I Need Advice...

[trebor]

Nathaniel,

The Host pre-clean followed by the 'pancake' technique can indeed remove urine salts. Using more moisture than was originally in the stain only dilutes it. It might take a repeat application or two, but the principle of absorption is immutable. The sponges will draw the pre-cleaner and the stains and as the moisture evaporates into the air trap it to be removed by vacuuming. Low volume extraction systems still use .8 gal per minute. 85% moisture removal is considered extremely high, and that leaves .32 gal in the carpet for every minute the solution is applied. It's a LOT of moisture anyway you look at it.

 

[bagintheback]

Thank you for explaining that Robert, that makes Host look like a much better system. I'll call them in the morning and see if they have a cleaner that can reach our house. I'd much rather have someone thats knows what they are doing clean the carpet. Is Host any more expensive than other carpet cleaning services? We are already expecting the hot water exaction company to charge around $700 for the whole house.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

$700.00 for carpet cleaning ??????????????????

Replace it how can you use someones nasty pet stained carpets ? I would rather rip out the carpet and live with sub floor than try to clean someones nasty disease laden carpet . Save the $700.00 plus some more and then buy new carpet and start anew in your new house ! I would never ever be able to walk bare feet on that carpet nor lay on it .

 

[bagintheback]

Daniel, do you know how many times my mom has said that about our current carpet! We like the carpet already in the house and cleaning it will be much cheaper than replacing almost 2,000 square feet of carpet. Hopefully I can get a good carpet cleaning guy in there soon. Thank you for your concern though.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Well, you asked, lolol

I tend to agree with Dan. I've NEVER moved, so, I never had to deal with that. I think I'd have a hard time with other people's carpeting. I'd always wonder how clean it was, how wet it got, what's still really 'under there', etc. $700.00 seems high for cleaning. I might take the $700.00 and add to it. Do you really like this carpeting THAT much? Even dirty? Keep us abreast of what you do. As far as strong vacuuming, a HOOVER Concept is a strong cleaner. Best of luck,
John.

 

[durango159]

Reading all of the posts since my previous I've changed my mind:

1) You stated your mother thinks the carpets should be ripped out, due to heavy staining and the thought of someone else's dirt that may not completely be removed. This is probably the top reason. If your mother is happy, EVERYONE ELSE IS HAPPY!! If mom's not happy with results of cleaning and she's short $700, no one else will be happy either.

2) 2000 sq. Ft is a lot but not too bad. I am a Realtor. Most consumers moving to another house usually end of putting about 2k into a house in-order to bring paint and floor surfaces up to their standards whether its for color matching, worn condition, cleaner feel or all of the above.

3) This carpet is revolting and is probably older than you think. Pet urine, random stains, accumulated dirt. Carpet cleaning does some stain and appearance improvement but carpets don't disinfect well.

4) You stated the carpet is NOT glued down. Labor is one of the major factors for carpet removal when it comes to people minds. They don't want to move the furniture and older carpet removal etc. adds heavily to labor so higher installation fee.

5) Your moving in, the house is most likely unfurnished. This is the absolute BEST time to get new carpet, put it in now instead of in 2 yrs or directly after having it cleaned when you realize that cleaning it didn't bring it back to what it should be.

6) $700, is that tax included? In addition to aggravation of who's doing it, their job performancte, drying time, and questionable end result.

7) You like the carpet that's in the house!! This makes shopping for new carpet easy. Cut off a section of the carpet that may still be clean. Bring it to the carpet store and tell them-- "We want this" Now you're taking the same $700+ from the carpet cleaning but investing it into a smarter media. Clean, fresh carpet and now thanks to this forum, you know the best vacuum cleaner for maintaining it properly in addition to the best upkeep for 6 month or annual carpet shampooing.

Just my advice from working with buyers & sellers of real estate, my own personal life experiences, my work experience in house cleaning and my passion and knowledge of vacuum cleaners and a clean house. My dad is a doctor, my uncle is a doctor and my deceased grandfather was a doctor. Financially, health reasons, smart investing, cleanliness and convenience of move in, my family would recommend replacing the carpet now.

Best of luck and congratulations to the decision makers of the household and new homeowners in which ever direction they decide to go with on this subject. Good luck with the move. I truly believe you will enjoy the new house better with fresh allergen, and germ free carpet.

Blessings to all and happy vacuuming from Central Pennsylvania,
Rob

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Rob!!

That was, in a nutshell, BRILLIANT! Wouldn't it be awful to "clean", and then 'smell' strange things?
John

 

[bagintheback]

I just got off the phone from a Host carpet cleaner. The woman on the phone was the nicest service person I've ever spoken to. Sadly, her location was too far for her to drive to get to our house. Very upsetting. New carpeting has been deemed too expensive, so I guess we at back at hot water exaction.

 

[director12]

Maybe that Rubbermaid or maroon Steamvac you own can help with the extraction.

 

[floor-a-matic]

Or U can rent or buy a Bissell Big Green (Rug Doctor competitor)

The Bissell Big Green has a HUGE brush roll that RUNS CONTINUOUSLY WHEN ON FLOOR CLEANING MODE; unlike the Rug Doctor Mighty Pro's vibrating brush that runs ONLY WHEN THE SPRAY IS ACTIVATED.

@durango159

When U said that U rented the Rinse N' Vac, did U also get the power brush? Or did U just use the regular nozzle? Was the Rug Doctor NOT working correctly?

I know how this feels, since I've moved COUNTLESS times; most of the time I've had good luck because the carpets have been cleaned or replaced; but one place had VERY dirty SHAG CARPETS & the Hoover Steam Vac SpinScrub cleaned it all like magic.

