Oreck Orbiter

[bagintheback]

As I've said before on other threads, my family is moving to a new home which has heavily soiled carpets. After much research, I deiced the Host carpet cleaning system was the cheapest, and yet most thorough, product for our needs. Since there is only one professional Host cleaner in the entire state of Arizona, I have to clean the carpets my self.

Inorder to clean with Host, you have to rent one of their brush machines. This ened up being a big issue. Our new home, located in Flagstaff, has no Host dealer in the aera. So we would have to rent a Host machine in Phoenix, truck it up to Flagstaff, and when we were done take it back down. In order to clean both our new and old house and return it on time Ace Hardware was charging $375 for a month. Not happenin'

We were just about to go and rent the machine anyway when I remembered that Oreck sells a floor machine that not only dry cleans carpets, but also cleans grout. The store owner told me they had both models on sale for $100 off. Sounds great. It turns out the woman forgot to mention that the cheapest model was no longer for sale. She claims that she can't find one entry-level Orbiter in North America. The TOL is $399, which too expensive because the brushes were over $25 EACH. So it would be close to $500 with tax.

Then I go on Amazon to see how much they are selling them for, if Oreck would even let them. Turns out they do and for MUCH cheaper. The TOL model was only $320! So Tuesday night we ordered it with a starter kit. So $420 for the whole deal, including shipping. We did get the Host as well at Ace for a little under $200 for 60lb.

The Oreck arrived this afternoon. It is simply the best floor/carpet cleaner I've ever used, and I have used quite a few. I can not tell you how much better this thing is my Hoover Steamvac or Rubbermaid exactor. I cleaned a hallway of carpeting and two bathrooms of title in about two hours. I didn't even use the Host for the carpeting, I did bonnet cleaning which is like the most disliked carpet cleaning method among professionals. It did such a good job, I can hardly believe it.

So, if any of you need a good floor cleaner, do not hesitate to buy the Orbiter. American Made with a 10 year warranty. Like I've said before, I will be posting pictures the carpet cleaning of our new house when we get in. That should be Sunday or Monday.

 

[director12]

Hoover had a version in the late 90's called the Floormax.

 

[sbakerde]

love the orbiter

I used to work for Oreck and I do agree the orbiter machine is amazing. Oreck sells their own dry cleaning product line which is a little pricey. I have found the same stuff at Lowes under the capture label for less and it works just as good. I can't say i was every a big fan of the bonnet cleaning method but it does work wonders to get stains out, after a pre-treat of course.

 

[bagintheback]

SBakerde

I share your views exactly. I think the Oreck dry cleaning powder could be the exact same product as Capture. The tub, sprinkler and material look exactly the same. I've used Capture and it does a fantastic job. It takes awhile to clean really dirty carpets because of the dry time with multiple coatings. Maybe the Orbiter speeds things up. I'll have to see Monday!

Up until yesterday I thought bonnet cleaning was a joke, but it really does make an immediate difference. I've been told the bonnet only cleans the top 25% of the fiber, which would explain the quick process. I'll just use it for maintenance.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Do you have any before and after pictures of the carpet?

Did you say you rented the host machine as well, or just got the host powder? I missed something there!

Glad you found a method that seems to be working!

 

[trebor]

Carpets soil from the top down...

If they are dirty all the way to the bottom of the pile, repeated applications of bonnet cleaning will wick the dirt up. It may seem that the Host would work with the Orbiter, but it just scatters it. The Host requires the vertical movement up the length of the pile,as provided by the Host equipment.  The Capture/Oreck powder collects in the Host machine, and does not fall out when gently tapped with a foot. 


 


 

 

[bagintheback]

trebor: I'm going to test to see if a combination of Host and bonnet cleaning will result in a better looking carpet than just one method. I'd bonnet clean than use Host to clean deeper into the pile. The Oreck dry cleaning brush is pretty soft; I still think it is going to work well with Host. I'll update when I try it in the next few days.

Vacuumfreeeke: I bought only the Orbiter and the Host product. Renting the Host machine was just too much money for temporary use. If we were going to spend close to $400 on something, we might as well own it. Thus the Orbiter.

