Kirby Carpet Shampoo System

[adiostoreador]

So this weekend while I was off I decided to shampoo my carpets, I figured it wouldn’t hurt them to get a deep clean. Plus working at a juice factory I just have no real clue what I could be tracking in. I went through vacuumed each room thoroughly with my Ultimate G Diamond and then went through each room with the shampoo system let it sit then worked it in to the carpet. Let me just say holy crap the carpets feel so nice now and the lavender scent from the shampoo left everything smelling fresh! Does anyone else use their shampoo system? I’m thinking I’m gonna start using it once a month in addition to using a Hoover steamvac once a year.

 

[vacuumdevil]

Unfortunately that shampooer system is really no more than a novelty.
It leaves a lot of the dirt and stains deep down in the carpet.
The lack of extraction tends to oversaturate the
carpet.
Also the transmission is not sealed on the bottom and a lot of corrosion happens if you continuously use the shampooer.

 

[adiostoreador]

I think the system is more for maintaining carpets in between extraction cleaning rather than being a replacement for it. Before I moved into my apartment the floors were cleaned professionally and I vacuum just about everyday so I don’t think there was much in the way of dirt that I was trying to get up, rather I use the system to kinda freshen up the carpets in between when I extraction clean the carpets which is usually right after winter and right before fall. I think it does a fine job but definitely wouldn’t recommend it over any extraction method.

 

[lesinutah]

Vacuum devil

It's not a novelty. It's name should be changed. Rainbow, tristar and a few others use same type of system.
It does good for what it is. It's however not a shampooer like a bissell etc.
Les

 

[tolivac]

If used properly the Kirby shampoorer system is good for maintaining carpets-does not replace an extraction type machine-esp a truckmount.Those are the BEST.They can generate more extraction power than a portable type home unit.I have tried one!!!The carpet is truly almost dry after a forward-reverse stroke of a truckmount wand.Using them is not difficult.It is hard to beat the suction/CFM of a lobe style vacuum pump powered by a 32Hp Kubota diesel motor!200" suction-600CFM.The motor also heats the solution and powers the solution application pump.The solution is heated from the motor exhaust manifold,engine block coolant and from cooling the vacuum pump.With those 3 sources of heat-doesn't take long to heat the clean solution.

 

[human]

I have a shampooer for my Sentria but I've never used it and it doesn't even look like it's ever been used. A friend has some stains on the carpet in her condo she's renting from a very anal-retentive family member and wants me to bring it over and see what it'll do where here young nephew spilled soda-pop. I'll probably do it sometime soon, just for the fun of it.

 

[huskyvacs]

What a lot of people do not understand (usually lack of knowledge and awareness on how tools function), is there is more than one type of carpet shampooer system out there.

Kirby shampooers are a MAINTENANCE shampooer system, NOT a deep-clean or total extraction system.

They use a dry-suds foam (no sticky soap) and a fluffer brushroll to beat the solution into the carpet and fluff the nap up. Then you let it dry and vacuum it up.

To put it in another words - it is a floor polishing machine, but for carpeting.

You are meant to do this on a bi-monthly basis, or even monthly basis, to just go along through the house as-is and tidy up and get the surface dirt and odors out of the carpeting.

Then in spring and fall you totally empty out the rooms and do your normal shampooing with an extraction shampooer or your carpet cleaning company of choice (that love to put soap in your carpet so they can keep coming back - but that's another story).

They also have other brushrolls available to do tile and hardwood flooring.

 

[luxlife]

I use a Host machine with a L.O.M.A.C. spray

My carpets are all medium pile and I have Persian rugs. I like the Whittaker concentrate formulas because they generate a moderate amount of low foam from the machine's brushes and it dissipates quickly in the drying process. The counter-rotating brushes on the Host almost give my carpet pile a "reset" in that it brings nap back up in the traffic lanes.

If I don't have time for mixing and spraying, then I'll use the Host dry cleaning compound.

 

[lesinutah]

People

He's stirring the pot.

 

[adiostoreador]

So I was correct in my belief that it’s for in between extraction cleaning rather than a replacement? If so that makes me feel good I’ve been doing it right! While I’m thinking of it though would you guys have any recommendations for extraction cleaners I don’t need something super fancy but I would like a hose for couches and chairs, also not too overpriced. I’m looking to buy a new carpet cleaner soon.

 

[tekjunkie28]

The Kirby system is great for getting regular dirt that has adhered to the carpet fibers. For stains its mostly useless but I have never tried using it with the stain/spot remover. I'm not even sure that Kirby guard works. I don't even use the Kirby shampooer but I need to.. whenever I get me a real extractor I will clean my carpets and then take note about how the Kirby maintains the carpet over 3-6 months.

