Re-thinking the Kirby Rug Renovator

[sopranojam85]

My Classic Omega and matching rug renovator are, I guess, working as they are intended to work. But recently I question the purpose of the Rug Renovator. Not just mine, but the entire concept of the Rug Renovator.

There is zero extraction of dirt or waste water other than what splatters on to the suds tray. Yes, a healthy mess of suds goes in to the carpet and gets worked in to the fibers by the brush roller, saturating the carpet with suds, but the suds are still "wet". You are creating mud. Then 12 hours later when it's all dry, you vacuum it up and hope for the best. The end result for me has been a carpet that feels nicer, smells nicer, and I can tell is cleaner, but little to no dirt or stains are extracted. Heavy traffic dirt remains unmoved.

I have a Hoover extraction shampooer that blows the rug renovator away in terms of dirt removal. It just makes me frustrated. You "want" the Kirby to be the jack of all trades and be good at shampooing but it falls short. What's been y'all's experience?

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Callie,

Long time no posts! If you are having issues with harder dirt being picked up following the use of the Rug Renovator, one way to boost the cleaning power of the Instant Suds is to add Scuttle to the mix.

BTW, did you ever solve that minor motor sound problem you discussed here back in 2012?

~Ben

 

[sopranojam85]

I tracked down that rumble problem to the bags. Can't remember if I mentioned it here or not but I got a bag, mini emptor and fill tube assembly from a Legend II and I use the poly HEPA bags. Some bags make that sound, some don't, even when the rubber seal is totally opened on the bag. Motor works fine.

It's funny because I remember when I first got "hooked" on the Kirby was via an in-home demo with a G-six. They said that extraction cleaners "create mud" and the Kirby does not since it's mostly suds. Well the Hoover may use more water, but it also sucks almost all of it up when it's done, resulting in a much shorter drying time.

Anyway, thanks for the tip!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Callie,

You're welcome. As for me, for my Classic III I have a Legend II bag assembly on it, and at the moment I use the brown Micron Magic disposable bags.

~Ben

 

[jeschbac]

Renovator

I can't say that this is my experience with Kirby. My renovators do get out dirt and stains. If it's a serious stain, I do pre-treat the area. Based on what gets pulled out and deposited in the tray and in the suds residue on the top of the carpet, I have to say that I'm getting rid of lots of crap in my carpets! I usually shampoo in the evening. By morning, it's dry and ready for the final vacuuming.

 

[vac-o-matic]

A friend of mine inherited a steam cleaning business back in my hometown in the 70's. He had to learn the business because he wanted to keep it, formerly his uncle's business and the most successful in the area. He told me one of the first things he learned was if someone had been using a Kirby rug renovator, an Electrolux carpet beautifier, or any other pre-steamer type shampooer, they had to add a heavy dose of de-foamer to the solution due to the soapy residue left behind in rugs and carpets.

 

[caligula]

Hi sopranojam85

From 1976 to 1985, I was a training manager for Kirby, and used the Rug Renovator as the way to close hundreds of sales. I also used to clean carpets professionally using the Renovator.


 


 The Kirby Rug Renovator is designed to use little water. Kirby suds are dry foam that are concentrated soap which dry quickly, and are vacuumed away about two hours later. (For heavily soiled carpets, add a little Kirby 'Scuttle.") If you have soaked the carpet then you have the wrong setting and are not letting the brush roll do the job. The renovator works on a backward stroke, and one pass is enough! You should overlap slightly covering a 5 foot square, then shut off the flow of suds, and work them in. Repeat till the entire carpet is slightly damp. After this I like to remove the renovator, and use the miracle head, leaving the water dispenser still in place, working in the suds so that they go deep into the carpet. Once the carpet is completely dry, vacuum the shampoo residue and carpet dirt.


 


All this is described in the instruction book.

 

[sopranojam85]

I'm following the manual.. and to my knowledge, this model of Rug Renovator has no suds shutoff switch like the later ones. You just have to use all the suds, or stop, empty the container and then continue.