Since I haven't used a Rinse N' Vac or Thermax in a VERY long time, I've been using rotary foam shampooing machines like Electrolux or Hoover.

Here's the link to the Bissell Big Green.

http://www.bissellrental.com/default.aspx?cookie=1

 

[floor-a-matic]

Bissell Big Green

I also forgot to add that some HEB stores have switched from Rug Doctor to the new Bissell Big Green; thank God for the change. I just wish that HEB didn't do away with vacuum bags, belts & filters!

RE: Used carpets

I used to walk barefoot UNTIL the day my mother got pricked by a sewing needle; fortunately it was OUR sewing needle & not someone else's that fell on the carpet. That's another thing to be careful with when dealing with used carpets.

Now I have tile (at least for now) but I'll be checking the next house (if it is carpeted) once I move.

If U use a Rainbow, you'll be pulling out TONS of dirt that other bagged/bagless vacs leave behind. Just don't forget to CHANGE THE WATER after vacing 1/2 of each room if you're going to use a Rainbow for vacing. Also, the rectangular Power Nozzles (models R-1024 [Eureka-built], R-1650, R-2800, & R-4375) with brush & beater bars can get the deepest dirt (even past the backing) WITHOUT having to tear up the carpet.

I ALWAYS use a Rainbow & even just vacing revived the shag carpets in OH.

 

[durango159]

Hi Floor-a-matic.
I had planned on shampooing a 3 floor town house with the RugDoctor that I had just rented. However I was so UNIMPRESSED with how the machine operated I only did my bedroom. The next day when I rented the RinseNVac I recleaned my bedroom and was DRAMATICALLY impressed with the results. Stains were gone, carpet was not nearly as wet. I shampooed all 3 floors of the townhouse, which the rugs were highly stained. At some points I took out a hand scrub brush on a couple of spots but for the most part the RinseNVac conquered the rest and the place looked terrific afterwards. Since this day I have never once re-considered a RugDoctor for anything and would never buy one from a store. I think that the TV infomercial for the RugDoctor is SEVERELY edited and fake.

The vac shop that I rented the RinseNVac from said that the power brush isn't very powerful on those and said I should try the regular extraction wand they thought results would be just as good. They said the power head on it didn't provide very good agitation in their opinion and I think the sprayer wasn't as powerful.

The Rug Doctor I used, I think worked but I told Lowes they should have the unit checked just in case. I thought it was actually putting down too much water. The Rug Doctor put down lots of water, and the brush did move, and suction was working. However the carpet seemed extremely wet too me, yet didn't appear very clean.

Since this experience my carpet shampooing preferences are as follows, moving to the next step if the first doesn't work
Trial 1: Hoover Steamvac- with Spin Scrub. I've been impressed with these. Not sure how well they deep clean to bottom of pile but overall carpets look and feels clean afterwards.

Trial 2: RinseNVac- they're hard to find though

Final step if above else doesn't work: Stanley Steemer. Used them only once but was HIGHLY HIGHLY impressed with results, and customer service. Extremely powerful machines did a terrific job.

One apartment I moved into the previous tenants hired a "ChemDry" style carpet dry cleaning company to shampoo the rugs. I was very unimpressed with the results and procedure the Dry Clean company used. Carpets were quite wet for 24 hours and I didn't feel they accomplished anything. So when I had to choose a carpet cleaner at move out, I chose Stanley Steemer and glad I did. The place was spotless, looked really nice. It is very possible that different locations of Stanley Steemer may have a better operation? Very happy with the location I used and I've recommended them since to many people, they've been happy as well!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Btw, I've never known a carpet cleaner to pre-vacuum! I used to work in restaurants and when I sold vacuums at Sears, the lady I worked with had a husband who owned a carpet cleaning business so whenever I got around a carpet cleaner, I would ask what they use to pre-vacuum.... they said that their equipment is so powerful that pre-vacuuming is not necessary. The were almost snobbish/arrogant about it! Some of them also said that they don't even instruct the customer to vacuum first because most people have such awful vacuums or the vacuums are in such a state of disrepair that it wouldn't do any good.

I remember how shocked I was when I saw the Fantom infomercials and they had a carpet cleaning company on that that said they pre-vacuumed with Fantoms. Not because I didn't like Fantoms (I was infatuated with them when they first came out actually), but because I'd never heard of the concept of pre-vacuuming. I think you should pre and post vacuum when deep cleaning a carpet....

I've seen videos of carpet cleaners who use a turbo cat nozzle on the end of the truck mount hose to pre-vacuum...

 

[bagintheback]

Bobby, take a look at this video. It clearly shows that even a truck mount can not remove all dry soils from the carpet.

 

[bagintheback]

We have decided to rent a Host machine to do the work. I got a qoute from a good carpet cleaner today and it was way too expensive. Even renting a Host machine for a week and buying mutipule tubs of Host will be many hundreds of dollars cheaper. I think four 12lb buckets should be good for both the new and old house. We're saving so much money on this anymore will be deal, so please tell me if you don't think that is sufficient for two double story houses. Of course I will be posting pictures of the process when it starts next weekend.

 

[director12]

I would never use a carpet cleaning company-too expensive and have marketing scams. I would use my 5/6-year old Steamvac to do the job. It's less expensive, plus Hoover Steamvacs rock.

 

[floor-a-matic]

I thought U were going to try out a Bissell Big Green!?

How well will a Big Green clean the dirtiest carpets IN A REAL ENVIRONMENT & NOT IN A LAB?

 

[director12]

I don't really know.