Our Hoover Spin Scrub Steam Vac and Domestic Tranquility Adjuster is not quite up to the task of cleaning up after spammers, but it does a great job with dog barf and puppy piddle. Sadly, the expensive Hoover Platinum pet formula shampoo seems to be a key part of the process.
One of these days, I might try the Hoover line of products sold at the pet shop with amusing names like Ewww and Dang.
I have a Hoover All Terrain home machine that has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. It does a great job, and has vinyl floor attachments and a stair hose/attachment. Friends have borrowed it and reported excellent results also. I’ve had this thing for ten years and it’s still running strong.
I’ve had nothing but bad luck with commercial carpet cleaning businesses: using dirty water, not using detergent, etc. I think they’re scam outfits and very expensive as well. Rental machines are worn out by the time you get them; cheaply made in the first place and inefficient at cleaning.
Our next door neighbor sold their house recently and had the carpet cleaned “professionally”. The new people moved in and found stains in the living room; rented a machine and still had stains; borrowed my machine and the stains were gone immediately.
Here’s a third thumbs-up for the Hoover SteamVac.
Yeah, if all you want to do is push the dirt around. Your carpet will look nice, but it doesn’t remove dirt.
I was a pro carpet cleaner back in my college days and now, as an older gent, I own a hoover steam vac for my carpet at home. It can’t compare to the pro tools, but as long as you pre-treat well and suck up all the water you can after cleaning, it does an alright job. The professional systems are really powerful, quick and allows you to get into corners and edges, something my hoover sucks at.
After scrubbing you need to use an extractor to remove all of the dirt you just loosened up. I thought that was obvious but I guess not. You don’t just push the dirt around, you use the scrubber to free it from the fibers and an extractor to remove it. A steam vac works quite well as an extractor but scrubbing first give far superior results
You’d be surprised at the places that would want us to buff their carpets to make them look great but not pay for the steam cleaning/extraction to remove the dirt.
To add, buffing carpet is kind of like cleaning up a spill with windex and a wet rag… you do get rid of the stains but the majority of the dirt is still there.