Jet Dry in my NEW Rainbow??

[shelly]

I've been reading lots of great threads about my new machine and found something very interesting. I read a suggestion to put JetDry in the water tank if you have hard water. I have had an old SE for years and I just added fragrance and did the proper clean-up, but now this? Is it OK to do? Will it hurt my machine or void my warranty? What exactly is the purpose of adding it, I'm cleaning and drying everything after each use. Thanks in advance for your sage advice.

Shelly

 

[trebor]

The Jet Dry...

reduces surface tension in the water, just like a Rexair product called Aqua-Wet, if it is still made. Higher concentrations of non-wettable dirt, like drywall dust, can be successfully trapped in the water if the surface tension is reduced.

 

[williamr1248]

Jet dry in my new Rainbow?

Shelly,
I have read about using that too. I thought that was to make the water wetter but I never used my Rainbow (or any other vac) to pick up plaster dust or fireplace ash.

I always empty the basin and rinse but I an not a slave to the Rainbow. I don't even dry the basin out. Just rinse and I keep it under the bathroom sink so it is handy for dumping and filling.
Unlike our old machines,the new Rainbow motor is designed to be set right back on dolly and there is open space so the separator can dry. Much faster and easier to use and store.
After you get the embedded dirt out of your house you will notice that the separator stays pretty clean. I check mine about 2 times a month. If you keep the water changed,the separator stays clean.
Mine stayed perfectly clean after 18 years of use with the old SE.

 

[shelly]

Thanks gentlemen, you both answered my questions. I may give that JetDry a try and I will also be less fussy about drying the pan.

Shelly

 

[mark40511]

That was me

Shelly.............If you do use it, only use a drop or two! Or else it will foam. I'm not sure how GREAT a drop of JetDry is doing. It's probably overkill.

William......

I change the water frequently too but I don't take any chances and clean my separator every time. I've always been a frequent water changer and used to not clean my separator often at all because it didn't look dirty, I would just hold it under water and rinse it. One day I cleaned it with a toothbrush in the grooves and it was dirty. It wasn't that bad though, but even still, you don't want any dirt on that separator. It must happen very slowly because when I clean it each time, there is never a sign of any dirt on it or the toothbrush I use to clean it. The material and color of the separator make it very hard to tell whether or not it's dirty, so I always just clean it. Takes one minute.

 

[eurekastar]

Separator Cleaning

I have two separators for each machine I own.  When I've finished vacuuming, I take the used one off and put it in the dishwasher and install the clean one.  In my area, the water is VERY hard.  It's almost undrinkable too.  Most people around here use a product called Lemishine in the dishwasher.  I'm told that it's basically just citric acid.  I pour a little in with the detergent for the main wash cycle.  The company also makes a rinse aid.  I don't know what its chemical composition is, but I use that sometimes in my Rainbows.

 

[trebor]

Rexair...

could cut their warranty issues in half or less by simply including three separators with each unit, one clean, one on the machine, and one in the dishwater, or dishwasher.  After cleaning and dumping, people just want to put it away. If the clean separator is staring them in the face in the closet, people will be more likely to pop a fresh one on and take the dirty one to the kitchen sink. Easier and faster than dumping a dry bagless canister. After half-a dozen uses it becomes automatic.

 

[floor-a-matic]

Yes, the AquaWet is still made, as far as I know.

http://www.goodvac.com/Rainbow_AquaWet_p/r-sup-aqw-r2484.htm

 

[mark40511]

That is

the old style bottles Rexair used to use. I've seen no Aquawet in any new style bottles so I wonder if this site is just selling stock?

I could be wrong, but since I'm not seeing any Aquawet for sell in any new style bottles, I'm guessing they don't make it anymore - unless they still make it and use the same style bottles, which wouldn't make sense since they changed the styles of all bottles, including the small bottles of scents and the bottles of shampoo, D&A, etc.

