Vax question

Nix143

Hi I've done a search but Vax brings up no results

Anyway I have just borrowed a Vax 121 from a friend to try and clean my carpets with - however it's been sitting in her garage for ages and there is no instruction manual. The Vax site doesn't list this one so I wondered if you guys would be able to help me.

1. What type of carpet cleaner should I be using in this machine? DO I have to get some special type of carpet cleaner or can I use something OS? Stardrops would be ace but I am thinking that's probably not a good idea!

2. Do I fill with hot or cold water?

3. Anything else I need to know?

This machine is a but of a conundrum to me as I've never ever used one before and so should probably wait til I can call the Vac helpline - but look, it's a new toy, I wanna use it now!

Cheers

Nicki

Vax say you have to use their cleaner, but stardrops will be fine, or biological washing powder would work as well. If using either put a small amount of fabric conditioner in the bottom half of the container which will stop it overfoaming. Then put the top half of the container on, and pour in a bucket full of warm (not boiling hot) water and a decent squeeze of stardrops. Put the lid on, making sure that the plastic straw type thing is in the water, and fasten the clips at the side. Connect the hose and the water tube, and plug in.

Make sure you vaccuum your carpets first with your normal vacuum cleaner, as otherwise any mud or dust on the carpet will turn to mud and make a much worse mess once you start! After vaccuuming, start the motor and the water option on the Vax and use like a vaccuum cleaner. If the water doesn't seem to flowing, there is a switch on the head of the cleaner which you need to slide up or down. One position is to put water into the carpet, the other is to suck it out, and I can never remember which way is which.

For stubborn stains let the head of the Vax stand over the stain for about 30 secs then move on. When you have done the whole room, step back and see how it looks. If there are bits you aren't happy with, use a spray bottle and a pan scrubber or microfibre cloth to rub the carpet, which should still be damp to the touch. This should help a lot.

When you have done this, move the switch on the head of the Vax to the other positon and vaccuum over the carpet again to remove as much water as possible. It's a good idea to do this at least twice, then leave windows and door open if possible, or heating on in the room so that the carpet dries as quickly as possible. It will look much better dry than it does wet.

Don't use too much cleaning liquid as if you leave a soapy residue on the carpet, it will get dirty much more quickly.

Hope this helps.

irnbru_2

Nix143 wrote:

1. What type of carpet cleaner should I be using in this machine? DO I have to get some special type of carpet cleaner or can I use something OS? Stardrops would be ace but I am thinking that's probably not a good idea!

bissell+stardrops

Nix143 wrote:

3. Anything else I need to know?

Get as much moisture back out of the carpet as you can. Mine stank for days after the first time I used one of these.

Nix143

Cheers guys, I used washing powder without any problems - to be honest I have only done a quarter of the room as it is filthy and huge - just going over the bits I've done to get all the water out and it looks a bit better but is probably gonna need another go to get the really bad stains out

But I did a lil stain test - where I'd split red wine *coffs* I used the Vax on half of it to convince myself it WAS working - now I have a large stain with a straight edge LOL cool!

Sharifa_2

I've acquired a secondhand VAX V-027 Rapide XL but without an instruction manual. I've added the cleaning stuff as per a couple of threads I found on here, but how do I get the machine to put the water on the carpet? I can't seem to work out how the water gets from the top canister to the floor. How do I work out what the hose and water tube are - all I seem to have is the handtool on a hose? Am I missing some parts?

Sharifa_2

I've answered my own question - you have to wait for the water/detergent to get going and start releasing through the bottom of the unit, have the handle in the released position ie. not the upright resting position, press all three power/soap/brush buttons to On, and there's a trigger on the handle where the fingers go; not sure if this last was necessary, but the whole thing's now working. It's brought one particular 'pet accident' patch up a treat.