Which do I rent ?

[singingrainbow]

Since it looks like we won't be getting new carpets anytime soon, I thought I would rent a carpet cleaner to see if I cant get anymore use out of our carpet's, but there are so many to choose from and I have never had any experience with them in the past. My choices are between a rug doctor of course, They look like they would clean well, but I have heard that they leave carpets quite wet. This strange copy of the rug doctor from home depot that ive seen but never heard anything about their preformance. And last but not least, at our local Ace hardware, A CarpetButler or more comonly known as a thermax. I am leaning twards the thermax because not only can you rent a powered brush for it that is almost the same as the rug doctors,but I have heard that they extract moisture very well, and it costs less than then the others to rent. So what do you guy's think? Any info or personal experiences would be greatly apreciated!
Thank you for your time.
Scott

 

[fanonthefloor]

I have heard rug dr.'s leave to much soap in the carpet as for to wet i dont know.

 

[twocvbloke]

Go for the Thermax...

 

[trebor]

Try...

The Host instead. I have restored carpets beyond hope with three applications/removal. The lack of soaking makes it possible to continue cleaning until the dirt and stains are all removed. Check out their website. There is a you Tube vid of a restoration in a nursing home. I have used many other methods with good to excellent results, but nothing better than Host.

 

[singingrainbow]

I hate to say it, but we have tried host in the past with little results and to add to that, there is no place to rent them in town that I know of. Thanks for the sugestion though.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

At the Rainbow Roundup

didn't the Rainbow rep/new member demonstrate the Rainbow's remarkable ability to clean/extract ? We were told "You'll never need anything else". It should be excellent for that asking price. I wonder if he'll be with us in September.I personally use my older HOOVER.... does a great job for me.

 

[mark40511]

My 2 ¢

Do you have low pile carpet like berber? If so, make sure you get something you can add pressure to so it meets the carpet well. I have found that a lot of the cleaners leave a lot of water in low pile carpets. I'm not sure how a Rug Doctor would work on low pile carpet. I'm thinking a canister would be best since you can add pressure from the wand to the carpet to suck up more water. I add a weight to my upright deep cleaner and it extracts a lot more water. Also you want something that RINSES........I thought Rug Doctor Rinsed carpets.....I've actually never used one. I'm also surprised they leave carpets wet since I would think they have superior suction.......Oh well.

I just used my upright deep cleaner to clean my bedroom floor and I went completely over it with hot water and detergent, then I went back over it with white vinegar and water to rinse it.....It was spotless and dried in four hours and I had the carpet pretty saturated during each pass.

 

[singingrainbow]

I know that the rainbow would do a great job but because we will be ripping most of the carpets out in our house, I dont want to purchase anything because the need for it will soon be eliminated. But as I said it may be a while, So I just want to freshen them up some. We have a fairly low pile carpet in our house and that is precisely why I want to rent the thermax so I can push the head into the carpet to extract more moisture.

 

[vacfanatic]

Rug Doctor

I don't have any problems with my Rug Doctor leaving my carpets wet. I can see how berber would be harder to extract water because you have the uneven texture which allows for a suction break in the nozzle, leaving the carpet more wet. Rug Doctor suggests you go over each pass a second time just suction only to extract as much water as possible.

It's also possible that those who have had problems with Rug Doctor in the past were using well worn rentals. If for example, that rental had been run without the filter in it, there could be a buildup of carpet fluff and muck in the motor fan, reducing the motor suction.

My Rug Doctor in this video link does an excellent job, and as you will see has a ton of suction. It sucked up 2 gallons of water from the hose in nothing flat. While not the easiest on my back, it sure beats anything I have tried in the past.

Andrew

 

[mark40511]

Andrew........

I saw that video the other day and the Bissell ProHeat vid as well.

Do you go back and rinse your carpets after?

 

[vacfanatic]

I used to do that on the ProHeat but it died. The heater got all corroded and rusted and leaked rusty water on my carpet, so I tossed it out.

I don't rinse my carpets with the Rug Doctor though. I don't think that there is enough reason to do that, at least not for me. The only time I've seen too much soap in my carpets is when I've used any water extraction machine after using my Kirby Shampooer.

Andrew

 

[luxflairguy]

Hve you ever tried Capture? It's available at Home Depot. Like Host, a misted pre-spray and then you spread the powder across the area to be cleaned and brush it in. Let dry and use your favorite revolving brush machine. I won't advocate any machine!
I find it works better and faster than Host. I also think it leaves the carpets brighter and fluffier than Host. The original Host product was kind of an orange color and would leave white carpet with a tint. Now there is all white host.
My 2 cents!

 

[singingrainbow]

I have used riccar carpet powder and it works well but it just costs to much! It is almost the same as capture.

 

[kirbyvertibles]

Scot, you know what I would say. Thermax all the way!!!