Any DIY Carpet Cleaning Experiences?

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by billt460
I rented a Rug Doctor from Home Depot the last 2 times we spot cleaned our carpets. But I'm not that thrilled with it to do it a third time. What is the best rental machine? Or are they all the same?


Go to Lowe's and rent the Bissel Big Green carpet cleaner. It cleans in both directions instead of just one like the Rug Doctor. The only thing I didn't like about it is the weight esp when full of cleaning solution. Does a great job cleaning and drying.

I would then go to Home Depot and buy some Zep Premium carpet cleaner. Not only does it clean but also leaves some protection behind. So the next cleaning should be easier. Make sure you get the Premium cleaner since they make a regular version also. Trav recommended the cleaner which is how I found out about it. Below is a $5 off coupon for the machine rental. About $35 for the cleaner and machine rental total for a 24 hour rental. When you see all the black water that is extracted you know it was worth it.

https://www.bissellrental.com/Custo...Eka_Q4AIVBLbACh3tngf6EAAYASABEgI0kPD_BwE

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by Donald
There are professional systems that are not truck mounted. You cannot get a truck in the elevator of a high rise.


We used to able to get the hoses pretty far up the stair wells and then to the apartment when I worked for Stanley Steemer. For units that couldn't be reached we had a few trucks that had portable equipment on board. I forget how many stories we could reach.

We had similar equipment to what Steve has mentioned it sounds like but this was some time ago. We would have to put the truck in neutral, rev it up to 2500 or so then engage a hold switch to keep it there. Then engage a lever that powered the motor to the cleaning equipment. There was a large cleaning solution tank and a large dirty water tank on board. We would leave the trucks running the entire day and would have to wash the truck after each daily run. Even in the winter months but at least we didn't have to dry them. The trucks were stored indoors and all of them were Fords back then. This was in the early 90's.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted by StevieC
I worked previously for a chemical company and we frequently sold carpet cleaners to nursing homes and restaurants with tough stains and traffic gime.

The best method is to mix the carpet cleaner with water and apply generously to the area and let it sit for 15 minutes, some agitation during this time with a stiff bristle brush like a deck brush will also help. By increasing the contact time you give the cleaner more time to loosen and soils versus the short time it would have otherwise with a machine putting the chemical down and immediately extracting it back up within a few seconds.

Then extract with straight water in your machine or by rinsing the area and using a wet-vac to suck up the fluid. We always advised room temperature water in our demos as hot water can set certain stains.

Test the carpet cleaner on an inconspicuous area first for compatibility as some commercially available cleaners can burn carpets if left too long, and a stronger concentration is not always better when it comes to carpet cleaning it can work against it so follow the dilution instructions. The commercially available carpet cleaning fluids are much better than the stuff off the shelf at Walmart.

Good luck.


Good info Stevie!!! Take the weekend off.lol

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by JC1

Good info Stevie!!! Take the weekend off.lol

I usually do.. Just check in if I have some time to kill while my dad sleeps.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver
Originally Posted by billt460
I rented a Rug Doctor from Home Depot the last 2 times we spot cleaned our carpets. But I'm not that thrilled with it to do it a third time. What is the best rental machine? Or are they all the same?


Go to Lowe's and rent the Bissel Big Green carpet cleaner. It cleans in both directions instead of just one like the Rug Doctor. The only thing I didn't like about it is the weight esp when full of cleaning solution. Does a great job cleaning and drying.

I would then go to Home Depot and buy some Zep Premium carpet cleaner. Not only does it clean but also leaves some protection behind. So the next cleaning should be easier. Make sure you get the Premium cleaner since they make a regular version also. Trav recommended the cleaner which is how I found out about it. Below is a $5 off coupon for the machine rental. About $35 for the cleaner and machine rental total for a 24 hour rental. When you see all the black water that is extracted you know it was worth it.

https://www.bissellrental.com/Custo...Eka_Q4AIVBLbACh3tngf6EAAYASABEgI0kPD_BwE

Thanks. I'll give it a shot just as soon as it warms up enough, so I can keep the windows open in the morning to help dry it out when I'm done.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted by Donald
There are professional systems that are not truck mounted. You cannot get a truck in the elevator of a high rise.




