I've had my equipment for about 2 wks but have been waiting for Naturell cleaner which was postponed due to packaging problems.

Cleaned my own carpets today (525 sq ft)Took about 4 hrs, all said and done including juggling furniture.
I gotta tell you my carpets were filthy and the bedrooms in particular are badly worn to the point of replacement.

My honest critique is that the Challenger system with the Naturell cleaner exceeded my expectations.Carpets look fantastic,of course there are areas that due to wear are not as impressive as others but overall,"WOW"

I found the Oban spotter worked better for the heavier soiled spots than the Naturell and I may need another product for lipstick stains.

One question for you good people.Around the perimiter of the rooms where the machine doesn't reach,I have some very dark staining which I believe is from subfloor leaching. I spent a bunch of time on these ares by hand with brush as well as the stair machine.

Alot of this is permenant. How do you address this with your clients. Appreciate your feedback.

Bill
PS Mark,After much research and due diligence I'm very happy I selected your system!

I think you'll find in your customers' homes that those tiny corners the Challenger can't reach are very rarely dirty so usually it's nothing to worry about. In the rare case that it needs some TLC you could hand wipe it with a terry cloth towel, and in the very rare case where there is staining you could use either the stair tool and/or go by hand. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the feedback

The dark lines around the perimeter of a room, or along the edges of stair carpeting, are called air filtration lines. They seem to most often occur where oily fumes move thru a living space. These may be caused by a faulty mix in an oil-fired furnace, or by someone who frequently burns oily, waxy candles. The lines are hard to remove. Sometimes you have to settle for just fading them somewhat.
There are many favorite methods out there for dealing with AFL. Some like the ability of Releasit Encap DS, mixed at twice the usual 4 oz. per gallon. Others have had success with a product called Tsunami. Some like the old-fashioned Fels Naptha soap product. I've had fair success with a steam vapor machine. Whatever the method, it usually involves some hands&knees scrubbing, with both a brush and/or absorbtive cotton pads. You can try a stand-up approach using a pole brush available at www.heacocks.com. The going rate for removing these lines is $1.00/linear foot.

to add to Mark's great advice, F.L.'s can also be taken up with Releasit's Encap-Spot. the StandUpBrush and/or a clean white towel/rag will pull most if not all of it up....dwell time is good.

from my experiences, it isn't from oil but from poor construction...leaking air vents that push air through the the cracks where floor meets wall. pulling back the carpet and sealing those areas is a possible fix.

check ICS forum for ALOT more info on possible permanent fixes.

welcome to OP and get used to those excellent results!

thanx --- Derek

Bill, Mark is right those are filtraton lines, and you see them quite often especially in very light colored carpeting. We sell a product called cyclone encap and cyclone hwt,that is made specifically for filtration lines,grease,toner,lipstick,mascara ect. The cyclone encap is an encapsulating product that does not have to be rinsed. Just apply it and scrub with a brush thats all. Cyclon hwt has to be rinsed with either a wet pad or steam cleaner. Go to smart-cleaning-solutions.com and click on vacaway products section. This stuff really works. Dereks is right get ready to see a lot of great cleaning results with your new challenger.

Thanks to all of you for the info about the air filtration lines. I have noticed a few pesky lines in a couple of homes and had not realized that they had their own special name and method for removing them. I'm learning new things every day.

some verry good info Mark, I am going to take a look at them pole brushs,they sound cool

Gary Heacock, who runs www.heacocks.com, is one of the legends in this industry. His site has a lot of good stuff.

Gary needs to add a solution tank to his StandUp Brush...that'd save me more time :P

Gary, Snap To It!!!

thanx --- D.

Now there's an idea! Derek, why don't you come up with the design and prototype model?

I love cyclone for filtration lines works awsome!!

Michael: where do you buy Cyclone?

i can't speak for Michael, but i've gotten it from both VacAway and CCS.

hope this helps --- Derek

I've also found Cyclone VLM to be a great performing product. The bottle says it "can" be diluted up to 2 times, but that it works best undiluted. Do any of you dilute it? Also, if I try to put a sprayer on the bottle, it's too thick and clogs it up. Do all of you just use the spout pourer that comes on the bottle or is there a way to get it to work w/ a sprayer? Just wondering...