Pro carpet cleaning vs rug doctor vs home steam cleaning vacuum?

nsfw

I am weighing the benefits of a professional carpet cleaning against the fact that I am a cheapskate. We had them cleaned 6 months ago but they could use it again.

How does a Rug Doctor do in comparison? 

What if I bit the bullet and shelled out a couple hundred to buy my very own carpet steam cleaner thingy? How do those work? Pro results? Good enough to be happy results?  I've seen them at Lowe's but can't remember the exact brand and model I was considering.

I have doggy footprint stains that I haven't had luck spot-cleaning and some matting. It's very light colored carpet so it shows every speck of dirt.

lasharp

We got ours at Walmart for $150.  It's fantastic.  Most times, we have to go over a room twice to get the same effect as the industrial cleaners that you can rent.  I figured that it would cost $30 a day to rent it.  And I'd want to rent one maybe twice a year or so.  In about 2 years this thing will pay for itself.  And, I'm not limited in having to clean all of my carpets in one day (because I'm too cheap to rent it for two days).  Plus, it does upholstery.  We've done our couch twice.  It's awesome.

 

We have this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoover-Steamvac-Silver-Carpet-Cleaner/5893627

SoEnamored

We've rented a rug cleaner from Home Depot and used that and the outcome was not nearly as good as a professional job..  My dad has a rug doctor and he uses it frequently though and his carpet looks great.  I think that his looks great mostly because he does it so often. 

lmdbww

My mom got us one for Christmas a few years ago. I believe it's a Hoover SteamVac Dual V.  Prior to that we were renting the rug doctor, which I thought worked great, but it was almost impossible to try and get all of our carpets done in one day to avoid the extra rental fees. Plus it's huge and heavy and hard to get in and out of my car trunk. 

I love the convenience of being able to get it out whenever I want, fill it up, and start working. With DD being here now, I also cannot get all of our carpets done in one day.

I also steam our area rugs right on the wood floor. It suctions up so much of the moisture that it goes through far enough to clean and I have never had any moisture hit the floor underneath.

Desmond&MollyJones*

When we bought our house, one of the first things we bought was a heavy duty steam cleaner because we have about 2,000 sq ft of carpet. 

We got ours from Bed Bath and Beyond and I think we paid around $300. 

Aha, found it.  We bought this one:  http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=114808&RN=956&

I don't know how to use it, but my H does and it works SO well.  Absolutely love owing it.

agoodse

We bought a red carpet steamer from BB&B also, and it is just amazing!  When we had a rental with carpet, we used it all the time, and it worked so well.  Never had any issues with it at all. 

It's funny that your DH uses yours; mine loves ours and treats it like one of his power tools and won't let me near it!  Hahaha, I don't mind though

shawnbryant528

I used Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner. They were a little expensive, but they did a great job and I think it was worth it!

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acuservecom

I call to carpet cleaning frisco when ever I need the professional cleaner because I bought these carpets from this company and company give me 2 years warranty for free cleaning

crankyturtle

we have a hoover dual power carpet cleaner; it works perfectly & is relatively easy to use. we have two dogs & they track all types of mud & dirt into the place. sometimes i clean the carpet just for the heck of it--rather dish out a couple of hundred dollars once and have a cleaner handy than to keep paying companies to clean my carpet.

lovemesomemonster

When I was in school my roomie and I would take turns paying to get the carpets done (they were super light and we threw our fair share of parties and had a puppy) and they always came out like new. One time we had a friend bring over her mom's top of the line carpet cleaner and spent all day trying to get them clean.. they didn't come out nearly as good and took so much time. I will always just suck it up and pay to have someone do it and know they will look awesome.