Carpet Steamer Shampoer - which is the best?

Don't know Miriam May, but I sent a pm to someone who does. We shall see.

Um, regarding the avatar, what's the other 80%?

Re: Carpet Steamer Shampoer - which is the best?


Read and listen to Oreck's ads. They will tell you all you need to know.

Several years ago, Mr. Oreck advertised heavily that you shouldn't let anyone ruin your carpets by steam cleaning them. That's why you needed to buy his carpet dry cleaner (Orbiter, perhaps?).

Then, when he came up with a steam cleaner, suddenly it's OK to allow untrained, unprofessional persons steam clean their own carpets? And that's NOT risky?

And regarding the eight-lbs vacuum...it has a 4 amp motor, and a fan which is maybe only 3 inches in diameter.

Even a cheap (not cheapest) vacuum from Wal-Mart (NOT an endorsement of Wal-Mart!) will have an 8+ amp motor with a larger fan.

The fan is what moves the air which picks up the dirt. Smaller fan, less suction.

The motor spins the fan. A low-power motor can't work as hard. Thus, a 4 amp motor can't spin a large fan (thus, the small fan).

A standard 12 amp motor (as found in many Hoover, Eureka, Panasonic, and every Dyson vacuum) will turn a larger fan and create real suction.

The RPMs of the brush has NOTHING to do with how well the vacuum picks up dirt, btw.

It is ironic, too, that the Oreck, with it's 1/3 size motor is probably twice as LOUD as my Dyson, yet the Dyson picks up more dirt in ONE PASS than Oreck will with ten.

Do the Oreck Challenge with the Oreck first, and the Dyson (or any other $200+ vacuum) and you will find that the latter picks up tons of dirt the Oreck left behind.

If Oreck's quality is based on his vacuum cleaner's quality, there is no question that the Steamer is a machine not to be envied.

I must say, however, that I have not tested the Oreck steamer, nor other home-version steamers. I do agree that it's a good idea to have a home "steam" (hot water extraction) cleaner (live steam is not necessary) in order to chase those occasional spills quickly.

It is of utmost importance, however, to have a trained, certified, experienced professional carpet cleaner to clean your carpets at least twice per year, while doing your own maintenance in-between.

I am open to any carpet, upholstery, or fine rugs cleaning questions you may have.

I am an IICRC Certified Master Cleaner and Master Restorer. My company has been in business since 1986. I am at your service.

General Tsao

Thanks, General Tsao. I had a feeling you would have opinions on this.

What did you just do, General Tsao?
I will not be able to sell Oreck stuff now..:-(

btw - customers love their oreck vacs - they keep them for years (they say so)

I'm sorry, Ms. May. Nothing personal intended.

I've watched Mr. Oreck's ads for several years (I admire the fact that he's a great marketer--or at least his firm's marketing firm is a great marketer.

Just watch the commercials and ads from another perspective, and you'll see the obvious hype and deception in the ads.

e.g. so what about his vacuum can pick up an 8-lbs bowling ball? That's a physics trick. If you place a funnel (similar to a cone) over a bowling ball (similar to a sphere), the circle of contact between the cone and sphere is large, and applies a small amount of suction over a large surface area. It's very easy to pick up that way. However, if you put just the vac's hose on the ball, it would not come close to picking it up.

Did you know that it only takes about 5 pounds per square inch of pressure to blow apart a metal building such as a warehouse? You will agree that 5 psi is a very low amount. But when you spread that 5 psi over EVERY square inch, great destruction can occur.
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As a Professional Carpet Cleaner, I work in several homes per week. Most every customer loves their own vacuum--whether it be Oreck, Hoover this, Eureka that, Lux, Kirby, Rainbow.

However, most people are really impressed by my Dyson--but only after I show them the gallon-or-so of dirt I remove from their carpets with my machine. They are further impressed when I show them the on-board tools that don't fall off, the 17-foot reach of the on-board hose/wand assembly (I can clean a 15-step staircase with the machine parked at the bottom of the stairs).

I'm in the cleaning business, so it behooves me to use an excellent vacuum if I'm going to do an excellent job.

Oreck's latest infomercial shows him vacuuming up various objects off of a black carpet. A great demonstration! He also has a very smooth speech to say while he vacuums up a row of rice.

While talking, he moves the vacuum over the rice, and over, and over and over til it's gone.

Most other vacuums would have gotten that rice up in two passes or fewer.

Notice how loud the Oreck vacuum is? I can talk to my customers while running my Dyson. Powr-Flite PF 14 is even quieter. Customers really appreciate how quiet my vacuum is (I'm not trying to imply that it's silent, because it's not-- you wouldn't want any vacuum cleaner running in the background all day); they'd never really noticed how loud theirs vacuum is.

Most people have never tested two vacuums side-by side. I have. Many times.

Last Christmas I took my Dyson to Mom's house (I know, only a geek brings his vacuum cleaner on a 700 mile trip). She had purchased a new Hoover-something, a knockoff of the oreck--hers weighs only around eight lbs.

She bought it because she's only 4'7" tall, and she thought pushing a 20 lbs vacuum would be too hard.

I compared the two. I vacuumed with her machine first. To my surprise, I found it very difficult to push on the carpet! I vac'd the carpet four times, making slow passes to be thorough (same way I vacuum before cleaning a carpet).

Then I used my vacuum. First of all I noticed that mine was EASIER to push! I mean a LOT EASIER. Then I noticed the amount of soil that came out of her carpet with one pass of my machine. Simply amazing the dirt and sand that her vacuum missed.

The heavier particles (sand) are what damage carpets--they grind the fibers and make them dull, so your carpet looks old and lifeless. Good vacuuming is more important than professional carpet cleaning.

OK, that's all for now. I don't know what position you hold at Oreck, but if you're in sales, I'm sure Dyson is needing reps. Before you change jobs, though, make sure you compare the various machines.

Take the Oreck Challenge--in reverse. You'll be amazed! (BTW--no vacuum will remove ALL the dirt, so whoever is the second player in the Challenge will lose the game. The trick is called, "whoever goes last, loses").

Respectfully,

General Tsao