SickOfItAll
New member
I bought a number of items from Everett Glass the other day, and as I was about to head back to his car, he mentioned that he had also added in a bonus - his new Carpet cleaner, which wasn't on the website yet. So, before anyone asks (since I saw the horror that abounded from Scottwax's review of ClearKote's carnuba) - YES, he gave me a free can of it, with the only request that I post a review of the product here on Autopia (an honest review!) I am not receiving any dividends or financial gains from Mr. Glass - just a free can of carpet cleaner.
So - on to the item!
The can itself is a normal carpet shampoo foam can - no huge surprise there. It is an aerosol, so if you ship it you'll have to go by ground.
Instructions are simple and straightforward, and similar to basically every other carpet shampoo I've used:
Vacuum thoroughly before using.
Test for Color-Fastness
Spray from approx. 2 feet
Scrub in until the foam disappears
Let dry
Vacuum again (2-3 hours later)
Pretty simple - Following the directions to the letter, the results were good. Scrubbing it in was more difficult than on some carpet shampoos I've used (though, those have always been on indoor carpets, these were on floormats). I tested this on a pair of front floormats out of a Suburban, and a floormat out of my own MR2 that had a particularly nasty stain (this one had been sitting in my garage for the past 10 months, it's been replaced but I never threw it away). Scrubbing it into the stain took a fair amount of elbow grease - expect to sweat a bit if your carpet has real problems. Drying took less time than the can said it would, but I also left the mats out in the sun while I detailed the Suburban, so that probably affected it. Vacuuming before and after was about as easy as vacuuming usually is - but be sure to do a thorough job. If you use it on floormats, I would suggest beating them before vacuuming both times.
Overall results: Good, but not incredible. It took out 95% of the stain in the MR2 mat (you can see it in the top right corner of the first pic below). If you're looking for a carpet shampoo - this stuff is definitely worth a try. If you already have one that you're supremely happy with (or if you're blessed enough to own a steam cleaner), you probably wouldn't see any marked improvement by changing to the ClearKote product. My only gripes are that it's an aerosol (which makes it hard to ship), it took more scrubbing than some products I've used, though the results were good. The can also seemed to feel like I'd go through it pretty quickly - but I may have overapplied. I'll continue to use this once it's released on the market, as it DID work well on that nasty stain on the black MR2 mat (it actually restored it enough to where I can use that mat again - I hadn't been able to lift that much of it before).
Instructions: 4/5 - Simple and to the point, but could have been a little more detailed
Ease of use: 3/5 - More scrubbing involved than some other products I've used, but that could also be attribute to it being a somewhat milder shampoo
Color fastness - 5/5 - Actually made the MR2 mat
Results - 4/5 - Returned the Suburban carpets to as new as I've seen them since the car was bought, lifted all but the nastiest stain on the MR2 mat, and even that was 95% gone, so not perfect, but as close as I've seen without using a steam cleaner or something similar
Overall - 4/5
Note about the pics: I am NOT a great photographer. My finger in front of the lens should be strong evidence of that. The different lighting conditions is because I was finishing up the car at dusk, and the pics were all taken outside. I also decided to let Autopia admire my pedicure in the last picture
It's hard to tell the results from pictures, as most minor stains don't show up very well (and my camera is fairly old) - but the carpets turned out quite nicely.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforeblack.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterblack.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforedrive.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterdrive.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforepass.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterpass.jpg
Edit: I linked the pics, my uploader is being weird and giving me an error - but be forewarned, they're pretty big.
Any questions, feel free to ask here in the thread or by PM
So - on to the item!
The can itself is a normal carpet shampoo foam can - no huge surprise there. It is an aerosol, so if you ship it you'll have to go by ground.
Instructions are simple and straightforward, and similar to basically every other carpet shampoo I've used:
Vacuum thoroughly before using.
Test for Color-Fastness
Spray from approx. 2 feet
Scrub in until the foam disappears
Let dry
Vacuum again (2-3 hours later)
Pretty simple - Following the directions to the letter, the results were good. Scrubbing it in was more difficult than on some carpet shampoos I've used (though, those have always been on indoor carpets, these were on floormats). I tested this on a pair of front floormats out of a Suburban, and a floormat out of my own MR2 that had a particularly nasty stain (this one had been sitting in my garage for the past 10 months, it's been replaced but I never threw it away). Scrubbing it into the stain took a fair amount of elbow grease - expect to sweat a bit if your carpet has real problems. Drying took less time than the can said it would, but I also left the mats out in the sun while I detailed the Suburban, so that probably affected it. Vacuuming before and after was about as easy as vacuuming usually is - but be sure to do a thorough job. If you use it on floormats, I would suggest beating them before vacuuming both times.
Overall results: Good, but not incredible. It took out 95% of the stain in the MR2 mat (you can see it in the top right corner of the first pic below). If you're looking for a carpet shampoo - this stuff is definitely worth a try. If you already have one that you're supremely happy with (or if you're blessed enough to own a steam cleaner), you probably wouldn't see any marked improvement by changing to the ClearKote product. My only gripes are that it's an aerosol (which makes it hard to ship), it took more scrubbing than some products I've used, though the results were good. The can also seemed to feel like I'd go through it pretty quickly - but I may have overapplied. I'll continue to use this once it's released on the market, as it DID work well on that nasty stain on the black MR2 mat (it actually restored it enough to where I can use that mat again - I hadn't been able to lift that much of it before).
Instructions: 4/5 - Simple and to the point, but could have been a little more detailed
Ease of use: 3/5 - More scrubbing involved than some other products I've used, but that could also be attribute to it being a somewhat milder shampoo
Color fastness - 5/5 - Actually made the MR2 mat
Results - 4/5 - Returned the Suburban carpets to as new as I've seen them since the car was bought, lifted all but the nastiest stain on the MR2 mat, and even that was 95% gone, so not perfect, but as close as I've seen without using a steam cleaner or something similar
Overall - 4/5
Note about the pics: I am NOT a great photographer. My finger in front of the lens should be strong evidence of that. The different lighting conditions is because I was finishing up the car at dusk, and the pics were all taken outside. I also decided to let Autopia admire my pedicure in the last picture
It's hard to tell the results from pictures, as most minor stains don't show up very well (and my camera is fairly old) - but the carpets turned out quite nicely.http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforeblack.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterblack.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforedrive.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterdrive.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829beforepass.jpg
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/data/500/829afterpass.jpg
Edit: I linked the pics, my uploader is being weird and giving me an error - but be forewarned, they're pretty big.
Any questions, feel free to ask here in the thread or by PM
