What do you use to do carpets?

Captain McFunk

New member
Alright, been looking for somethign a little better to clean the carpets with when it comes to a full detail. This is what I DO use currently, along with a pressure washer and spot shot. My process is spot shot, rub it in, let it sit for 5 minutes, spray it out with a pressure washer, hang them out to dry, then go back over them with the bissell.



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Info: Bissell Little green Machine Proheat. This compact, powerful multi-puropose deep cleaner is perfect for tasks large and small. With the tank capacity to clean your upholstery and stairs, and the power to get at deep down stains, the Little Green tackles jobs that just don't require your upright deep cleaner. It's new design makes it versatile so you can clean just about anywhere. The Little Green is compact and stores ready-to-use, so when accidents happen, grab your Little Green and go! 15 foot cord length. 9 amps. Tank capacity is 48 ounces. 5 foot long upholstery hose.



What do you guys use to shampoo/clean carpets? I apprecaite it.
 
I detail part-time, and I use a LGCM like that to do carpets and floormats. I just spray the carpets with APC and spotter where it's needed, then brush (I use the PC brushes, saves me a lot of work), and then extract with plain hot water. Hitting the mats with a pressure washer isn't really necessary, and they'll take a lot longer to dry. With plain water in the LGCM, you'll be able to get all the cleaner rinsed out. GSRtiltz has a very good carpet cleaning thread posted here.
 
Water has a tendency to help "set" stains so try to get all your cleaning done before the fabric dries. Use the bissel or hose/pressure washer rinse method after your chemical usage. If spots remain try again with chemical, then rinse.
 
actually... what does the little green machine do? I have a shop vac already so if the LGM just sprays water and extracts it I can do that with my shop vac and some sort of a water gun.
 
dinan 3er said:
actually... what does the little green machine do? I have a shop vac already so if the LGM just sprays water and extracts it I can do that with my shop vac and some sort of a water gun.



I wouldn't recommend the LGM because it has very little suction compared to say a 5HP shop vac. I use a shop vac with spray bottles and an upholstery brush. One bottle contains upholstery solution and the other water for rinsing. Vacuum the car then spray a small section with upholstery solution and brush in. If stains are bad let stand a few minutes then vac off solution and spray with water then vac off the water. If still stained repeat. With my 5HP shop vac the carpets are dry after I'm done.
 
Wow, after today, i'm amazed at what the LGM can do. It's without a doubt my favorite for carpets now, I'll post pics of the 745 i did today in the click and brag later on.
 
Here's some food for thought...



The water that we leave IN the carpet is just as dirty as the water we extract. :wow:



Jim
 
i just Bought the little green machine and love it i use mixture of woolite,Orange degreaser on Soiled spots and Water and works Wonderful
 
Jimmy Buffit said:
Here's some food for thought...



The water that we leave IN the carpet is just as dirty as the water we extract. :wow:



Jim



Exactly, thats why if extraction isn't done properly, carpets will become hard after extraction.
 
hi, i'm brand new to this forum. I had a question about cleaning my floor mats. A few days ago I used a carpet cleaner made by blue coral. I sprayed it on and scrubbed it in, and then took it to the bathtub and rinsed it out really well. But now the carpet looks more white (its a black floor mat) and the fibers seem like they aren't as plush. If i look closely I can see the lines running up and down (the seams i guess?). So I read about woolite and I went out to buy some. Just to make sure its the machine wash woolite used for fabric wash right? I bought the one for dark colors. Any advice would be great, I'm going to try the 6:1 ratio, just scrub it in and rinse it out in the bathtub again. Don't have access to a shop vac, any recommendations on one? thanks everyone.
 
I have been using something called Folex lately and am impressed with the results. I usually vaccuum first then spot treat with the Folex and just dab it out, not rub it in. Does good so far. I haven't tried the Woolite thing yet, but that sounds good, too. Another thing that I use to use for stains like coffee was Hydrogen Peroxide mixed 1-1 with water.
 
rawnblade7 said:
hi, i'm brand new to this forum. I had a question about cleaning my floor mats. A few days ago I used a carpet cleaner made by blue coral. I sprayed it on and scrubbed it in, and then took it to the bathtub and rinsed it out really well. But now the carpet looks more white (its a black floor mat) and the fibers seem like they aren't as plush. If i look closely I can see the lines running up and down (the seams i guess?). So I read about woolite and I went out to buy some. Just to make sure its the machine wash woolite used for fabric wash right? I bought the one for dark colors. Any advice would be great, I'm going to try the 6:1 ratio, just scrub it in and rinse it out in the bathtub again. Don't have access to a shop vac, any recommendations on one? thanks everyone.





Based on what you're saying and without seeing pics, it sounds like too much soap was used and left in the carpet and it dried into the fibers which causes white stains and stiff fibers.



I would recommend using Woolite in the white bottle (only because that is what I and several other's here use...with phenomonal results - I'm not sure about the Woolite in the dark bottle). You could also pre-treat using Folex which is very good in removing stains (I get it from Target). You need a shop vac or extractor to get the water out the mat. Lowes or Home Depot both have respectable models (Home Depot - Rigid / Lowes - ShopVac). Try to get the 5HP or 6.5HP models. If you are rinsing them in the bathtub, I would recommend taking a window squegee and get as much water as you can out the mat, then take the shop vac to it, and finally leave it out until dry. Of course, several steps would be accomplished and then some if you had a professional extractor.
 
thanks for the info ajbarnes.



I’ll try to get some pictures up sometime, don’t have a digital camera yet. Would there still be residual soap left over even after rinsing it out really well while scrubing with a brush? I thought I got all of it out. Could I have scrubbed too much and damaged the fiber? I used a brush you would use to scrub a bathroom shower.



I also had a few more questions.

1) I was wondering if I should be using a brush to agitate the mat to get the detergent in, or should I just let it soak in?



2) I understand the importance of a shop vac for cleaning carpet inside the car, but for the floor mats couldn't you just do a thorough rinse and let it air dry?



for next time I'm just going to spray in the woolite, scrub it or let it soak (not sure yet) and then hit it with water and the shop vac. does that sound about right?



thanks for all the info, i just wanted to make sure I did it right. I'm looking into the rigid shop vac right now. thanks!
 
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