<HTML>Well, I finally got to use my new extractor yesterday. I purhcased a Python model from Detail Plus a couple weeks ago and finally got a chance to read up on it and try it out yesterday. The Python is a 6 gallon extractor with 1200 watts of in-line heating power.
The car was a '99 Camaro SS. Nice car but in definite need of attention. The owner was a smoker...cigars and other, er, shall we say, those funny cigarettes. Anyhow, the interior carpet was dark grey. The mats in the front were grey, black in the back.
I started in the trunk area using the extractor to vacuum. The 3 stage motor was more than sufficient to handle the cleaning. After vacuuming, I turned on the pump & heater (I couldn't run all 3 at once as it kept tripping my breaker) and sprayed on the hot water/shampoo mixture, waited a couple minutes and extracted. It came out beautiful. Got rid of all that brownish discoloration caused by the nicotine.
Then I moved onto the floors. I pulled all the mats and extracted them. Had to do the driver's side twice and take a scrub brush to loosend the ground-in dirt. It came out like a dream. The interior carpets came out like new. The dirt was easily removed and the nap was revitalized.
I was very impressed at how much easier and quicker it was to clean the carpets using this machine compared to "dry" methods using towels or tools to agitate the cleaning agent. Now I understand that in some cases, this is required, but there were no stains or pre-spotting required on this carpet. So, compared to the way I was cleaning (using shampoo and the Cyclo or a towel) this cut my cleaning time down to about 40 minutes including vacuuming.
While investing in this machine was not cheap, I know it was one of the best things that I could do for my soon-to-open shop. I'll be using it on a constant daily basis and it will save me a tremendous amount of time, making my operation more profitable in the long run.
So, if any of you are in the start-up phase or contemplating what equipment you should buy that will make an immediate impact on your efficiencym profit, reputation and help you grow your business quickly, I recommend that you make purchasing a professional quality extractor one of your top priorities. Even a small one is well worth the investment. It's far better than hand methods or store bought cleaning machines meant for home use.</HTML>