 

[bagintheback]

Before and After: Tile Grout

Fantastic job considering this was the first time I ever used such a machine:

 

[bagintheback]

Before and After: Heavy Traffic Area

This is low pile off-white carpet that was installed when the home was built in 1996. Believe me, that was some filthy carpet before I cleaned it. All it took was about four passes (side-to-side) with the bonnet. More pictures to come.

 

[mieles7]

That looks like it did a great job. How do you use one of those on a carpet? I've only seen them used on floors. Does it go fast enough to do this?

 

[bagintheback]

For bonnet cleaning, you first mix water and the solution into a pump sprayer and apply onto the carpet. It helps to spray the mixture onto the bonnet as well to not damage the carpet. Slowly move the Orbitor side to side across the carpet until clean. You have to flip the machine over every once and awhile to check to see if the bonnet needs cleaning. Once you clean with both sides, simply rinse the bonnet in a bucket of cold water. It's very easy.

 

[trebor]

Even Host Dealers...

cannot buy the machines for rent, they are leased at a cost of 130.00/yr with all maintenance and repair costs, including shipping absorbed by Racine Industries, the mfg of Host

 

[trebor]

If one considers...

the average Host machine is rented 1 time per week, a month long rental should have been $80.00. Sounds like a dealer who did not rent/sell much was looking to make a killing.

 

[bagintheback]

They were asking $125 a week, or $375 for an entire month. They discount you a week if you go for a month rental. I did see the Host machines they were renting out while I was there. The two looked very dirty and I doubt they were rented out much. They didn't have the whole nice display most vac shops have. But they were the only dealer in the aera, so we went with the Oreck.

 

[director12]

The Steamvac would do better on carpet cleaning.

 

[vac-o-matic]

Suggestion....

Hi Nathaniel, I've worked for Oreck part-time for several years. I love the Orbiter and what it can do. I do recommend to customers who either rent the Orbiter, which we offer for free to Oreck customers, or walk in customers who buy, is that the carpet brush works better in getting the powder into the pile of the carpet. I also recommend using our spot remover No Return in place of the standard pre-mist to the powder. I have older plush carpet as well, and each time I use the Orbiter, it looks great. Glad you like it!

Rick

 

[bagintheback]

vac-o-matic: I have already bought the carpet brush and the pre-mist. I've haven't used either of them yet, but I will on Monday when we get to our new house. I'll post the results when I'm done.

director12: Not to sound rude, but the SteamVac would not have done better. I've owned one for months but it has never gotten my carpets so clean in such little time. An accident happened earlier this week on the carpet and I had to use tons of soap to get it out with the Hoover. When it was all said and done that carpet looked exactly the same as what it looked like before the stain happened, and that carpet is filthy. Worse than the one I posted a picture of. The Hoover is nice for some uses, but the Oreck is many times better in every way. The Oreck is literarily what they use for commercial applications. People make a living using this exact machine. Hoover sells a commercial Steamvac, but all it is is their household model with an orange 3-prong cord.

 

[floor-a-matic]

How would the Oreck Orbiter compare to a Bissell Big Green?

I'm not sure which to go for; since I'm going to open a carpet cleaning service.

I hear the Bissell Big Green outcleans other Steam Vacs; but not sure if it'll outclean the truck mount units & Rotovac?

 

[briguy]

Having used Host & also working for a carpet cleaning company,the problem you will find with Host or any non-extraction method is re-soiling. It may look good for a while, but not stay clean for long.

With those types of cleaning methods you are not really removing the dirt. Some dirt may come off on the bonnet or be absorbed into powder & vacuumed away, but mostly it is just moving the dirt around & grinding it into the carpet fibers. With an extraction process, you are removing the soil & any detergent residue. It's when these are left in the fibers that you get re-soiling soon after cleaning.

As an example, we don't dry-clean our clothes when they are diry (even though the process is called dry-cleaning for some fabrics, they wash in a solution) we wash & rinse them to get the dirt & residues out. Therefore in my opinion extraction is the better choice. It just needs to be executed correctly to see results.