Which carpet machine ?

[Dirtyaintpurty]

I've decided to upgrade from my Hoover steamvac to a mytee for cleaning my car carpets/upholstery. I've been looking at the mytee s-300 and the 8070. They both have the same water lift (85"), pretty much the same air speed(97 and 100cfm), the 8070 has more than twice as much spray pressure 55psi vs 120psi and 8070 has a 1000w heater. The 8070 is about $300 more than the s-300, my question is, is the extra psi and heater worth $300. I'm not professional detailer by any means and primarily just do my cars and occasionally a friend or family members car.

[Pureshine]

If your not doing for a living save the $300 dollars with that said if you are plaining someday doing for a living then spend the extra $300. Your other option is a good steamer.

[Dirtyaintpurty]

Although I thoroughly enjoy cleaning up cars, it won't ever be a business for me. I do take a lot of pride in the appearance, inside and out, of my vehicles. So if the s-300 is going to produce a lesser quality job(appearance) then I think I would go for the 8070. If I can get the same results with the s-300 by using hot water in the machine and spending a little more time, then I would go that route.

[Dr_Pain]

Although I thoroughly enjoy cleaning up cars, it won't ever be a business for me. I do take a lot of pride in the appearance, inside and out, of my vehicles. So if the s-300 is going to produce a lesser quality job(appearance) then I think I would go for the 8070. If I can get the same results with the s-300 by using hot water in the machine and spending a little more time, then I would go that route.

Actually, if you maintain the interior of your vehicle regularly, apply carpet protectant on a regular basis etc... than the s300 is plenty enough.

This is when you definitely need the 8070 (which I have an love)

1) EXTREMELY dirty carpet. In fact the 8070 is heated and has more lift and PSI (although a lot of conflicting info appear on their site, compared to litterature, compared to AG etc..). The fact is that the 8070 is a better machine!
2) When you need a bigger reservoir to extend your work time
3) When you need to sanitize and deodorize dirty/dingy carpet and upholstery (this is when heat/steam shine the best)

That is it! Unless you are planning on neglecting your car, you only need the s300. If you are set on getting a heated unit (for non-commercial application), you may want to check the Bissel proheat, or do as you suggested and get hot tap water. I would not advocate boiling water and running it through the s300 unless you check with the company to make sure that the internals can manage the scalding water.

[Dirtyaintpurty]

I clean the interior regularly mainly due my 5 and 8 yr old riding in the car, there always seems to be a spilled soda/chocolate milk or melted candies in the back seat.

[Setec Astronomy]

I have agonized over this same issue...it really doesn't make sense to me to get an extractor unless you are going to get a heated one. Of course I haven't bought either of them yet.

[SR99]

Save up and get the machine that's suitable for the job you need to do. In a sense it doesn't matter if you're a professional detailer. The dirt you typically have requires a certain level of features in the machine, regardless of that.

No point spending money on something that only does a partial job. A heater is a big help, but I don't know if only a 1000 Watt heater has a very fast recovery time. It's gotta be better than 0 Watts though.

[Setec Astronomy]

I look at the heater 2 ways...yes, it's going to be better at getting some soils out. But even on normal/light soil, if the water is at 180, 190, 200...it's going to dry a lot faster than if it's hot tap water, which I think is a major point for a heated unit. The faster the carpet dries the less problem you have with mildew, condensation, etc.

[Dirtyaintpurty]

How "powerful" is 85" of lift ? Every 8070 I've seen listed is also called a mytee lite II, on mytee's site, they list a mytee lite with 137" of lift, but I don't that one listed anywhere for sale, just the mytee lite II.

[SR99]

How "powerful" is 85" of lift ?


It's all relative. That's about on par with a typical home vacuum, and it's an adequate but not a huge amount of suction. It's about all you can expect in that price range. To give you a point of reference, on a portable (larger) carpet extractor you can get up to about 210" lift, with dual 3-stage vac motors, but then you need 2 separate plugs, or 3 with a heater. It also bumps the price above $1500.

[Setec Astronomy]

How "powerful" is 85" of lift ? Every 8070 I've seen listed is also called a mytee lite II, on mytee's site, they list a mytee lite with 137" of lift, but I don't that one listed anywhere for sale, just the mytee lite II.

They recently upgraded the Mytee Lite. If you order it from here it drop ships from the mfr. so you will get the latest model.

[Dr_Pain]

How "powerful" is 85" of lift ? Every 8070 I've seen listed is also called a mytee lite II, on mytee's site, they list a mytee lite with 137" of lift, but I don't that one listed anywhere for sale, just the mytee lite II.

There has been a lot of controversy as to the EXACT lift of the Mytee Lite II and a lot of discussion on the forum about it. Regardless of the actual number, it beat everything consumer and pro-sumer I had try (in term of deliver PSI and lift).

I agree with Setec that you should save and buy the one you want and that a heated unit is the way to go, BUT for the occasional kiddie spills.... I would go with Folex (which I buy for dirt cheap at Lowes). This is considering that you seem OCD enough to take care of the spots before they bake for years.