 

[swiveltop]

In my DE SE I always use a splash of fabric softener and a few drops of bleach,I love the smell of freshly washed clothes,I've done this for a couple of years with no problems and the separator is never dirty, I have cleaned it once and it didn't really need it,The softener doesn't foam and the bleach keeps the basin sanitized,of course you may not want to chance voiding warranty on a new machine. I can wipe the inside of the exhaust port with a tissue and it is always spotless. Congrats Shelly on the new machine, and BTW the problem with the D4 not starting right away is just the switch, mine does that so I just leave the switch in the on position and just plug it in and unplug it,I have a replacement switch,so if it goes out all together I'll replace it. Mark

 

[swiveltop]

Oops, D4 SE Not DE SE

 

[mark40511]

Fabric softener

I tried that once!! It does sound like it would not only act as a wetting agent, but also the smell would be nice, but the time I tried putting a little fabric softener in the water, it did FOAM way too much, so I had to turn it off and dump the water and use new water.....I didn't even put that much fabric softener so not sure why it foamed. It was just regular fabric softener, nothing special.

 

[shelly]

Thank you SwivelTop for answering my question, good to know it's something minor. I did try the JetDry today and got lots of foam. It may be that I was vacuuming a rug and I just shampoo'd, maybe some shampoo left in the rug. The Rainbow made that funny sound and then changed it's tone, is that bad for the machine?

I like the idea of fabric softener and bleach- just like laundry day, you guy's are really clever.

 

[luxlife]

Wouldn't it seem reasonable that whatever you add to the

Personally, I'm not sure if I want to smell Jet-Dry while vacuuming.

When I owned an SE I found it to be the perfect vehicle to use REAL essential oils instead of "fragrance" oils It makes a big difference when not using anything with a synthestic fragrance. Lavender and Clary Sage are a great combination, so are grapefruit and Ylang-Ylang. The most awesome thing I've used in my E2 was 2 or 3 sprays of Eau d'Hadrien room spray. It's a combo of Lemon, Citron and Cypress and it smells awesome!

If hard water deposits are an issue, I'd opt to routinely give my separator a soak in something that will remove them. Don't you all think that CLR or even straight vinegar would work without hurting the separator?

 

[mark40511]

Shelly. I know that sound that you're talking about and NO it's not good. If the machine does that, stop it, dump the water and put fresh in. I know the JetDry foams so that's why I only used literally a drop or no more than two, any more than that and it will foam......I don't put it on all the time and certainly don't put it in the water for scent purposes, but just to make the water better at trapping dirt........I'm sure it's overkill and I don't put it in every time. I actually put some jet dry in an eye dropper bottle so I could literally get "drops" instead of trying to pour in straight in from the container it comes in......

I AGREE about the essential oils...........I use them all the time. I loved the Rexair scents, but after using essential oil instead, it makes the Rexair scents smell nasty to me. The essential oil smells REAL, natural and not chemically.....I think Pine needle oil or orange oil is my fav, next up would be lemon.

 

[shelly]

Mark, I did that immediately! I also love the essential oil in the water, the only Rainbow fragrance that I really like is the apple blossom because it's the scent that my aunt used when I vacuumed her house as a teen.

 

[eurekastar]

This is what I use.  It doesn't foam at all.  It's supposed to be all natural, and I think it's made from citric acid.  This is the only product that most people use in our area, along with the granulated additive in the main wash cycle of the dishwasher. 



http://www.lemishine.com/lemi-shine-rinse

 

[shelly]

That must smell really good, I'll give it a try.

 

[mark40511]

Well, if it doesn't work in your rainbow you can always use it in your dishwasher. I've heard of LemiShine & actually used it, but I wasn't aware they made liquid Rinse aid. I just try to be careful about foaming because you do not want that water in the basin to foam. Even the Big green Bottle of deodorizer foams like crazy in my basin- and I'm NOT talking about the knock off D&A, I'm talking about the Rexair made D&A. William mentioned to me that he notices it foams too much as well. If I put the recommended amount of that stuff in the basin, it produces way too much foam. The small bottles of scents don't do that nor does the essential oil. My carpets really don't have any residue in them because I've mostly used white vinegar to clean them with the steam cleaner and if I do use shampoo I only use a little and it gets rinsed.........I don't think it's a case of too much residue in carpets. The water here is not soft, it's moderately hard.