 

[sanitaire]

dry foam encap type cleaning is ok too freshen up a rug and keep traffic lanes at bay. the soil is encap on the crystles and when rug is dry u vacuum them up. for a bit more agressive cleaning U could try the bonnet method, I use fabuloso and a small orbital machine... for all out I get my rug dr or my heated 13 gallon extractor

 

[vacuumdevil]

Well that pretty much sums it up as a novelty then.

Glad the consensus is still that proper extractors need to be used regardless.


@luxlife I really believe host or capture works better then the Kirby shampooer system.
I think Kirby would be far better working in a dry powder.

 

[luxlife]

@vacuumdevil

Yeah, I will agree with you on the Host machine, but I'm not so sure about the Host cleaning compound. I actually get better results with Whittaker Crystal Dry Extra in a pump sprayer. However, before I began doing that, I had a professional come in and extract the heck out of everything so that I could start with a blank slate.

 

[kirbyg6]

I think it’s amazing we used our grandmas avalir to shampoo our living room carpet it never looked so good I also think the avalir system is much better than the older g series system

 

[turbomaster1984]

Novelty

Reading this thread has somewhat amused me.

Everyone concludes that this system is a touch up / between extraction cleaning .....

Yet the method and time involved in using the Kirby system takes longer man hours to execute and there’s still the question of the drying time before you can vacuum up the magic crystals. LOL!

So I don’t get why so much effort for a touch up when you can just use an extraction machine and spend less time overall doing it not to mention your doing a better deeper job overall.

 

[huskyvacs]

It takes more time to empty out the room of every piece of furniture, shampoo the floor, and wait several hours for it to dry and not being able to enter the room, than to spend 5 minutes setting up the shampoo kit and going over the carpet and vacuuming it up within an hour and having it dry within that hour.

If you have foam underpads on your carpeting, you can not be shampooing it every few weeks because you will introduce mold and bacteria within the foam and also cause it to smell and rot away faster. Also if you have wool based carpeting, that also can not be gotten soaked so much because it will ruin the wool fibers. You can not just keep shampooing your carpeting that often with a soaking soap and water bath.

The idea is to keep your carpet from getting that heavily soiled to begin with where you need such a shampoo job, henceforth the Kirby shampooer kit to get out the surface dirt and grime and remove odor.

It's not about doing a better job, it's about reducing unnecessary damage and wear to the carpet, the underlayment and the subfloor by over-shampooing. Ever seen the carpets in rental homes how worn out and matted down it is from being shampooed so often every time before tenants move out and move in?

 

[zinda]

Kirby Shampoo system = Drycleaning

Everyone kind of danced around what Kirby's supposed shampooer really is doing but nobody came out and said it. Kirby's dry-cleaning does have a real place and time where it is actually one of the few dry cleaning systems readily available. Not all rugs and carpets are made to be cleaned using a typical water based cleaning. You need to check out each rug and carpet first before you do any type of cleaning to make sure you are using the proper method!

This rule applies to most things you do in life now, whether you're going to dig in your yard or you plan to change your transmission fluid in you car or truck, you can't just jump into it without doing some research. You don't want to rip open a gas line nor do you want to use Mercon II in a tranny that requires Mercon V, or use synthetic, paying an arm and a leg for something that will destroy your tranny in a year when they have specifically stated not to do so, but without reading up on it one might think it's better for it.

I know this first hand, had a buddy who had a Ford tranny rebuilt, said he was going to use synthetic trans fluid, I have a program that shows all specs on all Ford vehicles from 2008 and older, his truck showed Mercon V, it specifically said to not use synthetic under any circumstances. I warned him to change it, 1 year later his transmission was getting rebuilt again! Mine which he said was ready to go any minute is still working fine in my mustang 10 years later and I'm giving it a 2nd fluid change tomorrow at 140k miles.

Many real fur fiber rugs and carpets have to be dry cleaned only, you can void your warranty or ruin your carpet or rugs by not checking.

Even if Kirby's not very effective at cleaning carpet it's probably not really meant to work on synthetic deep pile carpet. Considering it was designed back when dry cleaning was most commonly needed on natural fiber rugs and carpets it still has its tiny niche.

One comment I have to add is if your backing pad or other underlayment is getting saturated with water that is not being extracted, you better start moving faster and not letting the water have that chance to ever go that deep and also have that much water shooting out of the machine in the first place. I would recommend picking up a very cheap priced used Hoover Steam vac, newer or older makes no difference they all work great for cleaning carpets and rugs that are intended for their use.

 

[vacuumdevil]

I'd like to add a little discovery.

The Kirbyvdry foam works much better when after you let it dry , you use a more powerful vacuum.

I find doing a room or a small part that does not involve heavy stains and then using something like a central vacuum or a Numatic really works much better than trying to use the Kirby.
The reasoning for this particular application water lift is an more important metric than airflow. Also by doing this the carpet's not left sticky.