steam cleaner or hot water extractor?

[sullysdetailing]

I got a steamer this week and have been hit interiors hard. This is what I noticed. It did great in the dash, doors, door jams, areas where you cant easily reach, headliners.

But here is the problem with the steamer. if you are working on a light color interior IMO you need an extractor to get the carpets, seats, and headliner 100%.

To me you need both tools to get the job done. It like a DA and Rotary buffer some job require one or the other some requite both

[ride5150]

Why not have both in one?! I recently purchased the Vapor Clean Gaia. It's a steamer and extractor in one. See this review I did. Gives you an idea of what it can do.

Vapor Clean Gaia - Finally!

are you happy with it? i read your review and it seems like a good idea.

so there is a solution tank that sprays hot solution and extracts, and it can spray steam alone, or spray steam and extract simultaneously? has it cleaned everything you wanted it to?

the only thing im wondering is if my original idea would be better, to buy a bravo portable extractor for $389 and a mccullouch 1275 for $100...id be at around $550 with shipping...i just dont know which will be better for cleaning, the gaia alone ($769) or my extractor + steamer combo

[SeaJay's]

are you happy with it? i read your review and it seems like a good idea.

so there is a solution tank that sprays hot solution and extracts, and it can spray steam alone, or spray steam and extract simultaneously? has it cleaned everything you wanted it to?

I am very happy with it so far. I haven't used it more than a few times but so far it's great!

There are two separate tanks on it. one for water for the steamer and one for an extractor solution.

You can use the extractor function like a normal extractor or you can use it with steam.

It's basically the best of both worlds. The extraction isn't as good as say the Mytee lite but it works well. I like having both machines in one. Makes transporting it easier as well.

[Midnight Blue]

thanks for the idea midnight, i think this bravo will be okay for my needs. i found that you can buy a "bucket heater" that can heat water for about $30-$40, so i can heat up water and put it in the extractor even when im mobile.

right now, i think im going to buy the bravo 219BH(or 237BH, each site has a different model number, even though the specs are the same. EDIC's website has it as 337BH), the mccullouch 1275 steamer, and a bucket water heater.

total for those 3 things will be under $600, and ill have a quality extractor and steamer. i think this is what ill go with.

i have another question, can you use a carpet extractor to vacuum the interior? i was going to buy a nice wet/dry ridgid vac, but if i can use the bravo extractor to vaccum an interior before carpet cleaning then ill just use that and ownt have to buy a wet/dry vac

In answer to your question about using the carpet extractor to vacuum the car's interior the answer would be yes but a regular shop vac might be less of a hassle. The carpet extractor is meant to be used as a wet/dry unit. While the vacuum power would be sufficient in an extractor you risk damaging the unit if you pick up foreign objects which could get caught in the plastic and rubber piping.

It would be best to use the carpet extractor for that purpose and use a vacuum for that purpose.

Midnight Blue

[WindyCity]

i have another question, can you use a carpet extractor to vacuum the interior? i was going to buy a nice wet/dry ridgid vac, but if i can use the bravo extractor to vaccum an interior before carpet cleaning then ill just use that and ownt have to buy a wet/dry vac

Im sure you could but you might damage the extractor. A small decent shop vac is less than $60 and will save your extractor big time.

[ride5150]

I am very happy with it so far. I haven't used it more than a few times but so far it's great!

There are two separate tanks on it. one for water for the steamer and one for an extractor solution.

You can use the extractor function like a normal extractor or you can use it with steam.

It's basically the best of both worlds. The extraction isn't as good as say the Mytee lite but it works well. I like having both machines in one. Makes transporting it easier as well.

where does the dirty water go? as i understand it, you have one water tank thats for making steam, and another tank that holds the solution you want to spray.

or do you have one water tank for steam, and the other is just a recovery tank for the dirty water it sucks up?



can you put

[BorisC]

How well do those cheaper steamers work?

Researching steam cleaners I've found that you want to look at the PSI & what the boiler tank is made of. Stainless steel seems to be the preferred choice.

I haven't bought one yet so I'm just going by what I've read. I've seen videos of steam cleaners being used to clean everything from interiors, wheels & even washing the car itself.

[RoyalTenenBaum]

I was in the same boat between and extractor and a steam cleaner before starting my own mobile detailing business and decided to go with the steam cleaner first. I did the research and bought the VX 5000. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. If this is a business that you plan to do for a bit I would recommend to buy the best products that you can afford or else you will find (as I have) that you will just end up replacing the cheaper ones later on down the road.

At first using the steam cleaner I thought that I would be needing a carpet extractor down the road for the seats and carpets. However, after learning how to properly use my VX 5000 over the past year there aren't too many jobs where I feel that I could've done better with an extractor. I think that you will find a steam cleaner more "necessary" than the extractor.

BTW, for the longest time I used the triangle tool with a terry cloth for carpets and upholstery with so-so results. Recently I have been using the triangle brush tool by itself to work in the shampoo and using the terry cloth to wipe after and have found the results much more impressive. Anyways, something to try out. Best of Luck.

Royal

[Bates Detailing]

I was in the same boat between and extractor and a steam cleaner before starting my own mobile detailing business and decided to go with the steam cleaner first. I did the research and bought the VX 5000. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. If this is a business that you plan to do for a bit I would recommend to buy the best products that you can afford or else you will find (as I have) that you will just end up replacing the cheaper ones later on down the road.

At first using the steam cleaner I thought that I would be needing a carpet extractor down the road for the seats and carpets. However, after learning how to properly use my VX 5000 over the past year there aren't too many jobs where I feel that I could've done better with an extractor. I think that you will find a steam cleaner more "necessary" than the extractor.

BTW, for the longest time I used the triangle tool with a terry cloth for carpets and upholstery with so-so results. Recently I have been using the triangle brush tool by itself to work in the shampoo and using the terry cloth to wipe after and have found the results much more impressive. Anyways, something to try out. Best of Luck.

Royal

And great movie

[john b]

And great movie

for sure,gene hackman was superb