Before the Rug Renovator was invented, Kirby recommended using the Suds-o-Gun, putting suds where desired, and either hand-scrubbing them, or using the miracle head (or whatever they used to call it) to brush the suds into the carpet... this makes sense.

What does not make much sense is the fact that the rug renovator works on the "back stroke". The hole that spits out suds is about 3 inches in front of the brush roller. You're going backwards, and so a given piece of carpet first gets brushed by the brush roller, mostly dry, and then gets doused with suds. If the whole point is for the brush roller to scrub suds into the carpet, shouldn't the suds go first, and then be followed by the brush roller? I know there's a little bit of suction happening from the motor pulling dispensed suds "back" into the brush but it seems to me that it would be more "effective" for the rug renovator to move forwards, putting down suds and then scrubbing them in in that order.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not operating it forwards, I'm only using back strokes as I'm supposed to. Once the suds are all gone I then go over, and over the treated areas scrubbing the suds in even more, again on a back stroke. (This part of the technique makes sense..)

I am filling the tank with 2/3 a cap full of shampoo. I was told by Kirby that the older Rug Renovators have a smaller tank, and that the correct amount of shampoo (with the modern formulation) is 2/3 a cap, using the brown Rug Renovator tank cap. That does make an adequately insane amount of suds, so I don't think I have a lack of shampoo in the mix...

Anyhow, I'm about to move to a new house, and this house will have short berber carpet. It ought to be easier to keep clean.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Callie,

Kirby initially introduced the "Stop Suds" feature on the Rug Renovator hose for the Heritage II, in 1984.

But, no suds control valve was implemented on the Renovator tank until the Generation 3 in 1990.


(if you watch this video at around the 36:30 mark, you can hear this HII making the same kind of bag-related noise like yours did before you ultimately solved your issue)

~Ben

 

[anthony]

i

find the whole thing absolutely useless kirby would do well to discontinue it and knock somthing off the price .i have tried and tried again only to be very disapointed with the results even when dry the carpet feels kind of sticky thats because its full of dried soap i usually go over it with my vax filled with fresh water thats when you see all the dirt that the kirby has scrubbed into [not out ]of the carpet dont get me wrong i love both of my kirby machines but if ever a bit of kit was a waste of time its got to be the rug renovator maybe thats why you see so many of them used once and then put back in the box never to see daylight again .i now have an old Hoover floor polisher scrubber i first scrubb the carpet with that then using any old detergent in the tank then i go over it with the Vax filled with fresh warm water the results are exellent i am toying with the idea of somehow fitting the vax extraction head behind the scrubber with the hose clipped onto the scrubbers handle and then away to the Vax that way i could do the whole job in one go hope i havnt gone on too much

 

[sopranojam85]

Anthony,

You're right about the odd "texture" the carpet has after the Kirby treatment. It definitely feels different afterwards from the dried suds residue left behind. On one hand there are very real allergen reducing benefits. (the allergens adhere to the residue and are lessened as a result), but they are still in there, nonetheless. And it takes a great deal of vacuuming to get it out afterward, but still the texture of the carpet never QUITE feels the same afterward.

I'm not trying to knock down any people above who love their Rug Renovators, but at some point you just have to do a side-by-side comparison and use your own, unbiased judgement to figure out what cleans the best. Thank you all for the discussion, and I'm glad to see the various points of view on this topic!

 

[anthony]

i

found after using the rug renovator and then vacuuming thoroughly aferwards when i rub my hand over the carpet i can actually feel some kind of coating on my hand when i do it with the hoover scrubber and the Vax i let it dry [usually overnight ]then i rub my hand over it and theres no residue what so ever it feels so much cleaner and of course theres the evidence in the dirty water if you pour it into a glass container leave it overnight you can see the dirt and grit settle to the bottom .Another thing i noticed after cleaning [not]the carpet with the rug renovator then vacuuming after a fiew days turn the Kirby over and you will see the black residue stuck to the soleplate of the machine you can actually scrape it off with a knife

 

