Vintage Carpet Extractors

[hooveru4089]

I have been looking at carpet extractors and have seen my fair share of modern carpet extractors online. The Rug Doctor Deep Carpet Cleaner and Bissell Big Green seem to be highly rated but, of course, I am skeptical about the quality of these machines.

Does anyone know of any particularly good vintage machines I should look out for?

 

[ultralux88]

Maybe a Thermax or a Rinse'N'Vac? Really I'd recommend one of the newer ones, mostly because they haven't been exposed to all the moisture all these years, rusting and corroding... The Big Green (new one, NOT the old one) has shown to be reliable among collectors using them, not the cheap crap we've come to expect from Bissell over the years. The Rug Doctor is also a good one, they hold up well for rental use, and are the same for the residential machine.

 

[hooveru4089]

Interesting.

The Rug Doctor I looked at is the smaller red upright, not the rental style Mighty Pro or Mighty Pro X3.

 

[huskyvacs]

I have been through a lot of Bissel and Hoover shampooers since the 90's. The chemicals in the shampoo detergent will weaken and rot out the rubber hoses over time. All the ones I've seen torn apart at the pinch point where the handle bends and where water can pool up after use.

I can imagine older ones being much worse. Nothing wrong with using vintage shampooers, just don't expect it to be "maintenance free" which is a term thrown around and abused these days. And if you can't find parts, you'll have to be creative at making something work for it.

I was looking at getting a vintage linoleum floor scrubber myself but a lot of the brushes are costly to replace.

 

[ultralux88]

I suggested the Thermal/and Rinse'N'Vac because the parts are rather readily available today. I use a vintage 1976 Rinse'N'Vac, but I've also had to do a little work to it too. It does a damned good job, it has a 60 PSI pump (the original was working when it was sent to me, but died the first try I had at using it! LOL) a large Lamb central vac motor 7.2 in twin fan, 100 inches of water lift, and it also has a real heating element in the clean water tank.

 

[hooveru4089]

I should check them out. Could you post a picture of your machine so I could get an idea of what to look for?

How well would these machines work compare to a Kirby or Electrolux shampooer? I have come across some on eBay and I am curious.

I would only be cleaning my carpets at home, so I don't need a serious commercial machine.

 

[ultralux88]

This thing is BIG! AS are any of the other vintage machines that are worth using, in my eyes. Its maybe 3 feet long, 2 1/2 high and 1 1/2 wide and weighs a good bit too. Its loud, but it does a great job. 


 

 

[ultralux88]

Ideally you'll want one with the stainless steel solution tank, the plastic ones aren't heated.

 

[huskyvacs]

Kirby's shampoo system is only a surface cleaner, not a deep cleaner.

 

[ultralux88]

You can't really compare an extractor to a dry foam type shampoo job. The biggest difference is that the extractor is pressure washing and sucking up water, washing not just the stuff stuck to the fibers, but the embedded stuff the vacuum can struggle to get. I always find a lot of sand and grit in the bottom of the tank when I dump it, regardless of how well I vacuum before. If you're vacuum is worth a crap, there will be little to no fluff or hair in the recovery tank, and if the extractor is worth a crap, there should be little to no dirt left in the rug, and almost nothing come up when you vacuum it after it dries.

 

[hooveru4089]

@ultralux88: Thanks for showing. That would definitely be too big of a machine for my needs! I bet it sure can do some serious cleaning though. I had seen what looked like commercial tank style machines on Google images so I wanted to know if I was looking at the right units.

I have seen home recorded videos of the Bissell Big Green and the new homeowner grade Rug Doctor and they appear to do a much better job in side-by-side comparison than the original Rug Doctor, Hoover SteamVac and Bissell ProHeat.

I just remember thinking I was smart in owning a highly rated modern vacuum cleaner and having it work seemingly well until I acquired an early '70s Convertible and observed it blow the newer machine out of the water! I figured perhaps this would be the case with deep cleaning machines too.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

I used to have that same rinse n vac as well. I sold mine to Nathan Thomas years ago.

I have a thermax CP-5 I bought new and used the hell out of over the years. My pump motor has died. Are those very expensive to replace? I would like to have it running again. I also bought the extra powered brush nozzle with it.

 

[ultralux88]

Well they isn't terribly cheap!

But here's a link to one, much less than Thermal will retail it to you for!

http://https//www.amazon.com/SHURFLO-8000-812-288-Shurflo-Pump/dp/B00E5UWFTA