Vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners

SouthernN'Proud said:
Vacuum cleaners suck. :D

Having gotten THAT out of the way, I'd suggest a Rainbow. It'll do both jobs.
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The Rainbow didn't impress me when I saw it working. The salesman tried really hard, too. My ex was keen on it until I did the same things with our Hoover that the Rainbow was doing. The difference is in how the dirt/dust is taken care of after the suction is done, and how the motor is sealed. :shrug:
 
Buy a good vacuum, rent a steam cleaner from the local supermarket. Home owned steam cleaners will never come within a mile of what the renters can do.
 
Buying would be a better choice for me. Home-owned steam cleaners sell pretty well, and I've seen a lot of good reviews on various makes and models, so I don't believe they won't work. Especially on a fresh spill, they should work just fine. And that's what I want it for: Fresh spills (as I said before). When I have something to clean up, am I really going to go hop in the car to the local supermarket, hope they're not all rented out, pay $40, lug it home and lug it back? I don't always have forty dollars in cash handy, and by the time I get it back, the spill will have turned into a stain. And, within about three months, I will have spent more on rentals than I would have on a very good home steam cleaner.

My sister can attest to the condition (and colors) of the carpet in my previous apartment. If my sister can tell me that, in her opinion, I don't need to worry about trying to clean up spills and messes the instant they occur, then I'll consider it.
 
Professur said:
Buy a good vacuum, rent a steam cleaner from the local supermarket. Home owned steam cleaners will never come within a mile of what the renters can do.
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Sorry Prof, but I used the rental ones for years. My home unit does as good a job as they do and actually, the carpets are cleaner because I clean them more often. Now, I'll grant you that the rental units (BTW, if you're going to rent one, rent a commercial one, not the supermarket things) are heavier and more robustly built, but they get a lot more use. In my experience they don't get the carpet any cleaner than my Hoover unit. :shrug:
 
I've got an old Bissell that was my parents, and my sister broke the wand
some years ago, then the kids here destroyed/lost other parts, so just the base remains.

I though I might find one on ebay for parts...
 
For a spill that just happened, grab a chammie and a brush and you can clean it as quick as any machine. Done it dozens of times. Frankly, I'd rather rent once is a while at $40 than have to store the bastard thing. And when I do rent, I usually go in together with a couple of neighbours and we do all our carpets at once ... usually in spring. And say what you like, I've used the home versions and the rental. Maybe you couldn't tell the diff, but I sure could
 
one reason I guess I haven't fixed it yet.
The other is...When our carpet gets to that point, it's replacement time anyway.
 
The worse thing to do (for your carpet) is to over-clean it. It shortens the life & destroys the anti-(whatever) chemicals.

Vacuum it & wipe up the spills as Prof points out.
 
I think I could count on one hand the number of times my family has steam cleaned our carpets...and my mom used to babysit 5 or 6 kids for a number of years. If you put an action plan in place to prevent spills then it drastically decreases the number of spills you have to clean. When we were younger we sat at the table when we had food or drink.
 
BeardofPants said:
Miele & Dyson seemed to feature heavily when I was doing research for a new vacuum cleaner.

http://www.vacuumwizard.com/
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serous vacuum folks always do the miele.

i kicked around a dyson in the store a couple years ago when they were fashionable. despite the emphasis on design, it ain't really designed that well. the attachments are hard to stick back on the thing and it's just kinda gangly and awkward. so i bought a $250 hoover. i wish i'd have known about the miele then. they're $800+ but i like things really KLEAN so i see one in the near future. and i'd imagine i'll never buy another vacuum, instead of $250 every 8 years or so.
 
Dyson. We have a lot of allergies in my house and a cat. Dyson vacs are freaking awesome and we have not had any problems with alleriges and I don't vacuum nearly as often as I should. It also works well on my hard wood floors.
 
I've got an Oreck, and it's not near worth the cost.
If there's a big spill though I've got a 20 gallon shop vac, that'll nearly rip carpet loose from the tacks.:p
 
I don't own a vacuum cleaner, I'll probably get one to clean the car's carpets, but that's as far as I'll get with one of those.
 
I have the original yellow Dyson and like it better than the Orecks and Hoovers I've had before. It's heavy but it doesn't give me sneezing/asthma attacks like the others.

When I moved into my place, I had a professional carpet cleaner (do you have a Stanley Steemer where you live?) and they did a great job. My carpets are very light and the difference was noticeable.

I don't have kids or frequent stains though. Also, when I was looking into purchasing/renting, I was told that Tide detergent works better (and is cheaper) than whatever they try to sell you in the store.

Good luck wiht the hunt.
 
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