Spot Cleaners

In the trade a spot cleaner is a small hot water extractor: a solution tank, a pump, a vacuum motor and a hand tool, built to be carried up a stairwell or into a vehicle. It is the machine for call-backs, stairs, spills, vehicle interiors and small upholstery jobs where setting up a full portable extractor or running truckmount hose is not justified.

The range here is the Razorback SPOTX 3 gallon (11 litre) spot extractor, supplied with hoses and tools, in heated and unheated versions, alongside the Water Claw sub-surface spot lifter and the spotting kits that go in the van with it. The chemistry itself lives in the full spotting range.

How to choose a spot cleaner

Heated or unheated. Heat helps on grease, food and body oils and shortens dwell time. If most of the work is tannin, pet or wicking call-backs on wool, the unheated SPOTX does the job and costs less.

Surface or sub-surface. A spot extractor cleans the pile. A sub-surface tool such as the Water Claw floods and recovers through the backing and underlay, which is the only way to deal with a pet contamination or spill that has gone through. It runs off the vacuum of any extractor.

Tooling. The SPOTX ships with hose and hand tool. Add a 500 psi stair and upholstery tool if you want one tool that handles both without changing over.

Chemistry. A spotting kit covers the common categories: tannin, protein, oil, ink and rust. Match the kit to the brands you already run so the pre-sprays and rinses are compatible.

Technician's Note. Almost every spot extractor that comes back to our workshop has been used on a job that was too big for it. The operator overfills the solution tank to save trips, water carries over into the vacuum motors, and the motors are finished. A SPOTX is a spot and stair machine. If the job needs a full extractor, bring one.