Saphire Uph Tool Comparison with Hydrokinetic Tool

[Ron Werner]

Tried the new Saphire today on microfibre.

Likes:
light weight, nice feel in the hand, nicely balanced, easy triggering
very flexible hose with good length. (I want one for my HK tool)

Dislikes:
left the fabric wetter than the HK
VERY Noisy, twice as noisy as the HK
uneven spray, you can see this in the video. I'm not really convinced the jet pattern is the best for an overall cleaning.
sucks in the fabric too hard, makes it harder to pull along the fabric than the holed teflon glide of the HK
You can see it really grab the material in the vid.
the trigger lock would not lock with pressure in the line. That's what I was trying to do in the video just before I showed the spray of the HK. With the water pressure off, the tool would lock, but with it on, it wouldn't.

If I were to tweak this, I would make the trigger lock easier to work, able to work it with one hand.
I would change the jet system to make it flat like the DM tool and make the vacuum slots into holes with a thin slot after the holes to avoid the lines left by the HK tool's holes.
I'd use teflon as well, slides much easier than the plastic.

Two biggest flaws with the HK are the line left in the fabric by the holes and the weight of the tool head. It does flush the fabric better, esp for a stubborn spot, and it leaves the fabric dryer.
I'd love to blend the two, take the best of both and put them in one.

Overall, had I bought this tool, I'd be very disappointed. Against the HK, it doesn't keep up.
Had I bought this without a comparison, I'd probably work with it and think it was doing a good job.

 

[Mikey P]

One sofa and you're ready to leave a review?

Dislikes:

uneven spray, you can see this in the video. I'm not really convinced the jet pattern is the best for an overall cleaning.
sucks in the fabric too hard, makes it harder to pull along the fabric than the holed teflon glide of the HK

the trigger lock would not lock with pressure in the line. That's what I was trying to do in the video just before I showed the spray of the HK. With the water pressure off, the tool would lock, but with it on, it wouldn't.

It's getting to your head Ron.


First off the spray pattern in not important. the water needs to fill that channel and that's all. Plug up every other hole and it would still work fine.

left the fabric wetter than the HK
VERY Noisy, twice as noisy as the HK
You can see it really grab the material in the vid.

Hey cowboy, do you really need your 30 horse power Truckmount running at 3000 rpms/ 700 PSI to clean that POS $300 sofa?


1. open the vacuum relief port.
2. TURN DOWN THE TRUCKMOUNT RON!

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I loved the hk tool. I wish it didn't leave lines from the glide. If that problem was eliminated, I would get one.

 

[Rafa L]

what a piece of junk.

makes a great garden sprayer.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I bought a couple of the Sapphire's when they first came out and the guys have been using them ever since they arrived. We had been using the Drimaster tool and really like them, but they love the Sapphire in comparison.

We don't have the Hydrokinetic tool, so I can't compare to it.

Junk?
Hardly. :x

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

A agree with Ron and knew he was not going love the tool in comparison with the HK. The locking trigger badly needs work. The flow valve is a pain. Build quality is suspect but time will tell. If I were using any other tool other than the HK it would have impressed me more. But the even with it's flaws the HK still wins. It is faster and leaves the fabric much drier.

If you clean a a lot of upholstery you can tell in 5 minutes if you like an upholstery tool or not. That said, upholstery tools are a very personal decision. I still would like to try a CFR and compare it to the HK.

 

[Mikey P]

I've tried that tool and was not fond of the hand ergos or the angle of the fabric/ tool interface at all.


The big flat block leaves a lot to be desired IMO.

 

[Desk Jockey]

It does look awkward, I'd like to try one before I'd ever buy one.
That's a lot of surface covered by the head. :shock:

 

[Ron Werner]

I agree Mike, those are the flaws of the HK. But why should I clean 20 sofa's with a tool in order to figure out its flaws or whether or not it works better than another tool? How long does it take to form an opinion?

First off the spray pattern in not important. the water needs to fill that channel and that's all. Plug up every other hole and it would still work fine.

So you would trust its actually cleaning if only one of those jets were working? I wouldn't. The water is angled to come out and be vacuumed immediately. There is no slot to fill. Its not like the DM tool where the water comes out evenly across the vacuum port. That tool is DESIGNED to have full flow ACROSS the whole width. Each water hole will flush its area. With the center two not functioning, there will come a time when it will leave a streak in the middle of the wand pass that would have to be compensated for by an extra pass, just like having the middle jet in a greenhorn plug. You wouldn't notice it on this fabric because of how the preconditioning wetted it down. I tried doing just a dry pass without water and it left almost the same clear swath. If I'm going to buy a $500 tool it darned well better be working the way it was supposed to work, not plugged up.
And the trigger lock was too hard to work. I couldn't even get it to lock with the water pressure on. Had I bought this tool and it arrived like this, if i couldn't exchange it I would have to sit down and modify/fix it. For $500 I shouldn't have to fart around with a tool just to get it to work the way its supposed to.

Sorry Keith, but as I said, compared to the tool I am already using with its own design flaws, it doesn't hit the bar. With some tweaks, it would probably kick butt and I gave you some suggestions.

left the fabric wetter than the HK
VERY Noisy, twice as noisy as the HK
You can see it really grab the material in the vid.

Hey cowboy, do you really need your 30 horse power Truckmount running at 3000 rpms/ 700 PSI to clean that POS $300 sofa?


1. open the vacuum relief port.
2. TURN DOWN THE TRUCKMOUNT RON!

