Host or Streamin Demon

I own Bigfoot Air Duct Cleaning and have been thinking about offering carpet cleaning since alot of coustomers ask about it.  Carpet cleaners are like landscapers here in Walla Walla, one on every corner but it seems to still be a viable business to get into. I have had a good numbers of people ask about dry extraction since they dont like their carpets to be wet and worry about mold.  What is the general concensious on the Host method? they appear to have the best machines on the market for this type of cleaning.  Im also considering the Streamin Demon over any other portable, who here has used this one and what do you have to say about it?  A friend of mine runs ACE Carpet cleaning with a truck mount and say the host method is hogwash.  Is this just a case of my machine is bigger than yours?

Making an assumption you are looking to do residential customers.

I have never used the Host machine though I have heard some positive feedback about one particular model, which name escapes me (LIberator?)The machine I heard good commets about is made by host and is basically a pile lifter and extractor, but I'm not sure if it is also used to apply the cleaning method.

I believe the host method uses spongelike material saturated with a solvent based encapsulation cleaner. The sponges are applied (again I'm not sure how) and allowed to dry on the carpet, then extracted.

I own Von Schrader equipment. I am very happy with it in most instances except it is a bit bulky for putting in and out of the van, cleaning in tight spaces. But it does a great job on residential carpet and most commercial grades. It is not an ideal machine for greasy restaurant type carpet and if you're planning on doing a lot of that type of stuff I'd think a Steamin Demon would be a great machine. I've also heard of people using both VS and a Steamon Demon in conjunction for certain types of greasey jobs.

Von Schrader and Host are 2 separate companies but each share a manufacturing plant and each company is owned by one of the Rench brothers. So they tend to use some similar methods. VS does not use sponges but does use encapsulation cleansers. The difference from many who use encapsulation cleansers is that that Von Schrader machine also extracts the cleanser, you don't have to wait for the carpet to dry so it can be vacuumed later.  In most cases the carpet feels dry or very near to dry within 60-90 minutes.

Whatever method you choose make sure you plan for stairs. The Von Schrader carpet machine is NOT suitable for use on stairways and based on pictures I would think the Host machine is also too large. I own a Von Schrader Espirit (upholstery machine) and this is outstanding on stairs. Some also clean stairs with low moisture using encapsulation with hand buffers, etc.

No matter what method you use you really should vacuum the carpet first :)

Now you're scarin' me. Where is "here", that no one pre-vacs? Are you in US or Canada or elsewhere?

He was probably more careful before he became well-to-do.

Skipping the pre-vac means more debris going into the extractor, which means more wear and tear. It may take longer, but I handbrush all the edges then vacuum using a top-of-the-line commercial grade Royal. Many of us could easily get away with doing less. It may make little to no difference in the end-result (sometimes), but it's a great first impression at the very least.

We have 2 in our area, one uses Host the other i believe miltex and provides materss cleaning ( I dont buy into that system at all). Thousands of $$$$ for a dirt devil vac with a $40 uvc light.  Anyway these 2 guys are rather busy and im asked about the dry method a bit so was curious.  Talking with truck mounted guys they all say they better than each other, So it seemed like a little bit of penis envy going on, happen with us duct cleaners to.