woodbutcherbower
Member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2021
- Messages
- 1,217
I've resisted posting this for awhile because I felt kinda dumb. But after my customary and near-legendary sampling of yet another fine Rioja, I decided that my final post of 2022 should be a little 'out there'. Guys & gals - I gotta tell you that the CTL26 is a fantastic tool for wet-cleaning/extracting ground-in dirt from carpets and mats. How do I know this? The floor of my van is plywood-lined and topped with commercial-grade carpet tiles which are fixed down with spray contact adhesive. It's been this way since day #1, because I build a lot of doors, furniture etc. and invariably deliver them to site fully-finished and ready to install. I figured that a carpeted floor would help eliminate scuffs and other damage to the finish of these items whilst stacked on the van floor, with items above separated by old blankets and cardboard. It's worked really well, with zero damage for 5 years now.
But as a busy pro who also often does site work on swamp-like construction sites, after the first year, the carpet tiles were gross-out filthy. So in desperation, I rented a carpet cleaning machine which was cumbersome and expensive, but which did a decent job. Using my keen sense of scientific observation however - I realised that all this thing actually did was to spray a deluge mix of water and detergent onto the surface, then suck it straight back up, bringing all of the now-dissolved dirt out with it.
Hmmmmmm ....... *Glances at watering can and CTL26 both parked in the corner*
So I bought the blue foam wet filter for my CTL, and carried out a small experiment using a watering can filled with diluted carpet cleaning detergent on the dirtiest, grossest area - pouring it on, working it quickly into the short fibres using a small scrubbing brush, then sucking it straight back out with the CTL26, the 36mm hose and the small 6" flat nozzle from the cleaning set - the exact same process as the machine I'd rented. I repeated this straightaway using warm water to suck out any remaining detergent, since I'd read online (a carpet cleaner's forum - yes, they really exist) that any detergent residue causes even quicker re-soiling. The results on my test patch were astounding - the carpet tiles had come up like brand new, and the filth swimming around in the CTL's tank had to be seen to be believed. So I carried on and cleaned the whole surface, ending up with an immaculate, just-like-new van floor - and a CTL tank which looked like a disaster-level sludge pit.
I've now been doing this two or three times a year since 2018, so the method is 100% tried and trusted. I did it again today, which (unsurprisingly) is what sparked the idea for the post. I know this is probably left-field and sacriligeous to some - but hey, megabucks Festool-style wet suction works just as well as cheapo rental wet suction. I'd also mention that the method got even more effective a few years back when I started using the liquid capsules which are put into the drum of a regular laundry washing machine - these things are super-effective, containing all the optical brighteners, oxy-bubbles, fabric conditioner and defoamer in one neat little package which quickly dissolves in a gallon of hot watering can.
A happy and successful 2023 to FOG community members everywhere. May your shops be dustless, and may your carpets gleam. Using the machine which you already paid for.
Best wishes from the UK.
Kevin
But as a busy pro who also often does site work on swamp-like construction sites, after the first year, the carpet tiles were gross-out filthy. So in desperation, I rented a carpet cleaning machine which was cumbersome and expensive, but which did a decent job. Using my keen sense of scientific observation however - I realised that all this thing actually did was to spray a deluge mix of water and detergent onto the surface, then suck it straight back up, bringing all of the now-dissolved dirt out with it.
Hmmmmmm ....... *Glances at watering can and CTL26 both parked in the corner*
So I bought the blue foam wet filter for my CTL, and carried out a small experiment using a watering can filled with diluted carpet cleaning detergent on the dirtiest, grossest area - pouring it on, working it quickly into the short fibres using a small scrubbing brush, then sucking it straight back out with the CTL26, the 36mm hose and the small 6" flat nozzle from the cleaning set - the exact same process as the machine I'd rented. I repeated this straightaway using warm water to suck out any remaining detergent, since I'd read online (a carpet cleaner's forum - yes, they really exist) that any detergent residue causes even quicker re-soiling. The results on my test patch were astounding - the carpet tiles had come up like brand new, and the filth swimming around in the CTL's tank had to be seen to be believed. So I carried on and cleaned the whole surface, ending up with an immaculate, just-like-new van floor - and a CTL tank which looked like a disaster-level sludge pit.
I've now been doing this two or three times a year since 2018, so the method is 100% tried and trusted. I did it again today, which (unsurprisingly) is what sparked the idea for the post. I know this is probably left-field and sacriligeous to some - but hey, megabucks Festool-style wet suction works just as well as cheapo rental wet suction. I'd also mention that the method got even more effective a few years back when I started using the liquid capsules which are put into the drum of a regular laundry washing machine - these things are super-effective, containing all the optical brighteners, oxy-bubbles, fabric conditioner and defoamer in one neat little package which quickly dissolves in a gallon of hot watering can.
A happy and successful 2023 to FOG community members everywhere. May your shops be dustless, and may your carpets gleam. Using the machine which you already paid for.
Best wishes from the UK.
Kevin