[suckolux]

Watching that nib Heritage 2 had me drooling.I had one of those, was my favorite of the 4 we have had

 

[kirbymodel2c]

Hi,

Hi, I've always found the Kirby shampooer to work very well and not leave any <a name="start_22940.256829">residue. Esp when using genuine Kirby shampoo and not he cheap copy shampoo or 1001 etc. In the demo we use to get the prospect to rub some kirby suds in to their hands to show it wasn't greasy and sticky.
</a>


 


If I shampoo a carpet that has stains on it or has a  <span class="st">particularly </span>dirty patch I use the "Spot Remover" and "Heavy Traffic" Pre-treatment sprays. I prefer the G series shampooers to the Pre G series ones.



Also you have to vacuum the carpet well before shampooing. Remember we shampoo to get rid of the grease and stains not surface litter and grit etc. 


It surprises me how many people don't vacuum before shampooing a carpet. Same as dealing with a stain ASAP and not leaving it to dry.


 


I've never liked the big carpet upright shampooers Bissell and Vax etc turn out. Nor have I found them as good as they claim.



I don't like working on them when they go wrong which they often do. When you get customers often bringing them in for repair and saying "Oh I've only used it 2 or 3 time...."Hay ho...


 


James

 

 

[sopranojam85]

Thanks James.

I've toyed with the thought of "upgrading" to a G series Kirby quite often. However, I don't think I will. I really like the look and feel of the Omega, and it's been in the family since new, so there's that aspect of it. I was recently rebuilt, and it does a great job cleaning, just not-so-great at shampooing as I've discussed above. I am using genuine, recently-purchased Kirby allergen control shampoo (252703). Is there a different shampoo you'd recommend, or is this the one used in demos that is supposedly "not sticky"?

In the long-run, a lot of the berber carpet in the next house will be replaced by hardwood, but we'll keep carpet in at least 3 of the bedrooms, so I'll be holding on the Omega for-sure... and it'll come in handy for cleaning the hardwood in canister mode.

 

[anthony]

this is what i mean

sticky dirt all over the soleplate its easy to get off but the point is its in the carpet as well and yes i did use the right product so its true the rug renovator is basically a mud machine .As i said the carpet has since been cleaned with the Hoover scrubber and the Vax three in one machine then vacuumed with the Kirby and guess what no residue stuck to the soleplate proofs in the pudding guys

 

[sopranojam85]

Wow Anthony, that is some nasty stuff... I don't have that kind of gunk on my machine.. Some kind of gunk similar to this tends to deposit on the rug renovator tray, but I assumed it was normal from extra suds just getting all over the outside of the tray, and me not cleaning the tray thoroughly enough. Your photo is clearly a rug plate, and has a solid layer of this stuff.

I'm not sure how much of that would be from the shampoo, and how much of it would be from the particulates in the carpet itself. I imagine it could vary house to house, depending on what is being cleaned. Thanks for sharing your experiences with it though!

 

[ncovert]

I actually love the Kirby shampooer. It smells wonderful, and if done properly, will really get the dirt and stains out.


 


It doesn't clean as well as one of the truck-mounted steam cleaners, but it's definitely an economical way to clean your carpeting (suds are a little pricey, but it's worth it and a little goes a long way).

 

[kirbymodel2c]

Hi,

<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino;">Hi, Yep the shampoo is the same shampoo but it came in big drums. I should get one myself. I wonder what I could get one at??

</span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino;">Yes I have seen that type of build up before on many vacuum cleaners I get come in to the shop as well as vacuum cleaners I recondition. The vast majority do not own a Kirby assuming they have any shampooer at all. Most people as I said seem to have the Vax or Bissell upright shampooers they bought in the sales lol.
</span>


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino;">Also I've not had a build up on my Kirby's on the sole plate after I've shampooed the carpet.</span>


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino;">I wouldn't get the build up off the sole plate with a knife. I tend to use a cloth or green scouring pad with a bit of warm water and detergent.</span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino;">James

</span>