I highly recommend the Bissell Pro Heat carpet cleaner. You can buy this machine for the price of commercial carpet cleaning with similar results. It will pay for itself over time. The brushes lift the carpet the same way as your vacuum cleaner does. Also, this machine heats the cleaning solution, for more effective dirt extraction.
By Janice Kasony from Pittsburgh, PA
This page contains the following solutions.
When steam cleaning your carpets yourself, don't waste your money on the shampoo. Instead, put a large pot of water on the stove, heat it until it almost boils (to where it's steaming but not boiling). Pour the water into your machine and clean.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Does any have any ideas for how to clean the rotating brushes on my Hoover Steam Vac carpet cleaner? I've taken them off, soaked them in the sink, put them in the dishwasher, but there is still carpet fibers and hair that is stuck in the brush heads. Is there an easy way to clean these to get the build up out of the brush heads?
By JARED DELLINGER from Columbus, OH
Use a sharp pair of scissors, a knife or box cutter, and cut carefully around the bar between the rows of bristles. Then pull the hair and fibers loose after cutting through them. Try using a sharp knife,box cutter or scissors to cut thru the fibers and hair by running the blade around the roller between the bristles.
An old crochet hook, or latch hook rug hook, with the closure on the hook removed, works for me.
Thanks for the feedback! I will try those methods. I was hoping for a little less manual solutions, like a solvent to just dissolve the fibers and hair...of course, without damaging the brush! I guess the cut, hook and pull method will work fine. Something I can do during commercials! :) Thanks again.
I use my seam ripper, kelly clamps (electronic shop) for so many things and this is just one of them.
You will all ways have his problem with hairs and fluff,a common problem. The build up of debris on the Hoover roller brushes will result in loss of suction as well. Fit a "Hairyhog" attachment and you should limit the build up on the roller.
I use a cat flea comb and comb out buildup in the green brushes. But I do this when the brushes are dry.
Spent 30 minutes on internet never found how to remove the brushes to clean
Flea comb-OM brilliant
I use one of those six-inch, cheap, black men's hair combs. Takes all the fibers and hair right out when they are dry. Then I clean the brushes by soaking in Dawn dish soap.
Use one of those fine metal combs they use for removing knits from headlice. Knit comb. U need it to be metal and fine, works best.
I laughed out loud when I saw the image of the woman holding the brush assembly of her hoover carpet cleaner under running water in the sink. There you are! clean! This is a picture of my brushes after shampooing carpets. Despite vacuuming every day and before shampooing, there is always fur stuck deep down in the bristles and inside the brush shield. The same happens inside of the suction area at the front of the machine, fur is pulled up into it when sucking in the dirty water. I have to insert a long metal fingernail file and work it out.
It takes me over an hour to work out the fur with a metal comb and using tweezers and whatever else will work to remove the fur from the inside. Whoever designed the brush assembly has never had pets! It is the worst part of caring for the machine!
And we have a small (10 lb.) Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix and two short hair cats , all three are brushed and combed twice a week. My husband is bald so he doesnt contribute.
They need to come up with a more clean friendly design! (My Hoover Max brushes after use, loaded with fur)
Honestly I usually just use a razor blade for this sort of thing, but if you're concerned about safety and/or damaging the agitators you may want to try a Seam Ripper. It is a tool that is designed for carefully splitting seams and removing thread/stitching when sewing.
Also, most brushes in vacs (can't tell for your model though) are removable, so check for tutorials www.youtube.com/
You put it in the dishwasher?!
Hello. March 2020. I read this article. I was about to purchase metal lice comb on amazon for 2 dollars canadian. I decided to use the tools or my own know how.
1. I soaks my head assembly. hoover 42-3800-57 into bucket of water and i put in paint de-greasing agent (powder. Email me and i will send u pic of box). Next time i would just use regular dish soap. cinniors@gmail dott comm
2. Why am i doing this? I checked my bill... 2 yrs ago i purchase 2 units for 15.99 US and now it is 45 US just for 1 unit on the hoover.com website. Also this helps reduce waste and unit going to landfill.
3. I soaked unit for 2 days. I rinse unit in water and dried it...2 days or so. Just sun light and normal vancouver spring covid 19 weather.
4. I took assembly apart. I was careful. I use plastic tools... looks like flat head but plastic instead of metal. Brush head is basically 4 parts. 2 side plastic that is clear or semi translucent... middle piece that is sorta white in color and its holds 5 round green scrubbies...
5. I use metal tweezers....sharp thin head... i took unit apart...it is snap on design and snap back on design...
6. I removed all the clogged hair and fibre ...it looks almost new.
7. For full pics or more detail... email me at the email above...
Without this article... i would have ordered new unit and throw out my old one..
A garden hose with the nozzle set to jet works well. Remove the rotating brushes completely from the brush assembly. Each rotating brush has ten small individual brushes. Hit each of the ten individual brushes with the water jet until clean. This can use a good bit of water but it does the job.
OK Folks, I arrived here the same way you did, but I was determined to find a more practical way than the other suggestions. Just found the one that works for me and thought I'd share. I've got a couple cats and about 3000 sqf of carpeting. My brushes get worse than any of the pics I've seen. I used a long, steel bristled welding brush (very cheap) and am pretty amazed how good a job it did. I soaked the unit in soapy water first before brushing down each side, spinning the wheels a quarter turn, then repeating. Only took me a couple minutes (took me longer to find the welding brush!!! lol!) Attached is a pic of the cleaned brushes and the welding brush. Hope this helps.
