rug doctor : i have used one before with excellent results from focus diy very cheap but you have to put quite a big deposit this may vary store to store


ps : sorry i forgot to say this is rental

 

We dilute ours, about 8 parts water to 1 part cleaning fluid and it works fine (cream coloured carpet + dogs..) The instructions suggest to use the cleaning fluid neat but I reckon that's a mistake.

 

They probably make more money from the cleaner fluid than they do the actual cleaner ... I doubt it is a mistake

There are cheaper alternatives to the Manufacturers fluids in any case

 

I have at my disposal;

A Vax 3in1
A Bissell power wash upright carpet cleaner thingy
And a Karcher Puzzi 100

All three are a pain, slow and do your back in.

Vax; tank too small, cleaning head too small so it like cleaning your car with a toothbrush; takes forever.

Bissell, have a integrated bush which scrubs the carpet and being wider, it does a bigger area in one go . But the tank is tiny. So it defeats the point as you need to regularly empty/refill it. Also you have to move V-E-R-Y slowly to suck all the water back out the carpet, which puts my back out. If the carpet is really bad, it may need three or four passes (first pass water on, no suction, second pass water on with suction, third and fourth pass suction only) to get everything out.

Karcher; nice big tank, slightly bigger cleaning head than the Vax, but smaller than the Bissell. Suction not as good as the vax, but better than the Bissel, but it still is a slow back breaking job to do it right.

In the end the Bissell wins as its quicker to set up and get going. But we borrow the Karcher if the carpet gets really bad. Vax is just used for unblocking sinks and stuff.

I use Rug-doctor shampoo (from the dry cleaners), the one gallon bottles seem to be pretty cheap (well, by far cheaper than Vax and Bissel's own brand shampoo), works well in all the cleaners and gives better results than the commercial carpet cleaner shampoo I used to nick when "borrowing" the Karcher

 

Interesting point ... I'll check the price of the Rug Doctor Carpet shampoo

 

heres one of my carpet cleaners

Prochem Supernova 1200 SN1200

 

Online Price: £3,036.00 + vat each.

I'll take two, thanks very much

 

Looks great....

.... now if you could just haul it up my stairs that'd be lovely.


It weighs 65Kg dry, and has a 45 litre tank.... so actually weighs a bit more than I do!

 

Got it!!

Bissell Proheat 2X

Tesco Direct - £163 and points

Used it last night and got covered in water/shampoo!!! the hose part has a brush end with a trigger to spray with ..... I assembled it so the trigger was pressed against the unit, squirting all over the place!!

Was like a scene from Laurel and Hardy when the hosepipe gets out of hand!!

Once I had sorted it, it did a great job of the hall ..... been through 3 refils of the tank and only done 1/3rd of the lounge carpet! It is heavy and taking the water to the sink is a good relief from the pushing and pulling!

 

I've just ordered the 2X Select version, factory refurbed, from the Bissell website - will see what it's like when it arrives...

Let me know if / when you find good shampoo for them cheap anywhere Pete - the Bissell website prices are pretty high! Whilst Costco sell the 2X (for about £195 inc vat - so you got a good deal) they don't sell the shampoo....

And just a little something else - this is quite neat, if you've not seen it - especially the video section showing the 'standard' tests: PROheat select 2X from Bissell


DN