Need a wet'n'dry vacuum that can be used for valeting car
 

As title, I want to know what vacuum cleaner i can buy which can be used for soaking up the water when washing a normal carpet, which is powerful enough to soak water out of car seats for example and at the same time being able to pick up dry rubbish.

Basically I want to buy a vacuum cleaner for my business which gives me the excuse to valet my car at the same time.

I dont want to spend too high but am looking at a max budget of around 300 pounds.

Kind Regards

vax 6131 works a treat and well below your budget

o ive had vax in the past and whilst they can wash carpets they are dire when it comes to drying car seats.

I was looking at some of the Numatic machines mainly because I have used one before but there are so many models and they all look similar. Now those within my budget, I dont know if they are good enough for the job i want them to do

george is cheap, i normally get around 1.5 years from mine before it needs the motor replaced (gets used nearly every single day), the build quality is not what they used to be, i believe karsher make a better one for around £300 ish but i have not had much experience of them so far


my mate has a £500/£600 numatic twin motor version, which although is better and lasts longer, it also costs more to replace the motors each time it breaks (£60 a motor both replaced at the same time lol)

Hi micky, is George powerful enough to dry out the seats? Also ive come across one of the numatic models for around 300 pounds which also has the twin motor but i guess your mates is the one that also washes too unlike the others which simply suck water

we use george on customers cars to wash the seats

it will not get them bone dry (what will??) but what we do is do the inside of the car first, then run the car with the heaters on full power while the lad does the outside of the car, its very rare that we need to put seat covers on the car before the customer comes back, 99% of the time the seats are dry enough to sit on them.


i use George just because the parts are cheap when replacing them (motor £40 etc etc)

last year i actually went through 3/4 motors and 2 chemical pumps although it was getting used sometimes for 8 hours a day every day :lol:

o so a 1000 watt numatic machine should be powerful enough for the job?

We use a Charles, and switch between dry use and wet use with no issues...

CleanStore - Wet Vacuums - Charles

As Micky says, it gets seats almost dry, but not quite. :)

does charles pump the cleaning fluid into the fabric?

i thought charles only removed the wet stuff!!

hey guys, what about this machine
CleanStore - Wet Vacuums - WVD570

I cant find out weather it can pump cleaning fluid or not.

Like I said a budget of around 300 and so far there are some excellent machines on that site with good prices

Also guys was wondering whether it is possible to get a 1200 watt numatic machine and "somehow" add a second motor to it and make it a 2400 watt machine?

Would the Charles be suitable on my Alcantara trim? Or would you recommend a specialist?

Regards

Ant

If you have little experience of wet n dry work, I would recommend seeking out a specialist; alcantara is very prone to becoming damaged by too much wetting and/or brushing, even if an extractor is used. The most we like to do is a damp APC wipe down followed by extraction, but even then you have to be careful and avoid too much brushing.

I doubt it, but would be worth speaking to the chap at the Clean Store. I recall him being very helpful when I spoke to him last. :)

hey thanks for the reply PB. I did contact them, spoke to some lady but sadly she didnt have too much of a clue about the products. Seemed as though according to her every single vacuum they sell was good enough to be used for washing car seats.

Nevertheless I was going to ask you a few questions regarding your Charles. Firstly do you use the fluid ejection "thingy" or do you use your own interior washing shampoos by hand and then use the machine only for drying.

Also which tool do you use to suck the water/fluid out of the seats as the standard black wet tool is really wide.

And if it doesnt take too much of your time, could you please give me a short break down of what you do personally when washing car seats.

Kind Regards

we use the "fluid ejection thingy" :lol1: we use a variety of chemicals depending on the actual condition/fabric, we also use ours with boiling water as i have a 5 litre water heater at work.

the tool you need is the white/clear "fishtail" one, it allows you to see if the dirt is coming out the fabric or not.

could have sworn that charles will not have a chemical pump fitted??!!??

edit, just googled and charles does not have the chemical pump fitted, you need george for that

Hey thanks for the reply StickyMicky, you see I was actually thinking of buying this machine
CleanStore - Carpet Extractors - CT 470

But at the same time was thinking that the fluid ejection "thingy" :lol1: may be surplus to requirements likewise may just pay a little extra and buy this machine which has the twin motor but no ejection thing.

CleanStore - Wet Vacuums - WVD570

But the problem is that the wet tool it comes with looks very unsuitable for using on car seats as it is too wide.

O my, can someone help. Does the 2400 watt machine much of a difference compared to the 1200 watt. Or am I just getting paranoid for no reason.

We hate fluid injectors! Damn things add up to one more thing to split/clean and inevitably end up spraying shampoo where you don't want it. Thus, our method is to mix up whatever chemical we wish to use (usually either APC or AutoSmart Brisk) in a generic spray bottle with foaming spray head, then wotk into the fabric gently using a variety of interior brushes and towels, then use Charles to extract. We use the 4" brush head (with the slide on brush removed), as it offers decent suction and can get into most spots easily. In fairness, we don't wet n dry very often (most of our work is all about paint correction), so if you intend to wet n dry day in day out then some of Micky's methods may be better, but the above certainly works for us just fine. :)

Aah I see, to be honest in my case its not so much working on cars day in day out. Its just that I prefer spending time on my own cars and have always wanted a wet hoover of my own but have always been faced with having to use crappy Vax hoovers