Shampooing Rugs!

[coriolis]

What a blast! 2 1/2 rooms done, 3 rooms, a hallway, and the stairs to go! Gotta get the Rug Doctor back by noon tomorrow. I'm lovin it!

[Category 5]

For a second I took the thread title literally XD.

[Aquawind]

Sounds fun.. Go grab a Egg Mc Muffin and get to work!! All tile down here..wih 2 dogs the Dustbuster is a daily chore..at least not wet though.

[Miss Mary]

When you're done, come to Ohio Ed - you can shampoo my carpets! LOL

Seriously though, I have rented cleaners but even though the clerk claims they're lightweight and small, they're not! So I ended up buying one. I would have like to own the large Bissels one, that's over $200. But I settled on the Bissel small green one - I found it for about $60, close out price from Meijer and it does a good job cleaning our carpets. I am amazed, it's much lighter than my upright vac!

Here's the one I bought:
http://www.BISSELL.com/Products/c/Uprig ... oduct.aspx

Here's the one I wanted (had borrowed one like it in the past from my ex-sister-in-law, it worked great!):
http://www.BISSELL.com/Products/c/Uprig ... oduct.aspx

[Dionne]

Ceramic tile throughout here.....kept the same pattern through doorways and halls....continuous. Low maintenance. We love it.

[coriolis]

Mary, I'm glad the Bissel worked out for you. Ours stopped spraying after about 3 months. The shops around here wouldn't repair it and I didn't bother trying to return it. I spent about 5 hours messing with it and taking it apart and putting it back together to no benefit. I think that we destroyed the pump by using non-recommended fluids. At any rate, we probably voided the warranty.

Anyway, I got everything done except the steps and one bedroom. Tonight, one of our sons walked in though the dining room and foyer after walking thru a mud puddle outside. Now we have size 10 1/2 footprints on our clean carpet already.

You just can't win sometimes.

[Miss Mary]

Ed - whoa, that's just too bad isn't it? The one I borrowed to do our entire house and 6 dining room chairs worked great. But that SIL became an ex and well, I couldn't ask to borrow it again! LOL I do recall she made a big deal about cleaning it after each use and to use only named brand liquids. Since it belonged to her I did these things. Maybe carpet cleaners are touchy! I'll keep this in mind when I use mine (which isn't as good as the real heavy duty Bissell but it does okay.....very lightweight, which I like).

So at least you got yours done. That is a great feeling. Another spring cleaning item to check off your list.

Mary

[Pburgh]

Ed, I did the same with my Bissell. I couldn't say NO when friends and family asked to borrow and I also abused it myself by using non-recommended cleaners.

Ed, how much does that Rug Doctor weigh??

[southerngale]

I used to have a Bissell that worked great at first, then it started having a little trouble spraying, and it leaked a good bit. A little over a year ago, I bought the Hoover F6215-900 SteamVac Agility Carpet Cleaner and love it! The tanks hold more, so I can do a lot more carpet before re-filling the solution and dumping the recovery tank. It cleans better than my old machine as well. It's bigger than my other one, but it's not very heavy. It's really easy to handle and the attachments are great. It did cost more than my previous one ($159.99), but since it works so much better, it was worth it.

As I'm house hunting though, I'd love to find a house with no carpet! Between pets and spills (and those muddy feet, like Ed's son), I have to shampoo the carpet fairly often. Cleaning tile floors would be so much easier/quicker!

[coriolis]

They have a "standard" unit which probably weighs about 20 pounds empty. It is a little ackward to put into a car. Once you fill it up with water, it's probably 30-40 pounds. It is fairly maneuverable as long as you're only going forwards and backwards and not making sharp turns.
You can steer it better by putting the handle out to a more horizontal position, but then you reduce the clearance as you are moving backwards. It will only clean to about an inch from the wall, so if there are dirty spots there, you have to use the upholstery attachment. I do that first, so I can get on my hands and knees before most of the carpet is wet.

There is also a "wide track" machine which is bigger and heavier, but covers a wider swath. I wouldn't recommend it for a room with much furniture.

Don't tell anyone, but we use laundry detergent with a little bleach added in. It has never bothered the rug doctors, but maybe the Bissel's didn't like that.

[Pburgh]

Thanks Ed.

BLEACH???????? Do you mean bleach alternative or actual CLORAX???

Oh, by the way, how long will it take you to get down here??? LOL

[Miss Mary]

I think he means straight bleach!

[coriolis]

Oh my, Karan. Yes, original chlorox. Just a little to disinfect and break down the stains. It hasn't hurt the carpets. They're a beige color. There are no colors that would fade. Wow, I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

[Miss Mary]

I kinda knew you meant the real thing!

We use liquid bleach at the school cafeteria I work at. One part bleach to oh 3 or 4 parts water, in all of our buckets of clean wash water in each sink (a health code requirement). All I know is it's harsh on our hands, not to mention the liquid soap we have to wash with (it cannot contain any type of lotion). I made the mistake of wearing old black pants to work, when we were scrubbing down warmers, lower shelves, etc. and I came home with ruined pants! But thankfully they were consignment shop pants!

My SIL takes a spray bottle and fills it with 1 part bleach, 3 parts water and after doing her dishes, she sprays the sink, counters and faucet down with this solution.

Here at home I only use it for 2 reasons - the occasional mold on shower curtains and certain whites in the wash, I'll leave it at that! LOL

Never would have thought to add it to carpet cleaning machines until I read your topic Ed. Makes sense if you have pets.

[Pburgh]

I use it when cleaning sinks and tubs. I always thought it would fade the carpet. Ed, I don't know whether it will hurt the carpets or not. I'd probably use an all fabric bleach though......less caustic and will still help remove those stains.

Mary, you now have black tie-dye pants.

[Stephanie]

We have a Hoover carpet cleaner. I've used it MANY times. Cats and dogs tend to make messes too. I can't get over how dirty that water gets. I wonder what the heck the vacuum cleaner IS picking up???

[coriolis]

Felines and Canines and Kids, OH MY
Felines and Canines and Kids, OH MY

We got 'em all. Oh, and don't forget the grandson who is a menace with kool aide.

What a popular thread - over such a mundane topic.

Who woudda figured?

[Miss Mary]

If I had to build again, the all wood or tile floors do make sense. If you have pets.

But my idea of an all wood or tiled floor house is - radiant floor heating!

Now that would be sweet - warm feet and easy cleanups!

I'd have to buy my Murphy's Oil Soap in bulk though.....LOL

But like you Ed, our house is mostly carpeted.....sigh. My next door neighbors have never had their carpets cleaned (in 18 years). Do you want to know why? They're never dirty! They religiously take off their shoes - 24/7 and she vacuums every single day. She especially backs out of rooms so there are no footprints on the carpet.

I am not making that up. We all joke we could eat off their floors - carpeted ones too!

[CajunMama]

Wood and tile floors with shedding pets. What a mess! I vacuum the floors and i turn around and there's more hair.I'm forever vacuuming.I guess there's no easy solution with pets/carpet/wood floors/tile floors. I'm not about to get rid of my pets, I love them too much.

[Pburgh]

With one cat and one dog, cleaning my carpeted floors is much easier than cleaning my wood floors. If I had no pets, I'd prefer wood floors.