We are Rotovac fans. We use Rotovac 360 I's and use Rotovac upholstery tools. We have used many other tools in the past and have been in business for over 30 years. I'm not sure if this is what you were looking for in this post but I'm going to list what I do or don't like about Rotovac tools and the other brands of each tool. Remember, these are just my opinions and many people have other preferences.
We clean a lot of upholstery and much of it is delicate and high end. I need tools that are comfortable for my technicians and as safe to use as possible.
We use the Rotovac Sheardry on almost all upholstery jobs. . The Rotovac tools are light, fabrics dry fast, they are safe on almost all upholstery and ergonomically friendly. I wish they could regulate how the water gets distributed to the head better, because there is more solution that comes out the center few holes.
We keep CFR combination upholstery tools on all of our trucks. They were what we used prior to switching to Rotovac tools. There is some upholstery that is so delicate that we only want to mist rinse it and the Rotovac tool doesn't allow us to do that. We also use this tool to detail stairs. The CFR tools are not ergonomically friendly and a little heavy.
Prochem upholstery tools, ergonomically very friendly but the tools leave the fabric a little wet (old technology). We still have some of these tools around the shop for outdoor cushions and other in shop items.
Hydramaster Drimaster, We have a few of them but the opening where the water comes out gets distorted and then you get streaks. It is also slightly narrow. They may have made more improvements since I bought mine. They are very light and ergonomically friendly.
Steamway Hydrokinetic- We used this tool for a few weeks when it first came out. We found that it left streaks on velvets and sent it back because of that. It was easy to use and seemed like a great tool except for the streaking problem.
Steamway fast-n-dry. This was our favorite tool but when I got it form the original owner of Steamway I needed to make some modifications to make it great. They wouldn't make the modifications so we only have the one. It was easy to use, we could mist rinse with it or use it normally and it was awesome at getting in tight spots and welting.
Below is a copy of a post I replied to earlier explaining why we like the Rotvac 360I over all other rotary extractors.
We are 90% residential and we do clean a lot of wall to wall wool and other delicate carpet fibers.
We run a RotoVac 360I on all 5 of our trucks and insist that they get used on every carpet job (the exception are a few delicate fibers or construction). . We originally used RX20's but they are heavy, they need glides to make them gentle on carpet seams and have many parts that can break. We also used and still use some Rotary Dri Masters, they work great for certain situations but Hydramaster quit making them, they are also plagued with problems when used all the time. We also tried the Hoss for several weeks, it is heavy and we did get streaks on a few styles of carpet.
We totally believe in the 360I, It is light weight so it can be carried up and down stairs with ease. The handle telescopes so you can actually clean very soiled stairs with it. It has very few moving parts and we have not had many problems with them in the five years we have been using them. A few welds on the handle, and one gear box. My technician's don't treat equipment as gently as I would so I think they are holding up very well. We were thinking about trading up to the 360XL but the weight is almost double so we will be sticking with the 360I.
