor

Heater Dual 600 Watt In-Line

Vacuum/Extractor Hose 15’ 0�

Detail Tool 3� Stainless Steel

Power Cord 25’ 0�

Switches Waterproof

Amps 20





The Hot One (my personal pick)

HotOne.jpg


HOT-ONE Price - $1595.00

Specifications:

Body Rotational Molded High-Density Polyethylene

Solution Tank 13 Gallon Capacity

Pump 150 PSI

Vacuum Motor 3 Stage Lamb Motor

Heater Dual 1200 Watt In-Line

Vacuum/Extractor Hose 20’ Hide-a-Hose

Detail Tool 3� Stainless Steel w/Window

Power Cord 25’ 0�

Switches Waterproof

Amps 20
 
Some mean looking extracting machines. If only I had the money to get one.



Pretty satisfied with my Little Green Machine though.
 
I'm been thinking about getting a Mytee for a while now. I do a lot of detailing out of my garage,I'm worried about the 20 amp tripping the breaker. Do you think I would be alright with the 20 amp? I probably wouldn't be able to run anything else at the same time.
 
I have to run off of a 20 amp. also. It trips every once in awhile, but not a big PITA. Like you said, if you run it while another machine is going, like a buffer or a vacuum.....you'd better get out your track shoes :sadpace:
 
when exactly do you use the rinse bottle ??



scrub carpets and then extract THEN use the rinse bottle and extract again ??

or do you scrub rinse and extract only once ?
 
gav what do you mean by rinse bottle?



The hwe's have a water tank. In this tank you can have just clean rinse water, A rinse agent (usually a slightly acidic detergent) or a rinsing slurry (a more alkaline detergent that will form a non reactive powder when it drys)



you pre-spot the carpet,

pre condition the carpet,

let stand 10-20 min,

Extract while rinsing,

dry vac with tool 3 times for every wet extraction.
 
Grouse said:
gav what do you mean by rinse bottle?



The hwe's have a water tank. In this tank you can have just clean rinse water, A rinse agent (usually a slightly acidic detergent) or a rinsing slurry (a more alkaline detergent that will form a non reactive powder when it drys)



you pre-spot the carpet,

pre condition the carpet,

let stand 10-20 min,

Extract while rinsing,

dry vac with tool 3 times for every wet extraction.
Click to expand...





rinse bottle meaning like a spray bottle.

i usually make a bucket of solution and make some for the "tank" in the extractor too.



so, then maybe i should start using the tank for clean rinse water :o
 
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