Carpet Extractors

An interior carpet extractor is one of the most important equipment purchases that a professional auto detailer will make. This equipment will allow you to quickly and proficiently clean interior carpets and upholstery. By using a heated interior extractor will enable you to offer your customers a better job and you to be able to charge more.

Many detailers still use the old sponge and bucket method. They scrub the carpets and upholstery with soapy water and then vacuum up the soapy water with a wet/dry vac. Not only does this not do a very good job cleaning the fabric it takes much longer to do. Much of the dirty soapy water is left behind in the fabric and carpet fibers and when it dries the soap left behind attracts dirt like a magnet. Your customer will not be happy. Many times too much water is used with this primitive method causing a real mess and taking a long time to dry. You can blow away your competition by offering complete interior cleaning and detailing services using a professional extractor.

A carpet extractor is made up of three main mechanical components; a powerful vacuum motor to "extract" the dirty water, a pressurized pump to inject the water into the carpet and upholstery fibers, and a heating system to provide hot water to break down the dirt and grime quickly. The extractor will also have a solution tank for the clean water to be held and a recovery tank which collects the dirty water. There is also a vacuum hose and solution hose with a tool on the end of the solution use to inject the hot water in a fan like spray and a thin flat 3" nozzle to vacuum up the dirty water from the upholstery and carpet.

There are several models available for the professional detailer. Detail King offers most of our extractors with inline heating systems. The water is heated just before it is released into the area being extracted. An inline heating system enables the water to pre heat faster and temperature stay more consistent. Tank size ranges on these types of extractors usually from 3 gallons to 11 gallons. Most mobile detailers use a 3 gallon or 6 gallon unit. Typically the larger the tank size the more powerful the unit. Detail King offers 3, 6 and 11 gallon inline heated units. Most shops and larger detailing establishments require non-stop usage of their extractor and opt for the larger 11 gallon unit. A Deluxe Prep center is also available and comes equipped with a hot water extractor, dry vacuum, chemical injector hoses, and an interior air moving feature. This unit is portable and can be easily moved around a busy detail shop.

Most carpet extractors including the models we carry are capable of having the interior cleaning solution (extractor soap) mixed in with the water in the solution tank. Detail King recommends though that the solution be sprayed on the area to be extracted first and not mixed in with the rinse water. Reason being you never want to leave soap in the fibers, soap attracts dirt once it dries. Typically here is the process used to professional clean interior fabric and carpets. After you dry vacuum the interior check for grease stains and ground-in dirt usually found in the "traffic areas." The grease stains should be removed with a non solvent spotter before the area gets wet. Next you may have to pre scrub the traffic areas with a carpet shampoo. You can do this by hand or use the Cyclo Polisher with its dual head brushes. Usually the carpet shampoo (not the extractor soap) should be a high foaming - low pH product to exfoliate the ground in dirt into the shampoo suds. Once the dirt is suspended in the suds wipe it away. You may only have to hand shampoo the very bad areas first prior to extracting. This prep work makes the results of the extracting process unsurpassed.

Our hot water extractors heat the water up to 210 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot water breaks down the dirt much faster than cold water. Detailing is very time consuming. Time is money in any business especially a service oriented business, this is why it is crucial to get the job done the fastest most proficient way. You want your results to be of the very highest quality and still get them accomplished in a timely fashion. Using a heated interior extractor with the proper injection of water, and vacuuming of the dirty water is imperative. Most "home" units you can purchase in department stores may have a very attractive price but they just wont get the job done right. Your wasting your money with those units. They are designed for occasional home usage, not commercial usage.

You can try all of the units Detail King carries at our training seminars. Investing in the proper extractor is vital to your success. We can assist you with the unit that would best suit your needs now and as your business grows for the future.