Anyone steam cleaned their own carpet? What equipment to buy?

[scarleta]

Hello: I am not sure how big job it is to do it yourself, but I am not totally happy with the results , so this time perhaps we buy our own machine to do the job.Wondering if anyone has used a good machine? and what to look for? They have two at Costco one more expensive and bigger than the other one? Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Kaleigh]

Try posting this in Hangout, doesn''t belong in RT.

 

[scarleta]

thanks so sorry that is where I thought I posted.thanks.Just checked and its showing on Diamond Hangout? or am I missing something?

 

[Skippy123]

I am sorry; I don''t have one. My friend has one and likes it okay. I have done it myself w/a Rug doctor from Lowes and it was just okay. I now used Stanely Steamer once a year to clean carpets.

 

[Finding_Neverland]

I have a Hoover home steam cleaner. It''s OK for spot cleaning, or low traffic rooms, but not a big job like doing your whole house. The base is narrow so you don''t cover much area at a time. And, mine is older,........ One of the first models they had out,......... It leaves tracks where the brushes are. There''s 4 brushes and you can see where each one went on the carpet.

When I''ve done a deep cleaning myself, I went and rented a Rug Doctor for a couple of days. The Rug Doctor has a lot more power and does a better deep cleaning job than the Hoover.

Then we learned our neighbor had his own Carpet Cleaning business. He''d do our whole house for $75-$100. Much cheaper than Stanley Steamer or similar name brand carpet cleaning companies. He did a better job and he was much more careful about our woodwork as well. Not to mention, it was easier on my back!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I''ve owned a few home steam cleaners, either Bissell or Hoover and have had terrible luck with them. I''m pretty sure the most recent one I owned was purchased at Costco and was around $300. . .it DID work, but didn''t last for long. For some reason, after about 1-2 years, the cleaner just konks out. My MIL has had the same thing happen with hers too!

For me, it''s easiest to use a little hand cleaner for spills and for when my cat has a hair ball (lol!) and the rest of the time, I rent a cleaner. It''s cheaper that way and I don''t have to fuss with finding a place to store a my own vaccuum.

Have you checked consumer reports for suggestions?

 

[scarleta]

Have not yet checked consumer reports.Still just considering whether to buy it or continue having it done.Glad someone mentioned the back pain after ( don''t need more of that) Maybe just have to find someone doing a better job with it.still thinking seems lots of work...

 

[divergrrl]

I have a top of the line Hoover, and while its good for spot cleaning, its better to have your carpets professionally cleaned. The DIY cleaners don''t get the water & soap out well enough no matter how $$$ they are and it leaves a residue that actually attracts more dirt.

I used to use Stanley Steemer, but I found a guy locally who is half the price ($100 for my whole house) and he does a dry chemical type cleaning (kind of like chem dry). My carpets look fantastic. When I used Stanley steemer, I did it once a year, but I''ll use this guy 2x a year.

The best thing you can do at home to keep your carpets as clean as possible is vacuum...A LOT! I am trying to vacuum every other day---it really helps keep dirt/hair/dusties out of your carpet.

HTH

Jeannine

 

[scarleta]

Does chem dry remove dirt stains? I have some? My friend uses it and likes chem dry ,but she has no stains so she does not know?

 

[divergrrl]

Scarleta: I had 3 stains removed yesterday with the chem method. I have a cat, german shepherd, 2 year old son, and another baby on the way. The stains are gone. In fact the stains are gone better than with Stanley Steemer.

I put in new carpet 2.5 years ago and I've had it cleaned 3 times so far...we bought a top of the line Shaw Frisee in a medium caramel color (to hide dog hair & dirt) but since it was so expensive, I feel compelled to take good care of it.

I do use my Hoover steam cleaner for spot cleaning (like when my dog threw up on my carpet....or my son threw up on my carpet.....or my friends spilled red wine during our NYE party) but I always blot the stain first, then put water on it to loosen more & blot more, pre-treat with a stain remover & then use my cleaner with a minimal amount of Zep Commercial Carpet cleaner (works best...avail at home depot), and then I rinse & rinse.

It takes such a LOOOONG time to clean your own house with a cleaner...you have to move really slow. And if you don't want to leave soap in the carpet (which attracts future dirt, you have to do it again with just water ) and even then its left so wet, that its not good for it.

I'd spend about $200 on a Hoover model for spots...and keep getting your rugs professionally cleaned. Chem Dry is good. I used a local contractor who owns his own company and it was about half the price and he did a great job.

Jeannine

 

[Mara]

i totally agree re just having your carpets professionally cleaned. we bought a steam cleaner, a hoover i think, i think we spent like $200 on it but it was like $400 retail (we got it on overstock), and honestly it did not do a good job at all. i also read AFTER the fact that so many of these cleaners use some sort of soap..well these home steamers are never strong enough to pull all the soap out of the carpet and get it entirely cleaned out. so what happens is eventually as the carpet dries over time the soap RISES to the surface of the carpet and then dirts and soils and things get stuck to the soap and make the carpet look even dirtier than before! we totally noticed this happening as well!

so now i just have a chem-dry person come to the house like 2-3x a year and have them clean the house. it's only like $200 each time and it looks WAY better and they don't use a soap-based cleaner, it's some sort of water carbonation thing that breaks up the dirt by blasting it...anyhow we have been really happy with it. Chemdry has people all over, you just have to find a local person.

we never use the steam cleaner anymore...actually once or twice if we were DESPERATE to spot clean something like a portia-spot when we were having guests the next day or something. but other than that, total waste of $$!

oh and chem dry is fantastic at getting stains out...the two guys we have had come so far (you can request the same people if you like them) both got out portia-spots from throwing up or getting sick that we could not get out ourselves. also they work wonders on our entrance stairs!

 

[scarleta]

Thanks a lot chem dry it will be.Really happy I posted it here before purchasing the unit...Thanks again