Absolutely correct. But we routinely do a rich fellow's apartment at 17 stories straight up! The building allows us to set up in the stairwell, we simply remove hose from the truck and let it down, tying it off every few stories for safety. Our truck easily outpowers any portable machine.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted by billt460
I rented a Rug Doctor from Home Depot the last 2 times we spot cleaned our carpets. But I'm not that thrilled with it to do it a third time. What is the best rental machine? Or are they all the same?



Nope, they are not all the same. And despite the obvious differences in magnitude when compared to a 6 liter gas powered unit with 340 hp, a properly set up and operated portable machine can do a great job. Our new one draws almost 40 amps, it has serious power. But you will not find it for rent anywhere!


I would be very concerned about where the Rug Dr. was the day before. Electric blowers are not the same as a positive displacement blower, and they exhaust the air directly into your house. Plus most of them have no heat.

 

[das_peikko]

If you have a good strong wet/dry vac and some Purple Power, you can easily make carpet look like new. Get the carpet flooded wet with hot water and then scrub in the Purple Power. Vacuum up the water, dirt, and cleaner several times with plenty of changes of water. The key is to do several rinses with water so that you don't leave any cleaner residue behind to attract dirt.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
If you have a good strong wet/dry vac and some Purple Power, you can easily make carpet look like new. Get the carpet flooded wet with hot water and then scrub in the Purple Power. Vacuum up the water, dirt, and cleaner several times with plenty of changes of water. The key is to do several rinses with water so that you don't leave any cleaner residue behind to attract dirt.


Not sure I'd want to flood the carpet because of the padding and floor under it and some of the problems that could present. With the Big Green machine the vacuum is always on when cleaning. Then the solution is activated via trigger. The professional truck carpet cleaning set-up is similiar but on a larger more powerful scale.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by billt460
te]Thanks. I'll give it a shot just as soon as it warms up enough, so I can keep the windows open in the morning to help dry it out when I'm done.


Sure thing, I did my mom's off-white carpet a year ago when it was freezing outside. It was right before the holidays a year ago. I thought the carpet looked embarrasingly dirty and she was entertaining relatives. The machine does a very good job of getting the moisture/wetness out of the carpet. I bought some cheap shoe covers at HD also for a few bucks. It seemed like the carpet was dry in a few hours. CR gave the machine top marks for cleaning and drying. It received a lower score in the weight dept. The machine seemed to clean and dry the carpets as good as the truck mounted equipment that Stanley Steemer uses. Maybe even better since there's no scrubbing roller brushes on the cleaning wands that S.S. uses. With the S.S. equipment it's just spray cleaning solution and vac.

But there's very little weight to contend with when using the S.S. equipment since most of all that is located in the truck.

 

[das_peikko]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver
Not sure I'd want to flood the carpet because of the padding and floor under it and some of the problems that could present. With the Big Green machine the vacuum is always on when cleaning. Then the solution is activated via trigger. The professional truck carpet cleaning set-up is similiar but on a larger more powerful scale.


A strong vacuum will suck all the water out including the padding. Those carpet cleaning machines never have enough suction.

And besides that, I talking about cleaning just 3 square feet at a time.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Haha, so not really a consideration in a 650 sf family room?

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by SteveSRT8
...

I would be very concerned about where the Rug Dr. was the day before.
...

This: (my experience)
-one machine not working (vacuum)
-one machine give me about 1/2 pound of metal shavings. (I know because i had to extract them all from my carpet in a plastic bag, to show at the store so they don't charge me for a machine i didn't break)

 

[Sandres]

I believe that carpets create comfort in the house. It is very cool when the feet are warm and soft, but I hate to clean our carpet. Usually I don't take special devices, I use a steam cleaner. The carpet is very convenient, but it's quite difficult to clean the carpet, especially if you have small children who constantly spill something on it. Here https://bestcleaneradviser.com/how-to-dry-wet-carpet-without-vacuum/ in this article you can find tips on how to clean the carpet and how to make it easier. I clean the house twice a week and different devices for cleaning help me a lot, it significantly saves cleaning time.