I kept the same conditions as I normally use, same rpms, same psi. I rev the motor enough to give it adequate ventilation. Someone posted a while ago about under running an air cooled engine and they don't cool effectively. I operated them both at 400PSI. The HK works perfectly fine at the rpms I was working at and the psi and it is significantly quieter. I had to turn the water flow down with the Saphire. I did open the vac relief on the Saphire once, but it wasn't extracting the water from the fabric as it was, opening the vac relief didn't improve its performance.
AS I mentioned, I liked its weight, feel in the hand, etc, just didn't like its performance on the fabric. And lets say it works fine on a cotton. BFD, do I need 3 uph tools or just one?

 

[Hoody]

And lets say it works fine on a cotton. BFD, do I need 3 uph tools or just one?

I could think of three upholstery tools I'd use depending on the fabric and what I was trying to accomplish.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We use several different ones, a glided Prochem Upholstery tool makes for a good flusher, the Drimaster was our main tool and the CFR is nice because of the trigger. The Sapphire pretty much replaces the Drimaster.

I also have a bunch of PMF detailer tools also, but they are not really comparable and get used very infrequently.

 

[Hoody]

I knew I liked you for a reason Chavez. 8)

Prochem - Flushing, for fire or restorative cleaning of synthetics.
Internal Jet - For some natural or blends
Drimaster - For natural fabrics that tend to stretch easier when wet. I'm able to control it + the fabric a little better than with the internal jet so the fabric doesn't pull.

 

[Bill Soukoreff]

Sadly, three tools for me as well. The HK is not perfect, but for speed and dryness it rocks. I like to make as much per hour as possible when I do upholstery because it is a lot of work.

Lisa, if you read this, can you design another optional glide for the HK as per Ron's suggestion above?

 

[Lyman]

Glided prochem for micro fiber rocks, drimaster 1 and 2 sit in the truck alot lately.

 

[Loren Egland]

8)

Prochem - Flushing, for fire or restorative cleaning of synthetics.
Internal Jet - For some natural or blends
Drimaster - For natural fabrics that tend to stretch easier when wet. I'm able to control it + the fabric a little better than with the internal jet so the fabric doesn't pull.

Hydrokinetic is good at all three of the above.

 

[Loren Egland]

On rare occasion I will use my old style Hydrokinetic tool if I don't like the appearance of hole streaks on some fabrics while they are wet. It is even more gentile and I wouldn't doubt leave fabric even a little dryer. It has a metal face plate though, so around wood and metal must be more careful.

 

[Mikey P]

I cleaned an Antique cotton velvet and two thick Micros today with the SS.



I really like this tool.


My PC has not seen action in weeks.

 

[Ron Werner]

if I had the PC or DM, they would sit in the truck too.
I must assume your SS is fully functional.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Mike

I'm looking for a rayon chenille to do more testing on for fabric distortion issues. Let me know when you get one and tell me how it worked out for you. I was able to clean an old rayon velvet with it and not leave wand marks, but chenille is a whole other story.

 

[Ron Werner]

the only wand marks I saw it leaving were from the 2 supports in the vac slot, much like the gaps in the glide leave marks in the carpet.
just 2 thin lines. A continuous slot would leave no marks

 

[Mikey P]

Is there any tool made that 100% markless?

 

[Jim Pemberton]

It would be a goal worth working toward.

 

[CleanEvo]

I like my trusty old internal jet PMF... it works great, no overspray and leaves the upholstery not too wet... open the vac relief and you can flush well on the nasty spots, you can't equal the agitation of a regular lipped stainless steel tool. All tools leave marks, you need to carry brushes to remove those.

But hey, they all work.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I like my trusty old internal jet PMF...

That's not a bad tool for the money, I have 3-4 of them.

I like them but the other tools are designed a little better. Not a big deal if you clean upholstery infrequently, but if you clean a lot I prefer the other tools.

 

[Hoody]

Is there any tool made that 100% markless?

Shampoo and a towel ? Of course on a chenille, the agitation would probably damage the weave.

 

[Bill Bruders]

Is there any tool made that 100% markless?

Mike and Jim
If we made a tool that was 100% markless I'm quite certain that someone would complain that it doesn't clean or leaves the fabric too wet shiteatinggrin

 

[GeneMiller]

chenille is a very popular fabric with the decorators here, mostly cotton, i clean quite a bit and only pull the tool one direction. we prespray and agitate with the horse hair brush and then rinse and brush.

gene

 

[Ron Werner]

[quote="Mikey P":jowiaw2z]Is there any tool made that 100% markless?

Mike and Jim
If we made a tool that was 100% markless I'm quite certain that someone would complain that it doesn't clean or leaves the fabric too wet shiteatinggrin[/quote:jowiaw2z]

If it didn't clean or left it too wet, what would be the point?
I have a huge sectional on friday to clean, another microfibre. Been getting a lot of those lately. Not sure if I want to try the tool again, if I'd be wasting my time. Its easier to use, ie easier on the arm/wrist, but I know I can get it rinsed better and leave it dryer with the HK tool, just have to put up with the lines from the glide. If its OK with Rick, I'll pass the tool over to Bob and he can compare it with the PC w/glide tool.

 

[RThode]

Absolutely Ron. Go ahead and let Bob give it a go. I really appreciate you trying it out and giving me your honest feedback. I'm sure it's like any other upholstery tool I've used and has it's own technique for using it properly. I remember the first time I tried a pmf internal jet at 400 psi and running at full speed. It badly over wet and locked on fabric quite bad.

Thanks again Ron

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I'm careful with what I post about products that I sell, but I sell the other tools too.

The Upholstery Pro is the best upholstery tool I've ever used. Perfect? Not until we get one that changes its physical structure to fit every curve and angle of upholstery.

But its the best I've used, and its the tool I feature in everything that I do in training now.

The rayon chenille test result is still waiting. Those horrid things should never be even sat on, yet alone cleaned.