Extractor OR Steam Cleaners??

[Civic-R]

Hi all gurus, i plan to buy a Steam Cleaner to clean my car seats which is fabric type. Called to Karcher Malaysia they told me steam cleaner is NOT for car interior cleaning & it's meant for cleaning carpets, floors & bathroom using steams. They told me to get an Karcher extractor (Model:SE4001) which it'll serve my purpose to clean my car fabric. But many YouTube videos shows car detailers using steam cleaners to rid off car fabric stains. So which one should i get? From what i know steam cleans better than extractors.

Hope there is some detailers out there can explain more on this.

 

[s1tl]

dun be fooled by steam cleaner is not for car interior because they want you to buy more expensive gear. i will post a thread on the steam washing i did with a "home use for carpet" steam washer that came out perfect

 

[Civic-R]

Thanks for replying bro s1tl. I'm still lost actually. So u mean steam cleaners are NOT meant for cleaning car fabric seats? Then it must be an extractor to do the job. I'll wait for your postings bro

 

[s1tl]

yea, i need to prep that post coz i got 2 detailing this weekend. monday will be up

 

[KrisMas]

- On fabric, steam cleaner can clean up the SURFACE dirt/stain/contaminant/etc better. But the extractor can go deeper into the pile.
- Steamer would leave the surface relatively dry. Extractor would leave the surface a little wet and you'd need some 'drying time'.

So you'd need to ask yourself 'what are you trying to achieve' and 'what's your expectations'?

One other thing you should also consider is, other than cleaning your car's fabrics, do you plan on any other usages? I'm asking this because the extractor works great for carpets and fabrics but not on other less porous materials like plastics, vinyl, metal, tiles, mosaics, etc. For those, a steamer would be a lifesaver........

Oh...just in case....there are also vacuum/steamer/extractor available if you're looking for an all-rounder.

 

[Civic-R]

Thanks for the feedbacks bro Krismas. I understand that we can't hav both function on a single machine. If i hav more budget i'll get both for sure :hmmmm:

I understand your explanation now so i think i'll get myself an extractor. Beside car seats, i can clean my mattresses, curtains & carpets as well!!

 

[KrisMas]

errr....yes there is and I've seen a vacuum+steamer+extractor. The salesman came to my place for a demo. But I didn't go for it as it's way too expensive for me. It costs around RM6xxx.