Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: monkeyman on September 06, 2009, 09:05:11 pm

Title: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: monkeyman on September 06, 2009, 09:05:11 pm
what vacuum cleaners do you guys use for a pre vac prior to the main clean?
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: daysdeepclean on September 06, 2009, 09:32:14 pm
I use Sebo BS36 for domestic and BS46 for larger jobs ...... Outstanding machines!
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Paul_Ashworth on September 06, 2009, 09:56:57 pm
Sebo BS36 is the best
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on September 06, 2009, 10:11:47 pm
The best one IMO looks like the Royal but the only problems I can see is that it doesn't vac upto the edges and also there's no vac tube to pull of to get into the edges.

Shaun
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 07, 2009, 12:10:26 am
Well shaun, this is where you guys have the best of both worlds, given that your brief is (i assume?) to pre-vac only the carpet areas that you are cleaning, therefore its not going to be that much of a bother to do edges first with a cylinder/tub cleaner and then the inner areas with a good upright. Unlike us in the domestic general cleaning side where there is more to clean than just the floor, so with an upright the hose is on, then its off, then its on again etc...

Another point with the uprights is that the commercial versions seem to come (inexplicably) with a very long handle, which for the work we do, can be really cumbersome  :( have you or any guys ever used the Electrolux Sanitaire soft-bag upright? I have one here and its a monster  :o my word does it sweep carpets.
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: markpowell on September 07, 2009, 07:43:28 am
I use a BS36 also, on the very rare occasion that i pre-vac  :-[
Mark
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: derek west on September 07, 2009, 08:50:21 am
the bs36 vacs up to the edges on one side of the machine. good enough for me.
derek
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: JandS on September 07, 2009, 09:20:09 am
Same as you Mark  what's pre vac?
Most customers ask me if they should vac before I arrive and I always say yes just give it a quick whizz round.

John
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: carpetfitta on September 07, 2009, 10:19:51 am
i use an ensign 360 (practically the same as bs36) i also have a karcher cw50 which picks up great, looks very similar but doesnt de-tach from the brush, like the bs36 to allow ease of stair vacuuming. seems to be the standard, karcher also do a tbs model which is a direct competitor of the sebo, tends to be overlooked on ebay, and can come very cheaply, in comparison to the bs36/ensign 360
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Karl Wildey on September 07, 2009, 07:39:08 pm
Bs36 for me too
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Aquakleen Restoration Services on September 08, 2009, 09:41:31 am
Can someone please tell me what makes a Sebo so good? Ive never used one, so whats the reason?
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Andrew Briscoe on September 08, 2009, 09:49:35 am
I have about 15 sebo b360, of various ages, 1 is nearly 20 year old.

I find them to be a good weight (heavyish) better contact to the floor, strong and robust.
Excellent vac power, good filtration, like all keep a new bag in it.

I vac my own light coloured wool carpet with it daily, when the missus complains carpet looking dirty, teenage girls/make up etc it can look trashed, when i clean it she always says the dirty water dosn't look that bad, this is down to the sebo, pulling out all the solids etc, sometimes the water only looks slightly discoloured.

Hope this helps, BUY one.

Andrew.
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 08, 2009, 09:58:11 am
Can someone please tell me what makes a Sebo so good? Ive never used one, so whats the reason?

The reliabilty for one thing. Where I get shot down in blazes is when i say that for domestic house cleaning work like i do, they can be somewhat cumbersome and heavy. Certainly some of the ladies who worked with me had a preference for a lightweight upright cleaner. Using one of these Sebo cleaners on 'runs' or expanses of floor is fine, having to negotiate around furniture and what-not is something else. For this reason i myself have never liked or reccomended the Sebo for those who clean houses for a living.

As a side thought, some Sebo cleaners come with a choice of brush-strip, ranging from average to stiff. What do you guys use in your Sebo rollers? The stiff bristles on any upright cleaner will always groom really well but i was warned a long time ago that they can potentially cause friction damage to synthetic carpets.  :-\
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Joe H on September 08, 2009, 12:28:49 pm
Vacman
For the domestic cleaning situations try the Sebo Dart of Felix.
They have a narrower head, more the standard domestic head size ie Dyson etc.
Still get the same motors as the BS36 so think of all that power going thro a narrower head width.