I'm looking for a steam cleaner that can do it all. I already have a carpet steam cleaner but want one that can clean grout, showers, and have an attachment for tile floors. From what I've seen my only option is a handheld unit which is fine, I just want to find the best and most affordable one. I want to stay under $100.
By emma from TX
I bought a handheld one from Walmart's for about $43.00. It is a McClintlock (something like that). I like it because it has a large well for holding the water. Many others hold much less water & have to be filled often. This one heats up almost immediately & does a fabulous job on dirt. It's not too heavy. It's my favorite cleaning tool.
I have a Shark Euro Pro model S3325. I purchased it at Lowe's for 99.00. This is my second one, the first I used for about 4-5 years. It does everything and more. It has lots of attachments, It is on wheels so you don't have to hold it and it will steam for hours without refilling it. It does floors and anything a handheld unit will clean. It is the best machine. Why pay for a floor cleaner when this one will do it all. I would rate this machine a 10 out of 10. If this company would just market it better it would outsell every machine on the market.
I posted about this in the past and below is a copy... I personally prefer a "vapor" cleaner because for tough jobs like grout it will do a better job.
RE: Reviews of Hardwood Floor Steam Cleaners
Keep in mind, there are two classes of "steam" floor cleaners, steam cleaners and vapor cleaners. Steam cleaners heat up to about 220 degrees and leave the surface kinda wet. Vapor cleaners heat up to over 300 degrees and leave less moisture on the cleaned surface. Also the vapor cleaner cleans faster because of the increased heat. So if you can afford a vapor cleaner, they are vastly superior. The higher heat will not hurt your wood floors as you keep moving the floor attachment as it does clean quickly, especially on hard surface floors.
You also need to decide if you want a "stick" model that is only good for cleaning floors, or the canister model that is good for floors, counters and just about anything else. The canister model is the way to go as you will be cleaning everything with it and without using any chemicals, only tap water.
Whether you opt for a steam or vapor cleaner, the material of the boiler tank is so important. The choice is aluminum or stainless steel... The aluminum will eventually pit and leak, the stainless should last for many years if not forever. So, getting one with a stainless steel boiler tank is almost a no-brainer.
Here is a link that compares the different "vapor" cleaners, so they can clean virtually all surfaces, including the family car...
www.myvaporclean.com/
The model I bought is Reliable T630 (3rd from the top left at the above link). The one attachment it has that most others don't have is a carpet attachment and thus allows for cleaning carpets. This attachment was the determining factor in my decision to buy this machine.
Here is a link at eBay where it is sold $100 less then the posted retail price and another with 0 bids and a starting bid of $265. Both have FREE shipping!
(shop.ebay.com/
This machine does an excellent job of cleaning, it works just as the manufacturers says and I have not had any problems with it, having owned it for about 18 months.
When I first bought this machine my wife wouldn't use it, thought it was just an expensive toy... We have brick floors in our kitchen, breakfast and family rooms, a bear to clean... My wife would constantly have to scrub the floor with a very stiff brush, then mop, this was a lot of work... One day I took out the vapor machine, vaporized the floor, moped up afterwards and the floor was the cleanest it has ever been! PLUS, it kills all pathogens, you really could eat off the floor after the vapor machine cleans it... She uses this machine for everything now, not a toy any more... :-)
AND there is a big advantage of buying a canister machine (such as the T630) as you really can clean anything with it, floors, counters, walls, toilets, etc... With a stick model, it is mostly a floor cleaner... You can also Google to see if you can find a better price, but I found the sellers on eBay had the best prices..
Jim in Jax
What is the best carpet steam cleaner?
By Irmgard A. Meyer from TX
I have had a Hoover and a Bissell Pro Heat and the Bissell is the better machine. I have tenants and the Bissell Pro Heat cleans better. Always rinse thoroughly and use as little soap as possible. Soap residue will attract and hold dirt and your carpets will need to be shampooed more often. Hot water alone will extract a lot of dirt!
I have a Bissell rug shampooer as well. I love it.
I also have a Bissell Spot Bot, which is a small rug shampooer spot cleaner. You just put the soap and water in, put the machine on the spill or where a pet may have had a wee-wee accident, push the botton and it cleans the spot through the various steam, rinse cycles itself. When your're done, if the entire area washing covered by the Spot Bot, just move it to the next spot and let it run.
My sister, sister in law and three coworkers have botten this. It's a life saver if you have children and/or pets. You don't have to drag out the big rug shampooer to clean up a small mess, like spilled juice, soda, etc.
I own an H2O steam cleaner and want to continue using it for cleaning my carpets, but the carpet cleaning liquid that came with the machine is now all used up. I do not want to deal with this company and wonder what I can use to replace this concentrated cleaner that was mixed with water and came out in the steam leaving no soapy residue. As I am in Canada, I have to rely on Canadian retailers. I tried the Canadian Tire store, and they only have products that foam-up.
By Jeri from Ottawa, Canada
Try water only. My H20 Steam cleaner uses only water and it cleans. The steam that come from the cleaner is what cleans the rugs and floors. Hope this helps.
