A carpet cleaning saturday

Just to give you an idea, we own a 2 storey cottage house. The first floor has our living room and our kitchen. The second floor has 3 rooms (2 bedrooms + 1 room that we transformed into an office that will lead you to the deck in our backyard) + the bathroom. Then we have a basement that has 1 bedroom, the family room with the fireplace, 1 powder room, the storage and the laundry room. The living room, the bedroom in the basement and the whole 2nd floor with the exception of our office and, of course, the bathroom are covered with carpet.

Yesterday was my carpet cleaning saturday. I've been planning to do it since my last vacation in August. But we've been very busy with our kitchen renovation so we had to wait a little bit. Since my parents are coming in a week, we thought it has to be done. So, we rented the Rug Doctor cleaner.

The unit can be rented for $26.99+ tax. You need to add $3 if you want to rent the unit for the upholstery. Plus a $10 deposit, which is reimbursable upon returning. You also have the option of buying a rug doctor cleaning solution. They have a variety of products to choose from.We bought the Oxysteam carpet cleaner. As per the reviews, this solution has heat-activated oxygen boosters to grab dirt and grime and lift them out of your carpets. So it's more like a breath of fresh air, so why not? Our bill summed up to $63. I find it expensive actually, well, that's the cheapskate in me. But it's cheaper than hiring a professional to do it for you, which could go up to $90+tax per room.

Pros: It is available for rent on almost all local grocery stores in North America. Check here if it's available in your area. It's relatively cheaper than hiring a professional. The machine is not complicated to use. And if you do it properly, the result is superb. It will really speak for itself. Hands down.

Cons: Nakaka-inip. Why? because in order for you to do it properly, you have to do it slowly. REALLY SLOW. In their website they said to do it 1 foot per second. I was literally counting 1 to 3 per pull/ movement. I forgot to say that as opposed to the regular vacuum cleaner, this one has to be pulled backwards. I was in my living room at 12pm, it was 3pm already and I'm still not done in the living room. To think my living room is not even that big, so imagine! I was so close to saying, I don't want to do it anymore. Another one is you have to refill the water very often because the water goes fast.

My suggestions:

1. Do your vacuum cleaning at least once a week. But, do your carpet cleaning/shampooing at least once every 3 to 6 months.

2. It's preferable to do your carpet cleaning on summertime, when it's really hot! It's fall time now, so we're still soaking wet until today (Sunday). We have to turn on the dehumidifier, portable heating and the centralized heating to dry the carpet fast.

3. Pretreat the carpet especially the heavily stained ones, it would help to loosen the dirt easily.

4. Just devote one whole day just to do your carpet cleaning, or you'll be forced to do it fast. If you do it fast, the result is not that great compared to if you're doing it slow.


So if you're new to DIY carpet cleaning, this will be your best bet. It's really worth every penny that you're spending.