As you may remember, I bought a Vax W90-RU-B Rapide Ultra Carpet Washer to reduce my carpet buying bill. Well one month on and I thought I would share with you the results of my new purchase.
But first – let’s do a spot of scene setting:
The property is a 6 bedroom, 3 storey property which has been rented to a single mother with 9 children. Don’t ask me why I accepted this rental, the story is too long. All you need to know is that; oh and that the tenant with her kids in tow have done a runner.
She has left me a garden full of rubbish – but even I don’t think the Vax will manage to vacuum up that lot 🙂
Second point to note: These are the results after me washing the carpets for just 5 mins. The skip was waiting outside and I had to make a quick decision if the carpet would wash or had to be skipped!
Overall:
The machine was as easy to operate as a vacuum cleaner. All you had to do was fill it up with water and washing liquid and then you just pushed it back and forth like you would when you vacuum.
But really, I believe the photo results will tell you all you need to know:
Top Floor Back Bedroom This top floor back bedroom has cheap green carpet. The room measures approx 4.5m x 3.8m. The carpet has a variety of ground in dirt, paint stains, unidentifiable stains and a general layer of muck.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
After one washing, a huge amount of dirt has been removed, there are still some stains to be seen, however with the use of the special Vax stain tool I reckon I may be winning with this.
Result: Carpet kept – saving approx £120
Top Floor Front Bedroom The top floor front bedroom has cheap cord-like grey carpet. The room measures approx 3.8m x 4m. It has a multitude of large stains, burn marks and unidentifiable sticky black stuff everywhere.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Really, this was a pointless exercise due to the burn marks, unidentifiable black sticky stuff and the poor quality of the carpet. However, some of the large stains have been lifted.
Result: Carpet Skipped
Top Floor Front Small Bedroom This is a small bedroom measuring some 2.6m x 2.4m. The carpet has a thick layer of dirt, unidentifiable black sticky marks, blue gloss paint splashes and a large stain.
Due to the paint damage this carpet could not be salvaged. However, I did want to test the Vax on a large stain. You can see the original stain circled in the top photo, in the photo below this stain has been removed. This took less than 2 minutes to achieve these results:
Middle Floor Front Bedroom: This is a large bedroom measuring some 6.6m x 4.2m. This carpet was badly worn and threadbare. The black marks you can see in the below photo show where the bed would have been located.
I already knew this carpet could not be saved, but was interested to see what results are possible even with a carpet as badly damaged as this.
The first photo shows the large stain circled, the second photo shows where and how the stains have really been lifted in less than 2 minutes.
Middle back bedroom: This room measures 4.5m x 3.8m and is laid with a purple/ maeve carpet. The carpet has a variety of ground in dirt marks, large stains and stinks to high heaven of wet dog.
BEFORE
AFTER:
To show the progress of the carpet washing I have just done half the carpet – that way you can see the before and after in one room. After just one washing the ground in dirt and stains had started to lift and the smell was neutralised. With another wash I believe this carpet can be saved
Result: Carpet kept – saving approx £120
Overall findings:
The Vax W90-RU-B Rapide Ultra Carpet Washer is a fantastic maintenance tool for any landlord to own. In all honesty, most properties will not be like the property above – this is abnormal wear and tear and not really a fair test. However, the Vax Rapide has surpassed my expectations and already paid for itself – I have managed to keep 2 carpets at a cost saving of approx £240. Without the Vax these carpets would have definitely been destined for the skip.
I envisage now using the Vax for all end of tenancy cleans. I firmly believe this will prolong the life of the carpets – meaning I have more money in my pocket!
Suzanne
Interesting Sam and thank s for the tip. I recently hired one similar to do a whole property when a tenant moved out and it was brilliant. Cost 40 quid for 2 days But obviously if you’re going to use it regularly it’s best to invest in your own 🙂
Sam
Suzanne, Karen – seriously I think it was worth the outlay – and I reckon if used between tenancy cleans could save some much needed moolah for better things…the OH always tells me off about the amount of “carpetage” (as he says) I am always buying
Karen
You should work for Vax …. as thats me sold !
Ps. 9 children!!!????
Sue
Suggest you teach tenant how to clean carpets! Might keep her cleaner and wear her out before bedtime!
Sam
Hehehehehe this made me laugh so much :))))))
Lynne
We bought one of these a few weeks ago too. It hasn’t had anything like this kind of testing yet but the amount of muck it pulls out – even from carpets that look fairly respectable to start with – has to be seen to be believed!
When our tenants moved in I pointed out that all the carpets were either freshly cleaned or brand new, and offered them the loan of the cleaner if they ever needed it.
Sam
Really nobody should allow their carpets to get to the state of these that were tested 🙂
BUT…as we are landlords we need to cater for all sorts!
Thud
Interesting post and it has given me food for thought although the 9 kids would never have made it past any of my doors!
Ian
I hired a rug doctor a few times and it has always done a good job. I used it on one set of carpets that the tenant had a carpet cleaning company do, they looked a lot better after the rug doctor – admittedly the flat was not empty when the company did them.
The vac would save the hire cost and the time to pickup and return, however when I used a basic vac many years ago, it was a lot slower than a rug doctor and did not do as good a job. The new vac design looks better.
Sam
Ian thanks for sharing. I have been so impressed with the Vax I haven’t used it as much as I should do because I am not so local to my properties and I usually get a company in. However, on the first use alone it paid for itself as it saved me having to replace some carpets which came up lovely after. This time was basically because I wanted to “freshen” the place. Fact is – I have learnt I should do this between ALL tenancies as it makes SUCH a difference – both with the cleanliness and the smell (wonderful!) but also, I think it may even prolong the longevity of the carpets.
Sam
Ian thanks for sharing. I have been so imgepressed with the Vax I haven’t used it as much as I should do because I am not so local to my properties and I usually get a company in. However, on the first use alone it paid for itself as it saved me having to replace some carpets which came up lovely after. This time was basically because I wanted to “freshen” the place. Fact is – I have learnt I should do this between ALL tenancies as it makes SUCH a difference – both with the cleanliness and the smell (wonderful!) but also, I think it may even prolong the longevity of the carpets.