I have the stiffer red brush on my Sebo BS36, standard brush on my Karcher (which I think is a Sebo built under licence).
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 08, 2009, 12:33:28 pm
Hello Joe, i've had a Felix/dart before now, not overly impressed with it for use day in, day out, but it was one of the better machines i've owned. The thing about the likes of the dart is that it uses a 2nd motor to power the brushes. To that end i think i would prefer a tub-vac / cylinder with electric power-head, as it's the same thing. I find there is a certain something about an upright which uses the power of the suction motor to drive the roller-brush which i quite like. What it is exactly, i don't know.
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: carpetworx on September 08, 2009, 01:45:36 pm
Without doubt Dyson ds14
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: carpetworx on September 08, 2009, 02:10:43 pm
I mean dc14 :)
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 08, 2009, 07:50:54 pm
Well i didnt want to be the first to mention the 'D' word, but i have to agree. I've had several DC04, 7, and 14 cleaners, and all were actually very good. I have owned other cleaners which were more reliable and far less fragile, but these models of Dyson really did knock spots off others when it came to performance.
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: derek west on September 08, 2009, 07:55:21 pm
we've got a dc07 but the misses keeps nicking the bs36 out the van, quite annoying as she never puts it back and i occasionally forget it.
plus theres the argument of turning up at a job with the same equipment as the customer, could seem un professional, "could" not "is" before ya start.
derek
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 08, 2009, 08:01:53 pm
Derek, i have had people who were also wary of cleaning products and machines aimed at commercial use, because they've seen them as a little 'too hefty' for the job. But i take your point.

I think though that its only us in the 'business' who worry that our equipment and products have to be seen to be better than the customers. Heaven knows i use enough supermarket-brand washing up liquid to clean houses, yet people always say they are pleased with the results. Maybe i am lucky that the people i work for generally seem to be pleased with the overall job that is done, not what was used.

Which reminds me, those of you who claim to use vinegar as part of your carpet cleaning process; are you using it straight from the bottle marked Sarsons (or whatever)? Ho does that go down? I am guessing a suprised but not offended reaction from the client?
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: daysdeepclean on September 08, 2009, 08:02:50 pm
Another pre-requisite for joining TACCA could be that you "Have" to have a Sebo BS36....








Alright alright treacle's, just toying with you all. Keep your Alan's on ;D
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: derek west on September 08, 2009, 08:10:21 pm
Another pre-requisite for joining TACCA could be that you "Have" to have a Sebo BS36....

might draw the line at a 70's eubank ;D
derek
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Doctor Carpet (Ret'd) on September 08, 2009, 09:24:46 pm
VAcman

I think you are right not to worry. After all it's not what you do but how you do it. Knowledge as they say is power.

So for example I was always taught that even if you do use a vacuum that the householder has you can often teach them the right way to use it to get the most effective clean ie. the best vacuum stroke is on the pull-back stroke and the push-forward stroke is predominantly for re-positioning the upright.

Roger
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: carpetworx on September 09, 2009, 04:39:44 am
thats what i do, if they have a dyson aswell, as long as it's an upright.
Thinking of becoming an agent for dyson, so i can sell them to custy's, as there so impressed when they see what i take out of there carpet, even after they've already vacced.
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: vacman on September 09, 2009, 02:17:26 pm
Personally i think it's the fact that carpets seem to get 'used' to a certain vacuum cleaner and, lets face it, most people who vacuum the same room time and time again will likely do it in the EXACT same way and direction. To that end, i think that using a vacuum cleaner with a different roller brush to the usual one, and used in different directions too, could possibly be fecthing up more muck than usual?  ???
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: daysdeepclean on September 09, 2009, 02:47:50 pm
Because you're named Vacman, I'm gonna take your word for it :)
Title: Re: best vacuum cleaner?
Post by: Joe H on September 09, 2009, 02:48:37 pm
To vac correctly means to go east to west and then north to south, and as someone pointed out the real work is done on the pull stroke.
I was demonstrating this to a young man who couldnt get the bits off his carpet with his Dyson.
Used the BS36 which removed the bits with ease, told him the Felix would be a better size in his home, off he went to Google on his computer and bought one immediately.