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Thread Number: 46109
/ Tag: Recent Vacuum Cleaners from past 20 years
How good are Kirby Carpet Shampoo Systems/Portable Shampooers at cleaning carpets? |
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| Post# 475674 2/21/2025 at 14:00 by AmtrakSebo1997 (Vacmasterthegreats basement) | ||
I get that this is by no means an original question, however, it's one that's been burning inside me.
I recently have gotten back into Kirbys, and of course, that includes their various accessories, including the carpet shampoo system. When I lived in a different house, I used mine to shampoo my bedroom with a homemade shampoo mix, and with that mix it worked pretty good. It managed to get up a lot of dirty water in the recovery tray. Anyways, recently I did a bunch of steam cleaning with my Hoover Steam Vac All Terrain, with the exception of my dad's room, as it's simply too large to adequately clean the small amount of carpeting in there. So, I've decided that I'm going to use my Ultimate G to do it, whether it be with the full CSS, the Portable Shampooer, or both. I'm also going to use actual Kirby shampoo this time around. With all of this being said, I'm still not entirely sure of the effectiveness of Kirby Shampooers. Are they really not as good as carpet extractors/steam cleaners? And are all Kirby shampoo systems (rug renovators-Avalir) created equal? In addition to this, I've heard from a certain someone on Youtuber that they can potentially ruin carpets, which is why they're not approved by the CRI (which is kind of ironic since the Avalir 2 was approved). Is there any truth to this? I mean, with the Gen 3-Avalir Shampooers, you can control the amount of suds released (though idk if the older rug renovators can), so that could mitigate/prevent that from happening. What are your guys' input? I'm curious to hear it. | ||
Post# 475690 , Reply# 2 2/22/2025 at 15:43 by luxlife  (Under a Pecan Tree) |
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I always thought it would be cool if the carpet attachment had 2 brushes like a CRB machine. | ||
| Post# 475692 , Reply# 3 2/22/2025 at 18:14 by Lesinutah (Utah) | ||
The | ||
| Post# 475694 , Reply# 4 2/23/2025 at 09:11 by Blackheart (North Dakota) | ||
shampooer
I've used them over the years but yeah they're definitely not as thorough as a water extraction. I mean I know they're supposed to like crystalize and take the dirt with them but It's like would you put soap onto a surface and not remove it?
I think it's better than nothing but it's definitely not going to be as effective as something that is using clean solution to wash out the dirt. | ||
| Post# 475697 , Reply# 5 2/23/2025 at 15:05 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
I have a couple of Kirby Shampoo systems, but after I refurbished my G7 Diamond Edition, which had apparently seen heavy shampoo use, I was always hesitant to run one. Part of the problem was the previous owner appeared to have repeatedly vacuumed the shampoo up before it had a chance to dry, and then never cleaned the machine afterward. The inside of the floor nozzle was completely gunked up and the belt lifter mechanism was very rusted out. Cleaning the nozzle was a pain and the belt lifter had to be replaced because it was so bad. Once I got the machine shined up, I didn't want to use the shampooer with it. In fact, I've never used any of my Shampoo kits.
All that said, I've agreed to shampoo the carpet at my church sometime in the next couple of weeks, and I'm trying to decide which machine to (ab)use. One thing's for sure. After all the work I put into fixing it up, it won't be the Diamond G. I'm thinking probably one of my frankenKirbys, maybe the Gsix that's been retrofitted with a G4 bag and a couple of other non-Gsix parts will get the job. No sense messing up a nicer one. | ||
| Post# 475703 , Reply# 6 2/23/2025 at 19:07 by Kirbyg6 (York) | ||
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| Post# 475706 , Reply# 7 2/24/2025 at 14:16 by panasonicvac (Northern Utah) | ||
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Post# 475707 , Reply# 8 2/24/2025 at 14:55 by luxlife (Under a Pecan Tree) |
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I have to wonder if the Kirby would work better with a true encapsulation shampoo and not just a dry foam formula. | ||
| Post# 475714 , Reply# 9 2/24/2025 at 21:12 by AmtrakSebo1997 (Vacmasterthegreats basement) | ||
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Thank you for all of the replies.
Even if it wasn't what I was hoping to hear about Kirby Shampooers, it was still valuable.
That said, I still plan on shampooing my dad's room with my G7 whenever I get around to getting it serviced/polished. However, looking back on the results I got with the homemade Kirby mix I used with the machine, I'm wondering if maybe I should use that again instead of genuine Kirby shampoo, as I was able to get up a significant about of dirty water in the recovery tray (yes dirty water, not just foam). However, I'm also a little worried about over soaking the carpet, but then again, I thoroughly did that when I used my Steam Vac All Terrain, so would it even be as big of a deal? Plus, unlike the Steam Vac, I can control the amount of suds released to my liking, so there's that too. With that also being said, I am curious about the genuine Kirby shampoo, since I've never used it. However, I'm also thinking that it will do seemingly nothing to really remove the dirt and stuff. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Here is the link to the recipe for that homemade Kirby shampoo, by the way: threelittleferns.com/2012/12/hom... | ||
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