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self contained extractors?

Printed From: Carpet Cleaning Forum
Category: Carpet Cleaners Discussion
Forum Name: Portable Carpet Steam Cleaning Machines
Forum Description: Discuss anything relating to portable carpet cleaning machines
URL: https://www.kleenkuip.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1021
Printed Date: 18/May/2024 at 2:45pm
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Topic: self contained extractors?
Posted By: irishmike
Subject: self contained extractors?
Date Posted: 30/January/2005 at 7:18pm

 

                    Do self contained extractors work well for residential use?

                    Thanks!




Replies:
Posted By: Superglide Ken
Date Posted: 30/January/2005 at 7:49pm

Pretty general question. Please re-phrase and add more detail so your answer can be the same.

 

 

 

SGK



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Inventor of the Teflon Wand Glide and the Turboteck Rotary Air Duct Cleaners for TMs.


Posted By: Nordic 1
Date Posted: 30/January/2005 at 9:34pm
of course they do







N1


Posted By: Ed Valentine
Date Posted: 31/January/2005 at 12:35pm

...not very well.

 

And, very bulky too.

 

Good Fortune to all;

Ed Valentine



Posted By: nightrider
Date Posted: 31/January/2005 at 7:58pm

Self contained machines work great if your residential customer has a hallway 7 feet wide and 150 feet long, other than that you will be bouncing off all the walls.

                           Nightrider



Posted By: doug
Date Posted: 31/January/2005 at 8:28pm
I believe I answeed this question for you eariler regarding not using selfcontained units for residential.Guitar

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Just My opinion


Posted By: mjzivko
Date Posted: 06/June/2005 at 1:41am

Self contained extractors are no good for cc.  I started by renting these beasts and felt like a fool.  Rotovac is the only way I clean for cash!



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http://mjzivko.tripod.com - Illinois Carpet Cleaning - Cleaner
A trusted Lake County, Illinois Carpet Cleaner Company

http://www.Illinois-carpet-cleaning.com - http://www.Illinois-carpet-cleaning.com


Posted By: jobri
Date Posted: 27/March/2006 at 3:29pm
Hi this is Brian,

Sorry if I mess up, but I am new to this forum. My wife and I were looking into the Vonshrader, but founf it a bit expensive, so what are the veiws on here?

Any info. on beginners would be much appreciated, as we are just looking into getting into this business.


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Brian


Posted By: jtuseo
Date Posted: 28/March/2006 at 5:08pm
Self contained units are for home depot rentals. Why dont you just use a rug doctor and disgrace us all?

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WWW.PREFERREDCARPETCLEANING.COM


Posted By: Revee
Date Posted: 30/March/2006 at 5:08pm
Ignorance is bliss. No wonder so many HWE guys are so happy :)

Von Schrader makes 2 excellent machines. The LMX and the Espirit. I own each of these machines. Both do an exceptional job of cleaning. These are not 'rug' doctor machines, any more than a Porsche is equivalent to a VW bug.

Pro's: There is very little risk of damaging anything, the carpets and furniture come out looking great, the machines are easy to operate and from what I have been told by many other owners, last a lifetime. I have cleaned only residential accounts and all seem thrilled with the results.  In particular the Espirit is an amazing machine for upholstery. Carpets and upholstery are almost always dry within a few hours. The company staff is very customer oriented and provide excellent on going support. The user community of these machines is also fairly tight and willing to help one another from what I have seen.

Cons': The LMX is pretty heavy and bulky, especially when filled. It has wheels but it is very difficult to bring this machine up to the 2nd floor in a residence.  It is too bulky to be used on stairs and can only scrub within about 2 inches of a wall. So you need to manually scrub in the foam around baseboards (or use the Espirit for this).  You will also have difficulty getting the LMX into tight spots in smaller rooms (eg, between the bed and the wall). The other thing to remember is that these machines are room temp so if you are cleaning greasy restaurants you may need to add either a bucket heater or in line heater. With an in-line heater I am told it is possible to get the foam over 160 degrees (measured at the carpet fiber).  In all honesty, this is not a factor in residential. Though not marketed as 'encapsulation' detergents, the VS detergents are encapsulation based and dry very brittle.

I am very happy with the VS machines. I also own a non-heated spotter because it is quicker to set up than the Espirit if I only want to rinse out a solvent.

Please note that the VS machines do not move at the quoted speed of 1500 feet per hour  unless you are cleaning long straight runs of lightly soiled carpet ( or drop them out of a plane). You won't be winning any speed contests with the cimex and hwe guys.  So if high speed high volume is what you need, the VS would not be the machine of choice. It is a specialty low moisture system well suited to those seeking high end residential clients.  In a commerical setting it is well suited to large areas and long runs of halllway, banquet room, and is easy for the staff to learn and to obtain good results.

As an aside. I attended the VS school lin Racine last fall. This is a 3 day class and 2 of the gents in attendance already owned a Rotovac. They loved the Rotovac but after attending the class they were talking about picking up an LMX and an Esprit also. Point being that many times a combination of methods is best, depending on your skill, targeted application, and budget.

If you are seriously considering VS, I recommend you attend their class (the 2.5 day class in Racine). You really need to try out the equipment and find out if this is what you want or if you would prefer HWE or other Low Moisture System. Why spend thousands of dollars and not be happy? The company will let you attend the class for free without obligation, you just need to take care of your travel expenses.


Posted By: jtuseo
Date Posted: 30/March/2006 at 10:31pm
Home Depot Rug Doctor. Use it.

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WWW.PREFERREDCARPETCLEANING.COM



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