Looking to buy a steam cleaner because of dogs

[BamaLady]

Having cats I go through this, also. I've had good results with a Hoover Wind Tunnel bagless vac for the cat hair. It finds and pulls the hair (and DIRT, gads, you would not believe how much DIRT comes in on those little paws!) out. It looks like enough cat hair to start a cat factory.

Carpet cleaning is another story. First of all, none of the "steam" cleaners are actually using steam. You have to use a truck with a machine on it to get that. All these things use is hot water.

I've had a Hoover Steam Vac for years, and thought it did okay. It never seemed to get deep down dirt and stains out, though. Only the most superficial ones.

One day I had a brain storm, or maybe it was a brain f*rt, and got the little shop vac out to clean a spot where the new kitten had done a no-no. I wet the place down, and used the little shop vac to pull it up. Worked great.

I experimented with it a little more, and saw possibilities. Checked out the big shop vacs at HD, found a big 9 gallon, 3.5 Horsepower shop vac, on clearance for $35.

Well, it turns out that using this big thing is way better than the Steam Vac.
Its more work, but this big shop vac has the HP to PULL everything out of the carpet.

What I do: mix up a pitcher of hot, hot water from the tap, and add about 1/4 cup clorox to it and just pour it on the carpet where I'm going to clean. Then, immediately pull it back out with the shop vac. It gets the water out as good as the steam vac, plus pulls the crud out. The clorox deodorizes and cleans, plus can kill whatever might be alive in there. If you put soap down, it will never all get out, and will attract more dirt.

It may not work for everyone, as it is very tiring (for me anyhow, but I'm old) to get up and down and go back and forth to the kitchen.

I would love to get rid of all the carpeting, and never have the nasty stuff again. Carpet and animals does not work.

Hope you have success with your new machine, and your doggies get to be a happy, spoiled bunch.

[meggers]

Clorox? Clorox what? Bleach?

Mama always said, "You only really need 3 thangs to clean a house. Bleach, vinegar & water." Oh, and dad's old holey shirt that you're sick of seein' him wear.

You know the shop vac would be a fabulous idea for the truck. I was cringing at the thought of using the upolstery tool & really didn't wanna mess it up by using it on the truck anyway.

You sound like a smart lady. I bet you could invent a better handle so you didn't have to stoop so much with it. It would be a lot of work for me on the floor, but not for the truck. It sits up high & I could actually sit in a chair outside & reach most of it.

[kval07]

Mama always said, "You only really need 3 thangs to clean a house. Bleach, vinegar & water." Oh, and dad's old holey shirt that you're sick of seein' him wear.

Oh man! We got dad's old holey grundies!

[meggers]

Ewwwwwwwww. LOL!

[BamaLady]

Meg, you're a mess!

Yeah, just regular old Clorox liquid. Doesn't take much to do the job. Too much will destroy the carpet. About 1/4 cup full to a couple quarts of hot water.

Clorox is a disinfectant and a deodorizer, too.

I've already used the shop vac to clean out the car. It came with a special nozzle for car cleaning. It has so much more suction than a regular vac and it will pull the dirt out.

I try to think outside (under, over, around, through, and beside) the box with everything.

[meggers]

I'm going for it Bama girl! I can hardly wait to Clorox that truck! If I mess up, I'll just buy more floor mats. LOL!