Question about carpet cleaning.

[Eldorado2k]

While talking to a fellow detailer the other day, he got to telling me about how he usually cleans carpets. He said he sprays his cleaner, scrubs with a brush, then simply vacuums it up with his shop vac. I know this isn't new or unheard of, but I've never done it that way, I always use terry towels to mop up the dirt immediately after scrubbing. Part of the reason is because I don't like the idea of the mess it might make inside my shop vac and to the filter + I'm not sure if it would mop it all up anyways..

Does anyone go about cleaning carpets that way? How good does it really work? Does it leave a wet mess out of your wet dry vac filter?

This is my vacuum.

[Rsurfer]

Don't you remove the filter when using it as a wet vac? Want to really do a good job on carpets? Get a hot water extractor.

[Eldorado2k]

Don't you remove the filter when using it as a wet vac? Want to really do a good job on carpets? Gen a hot water extractor.

I've actually never used it as a wet vac. Meaning real deal wet vac i.e. go suck up the water out of the toilet status... They sell a foam sleeve for when you need to use it full on wet vac like that, otherwise the manual states you can be fine using it without a filter, as long as you're sucking up straight up liquid/water. But if it's not straight water and more dust/debris such as a semi wet carpet with nasty muck you better have the normal filter on. But it also warns you about it becoming a quik mess, and also warns you about it becoming overly saturated with water, which could lead to water in the motor [which is aparent when it begins to choke up and make a loud noise and spit water from the rear exhaust].

I'm not trying to spend all that money on an extractor just yet. Lol.

[BrutalNoodle]

I've seen it on mats, but not carpet. It seems to do a decent job - better than wiping with towels.

I'm not trying to spend all that money on an extractor just yet. Lol.

How about something like a Bissell 3624? It's a good machine for the price. A little on the noisy side, but works well.

[Eldorado2k]

I've seen it on mats, but not carpet. It seems to do a decent job - better than wiping with towels.




How about something like a Bissell 3624? It's a good machine for the price. A little on the noisy side, but works well.

That little thing looks interesting...

[coles_paint_correction]

I'm curious about this aswell, i currently don't have an extractor either but was thinking i could do it with a vacuum.

[mwoywod]

First of all, I'm not mobile and I had my shop built on the same lot as my home, so my situation may not apply for everyone (especially mobile guys who need to maximize space in their rig). I personally have a cheap shop vac brand vacuum with a mesh filter that I ONLY use when I need to suck up liquids (I don't like using my ridged because I've had the same issue with it spitting the water out of the rear exhaust).

I always keep the mesh filter in that shop vac that way it is always ready. If I have to heavily saturated an area of carpet because I need to remove a stain or spill, or remove water from a flooded basement I know it's ready.

For 99% of the carpets I clean I use my rigid to pre-vacuum with a brush and crevice attachment, then I use d101 APC diluted 15:1 with distilled water to clean the carpets and a terry cloth from costco to mop up, these are the only towels I wash prior to using due to insane linting but once the initial lint has been removed in the dryer they are truly the best cotton terry cloth towels I've found. I'm not a huge fan of using microfiber when cleaning interior carpet but I do use them on dark color carpet.

Once I'm done with the rest of my detail I re-vacuum all of the carpets with my rigid vacuum. For me, the dirt that transfers onto my towel when I'm mopping it up is the most important part of the process when working without an extractor. The second most important part when cleaning carpets without a hot water extractor is not over saturating, which could lead to growth of mold and bacteria and will leave the carpet crunchy do the apc being left in the carpet fibers.

One thing that I have changed in the past year is my actually dilution of d101. I've always used distilled water with products that are primarily used on paint. But I have an extra bottle of d101 that I keep in my shop that is not only diluted with distilled water but is diluted at a 15:1 ratio rather than 10:1. Between the use of distilled water and the lighter mixture it has truly made a difference in the way the carpet looks and feels once it's dry. I can't even image using so much cleaner on carpet that I could vacuum it up without it evaporating somewhere in the hose.

[Eldorado2k]

@mwoywod. Great post. You reminded me of why I do things the way I normally do.. As far as D101, I used to use it the same way@10:1 and was always happy with it, but the re soiling part/needing to rinse brings it down a bit..

I've recently switched to using McKee's Hi Intensity APC@4:1 for cleaning carpets & matts because of its no need to rinse feature and I think it's been doing good as far as the carpets staying cleaner longer. It's a good thing I gave it a 2nd chance because I initially thought I'd have no use for it after seeing how meh it performs @10:1.

[dcjredline]

If the carpet is really bad I too have a separate shop vac just for wet vacuuming. I use a Metro for the dry and it will not do wet so I needed a different solution.

I will vac dry, spray APC or dedicated carpet cleaner, brush, mop with 800gsm towel, then vac wet. Once dried again I will usually have to re-vac dry one last time for good measure. Thats why I usually start with the insides of vehicles. The carpets can be dried by the next day when I am finished polishing.

[GSKR]

Don't you remove the filter when using it as a wet vac? Want to really do a good job on carpets? Get a hot water extractor.

agree.