[Morten Tornes]

Hello. Been lurking on the board for a while, but this is my first post.
Iīm from Norway, and I work for an re-upholstery shop where I run a department for cleaning upholstery, carpets and rugs.
In Norway there is very little carpets in private homes, so the carpet cleaning is mostly for commercial businesses.

I travel a lot to private homes only to clean upholstery, and therefore we are looking to get a smaller machine to use mainly on upholstery. Our main machine now is an Enforcer (the only one in norway), which we are very happy with, but it is a bit heavy.
We also have a Kleenrite Sphere which is quite a good small machine, but on the really heavily soiled upholstery it is lacking in both water pressure and vacuum.

So we are looking to get a smallīish machine mainly for upholstery, but would like it to be powerful enough to do small carpet jobs as well. And we want built in heat.

So far Iīm thinking the Alltec Express looks like a good choice. But the pump looks like itīs max 150 psi. I think that might be a bit low for carpet cleaning? (We usually clean carpets at 300-400psi).
Then I saw the Airflex Mini. And as far as I can tell, these are the same machines?
The Mini can be delivered with up to 300 psi, but then there is not built in heater. But they can do 200 psi with heat.

What do you guys think? Is the Airflex Mini with 2 x 3 stage Lamb Ametek 1200 watt vacuums, 220 psi pump and inline heater the best way to go? Or are the other alternatives you would recommend?

Thanks

// Morten

[jmj]

Hi Morten,

Welcome to the board, I would suggest the CFR Eco 500 from Amtech UK which is a great machine for upholstery. Coupled with the cfr upholstery tool its a great machine, also it can handle carpet cleaning as well.

BTW your country is awesome.

joe

[Tom Molloy]

Hi Morten.

I don't this it's so much the extraction power for upholstery that you need to be thinking about. I have m machine between 50-100psi for upholstery.
I would look at getting a good quality upholstery tool.
I have a Rotovac Sheardry tool. This is a great tool that gets great results and aids fast drying times. It is essential not to over wet fabrics. Also choosing the right pre-spray is crucial too. It's not a one size fits all process.

Good luck with it...Tom

[john martin]

I believe alltec will fit the express with same vacs as enforcer , 1600w+1200w  ...  and newer 220psi pumptec  , and 2" port if you want .   and  Heater on cord 2 .

[Morten Tornes]

Hi guys. Thank you for your replies.

We actually have 4 CFR Eco 500 machines. They are good machines, and for years they where what I mainly used. But after taking an IICRC upholstery class I became a little concerned about what Iīm putting back into the fabric when recycling the water in the machine. Especially when doing plant fiber fabrics, and I want to make sure I have neutralized the prespray and left things on the acid side of the scale. We still use the CFRīs but mostly for commercial work. I feel that the CFRīs also are a bit on the big side when doing private upholstery.

The main goal for this new machine is to replace the Kleenrite Sphere, so a small and lightweight machine that I alone can get into the house even if there are stairs. The Sphere I can pick up and carry up the stairs.
I havenīt seen the Express (or the Airlflex Mini). Would I be able to get it up stairs alone?
I see that with a 220 pump and two vacuums it weighs 30kg. Iīm not sure how much our CFR machines weigh.

We use the CFR  upholstery tools, which are great. I like to use the wide 5 inch handtool when doing big sofas, which saves a lot of time. But with the Kleenrite Sphere thereīs not enough power to use this bigger tool.
We are planning on buying a Sapphire upholstery pro 2 (the see thru one), I think it looks like a good addition to lower fatigue on big jobs. Any of you tried this this tool? I guess itīs pretty similar to the Rotovac Sheardry?

We use mainly Chemspec chemicals which we buy directly from Legendsbrands UK, and we pretty much have all their products. I do burns tests and choose the the correct chemicals for each job.

[Angelo]

Talk to Alltec and they will get you sorted .

Great people to do business with .

http://alltec.co.uk/

Have great Day

[Tony Stewart]

Hi Morton
I have the CFR ECO 500 machine. I bought it because it recycles the water. The reason being that if I cannot use the truckmount I could not be doing with all that emptying and filling. I think Paul Moss uses one for upholstery. I think because you use a fair amount of water on upholstery the CFR would do. The CFR  think was developed for the commercial sector, although I use it on domestics.
The psi for cleaning carpets can be misleading. For instance the CFR cleans at 600psi but atomises the water through very thin jets. I clean with a truckmount at 400psi but the heat and flow rate is phenominal so the speed with which you can clean is much faster. That said 100 - 150 psi, is probably on the low side. You need to balance that with the heat that can be produced too. Hope that makes sense.
I have the sapphire and the CFR. Sapphire is lighter and I like the fact that you set the trigger to be permanently on. The CFR is a great tool too and it's just about personal choice.- 5 inch is quick too.
But if you want a portable as Angelo says give Chris Thomas a call at Alltec. He has a machine to fit what you want - just tell him your requirements.
If you want a choice Matt at Cleansmart sells smaller machines too.