How-To Clean Carpets Yourself And Save A Bundle

Many people want to save a money and clean their own carpet. Many supermarkets have rental machines that you can rent for as low as $30.00 bucks. You will also need the cleaning supplies which can be expensive at the rental location- you might consider some of the recommendations I have later in this article.

You should also look at picking up a carpet rake to rake the carpet after cleaning, this will fluff the carpet and make it dry faster. A carpet rake can be found at janitorial supply stores. It looks very similar to a regular yard rake but only plastic and about half as wide. You use a rake to brush the carpet fibers and get them to stand up straight.

Now, here are the steps you should take to clean your carpet so it gets really clean, just like the pro's!

Step 1: Remove any furniture from the area you want to clean and decide exactly how much cleaning you will be doing. Use a good vacuum to fully pick up all of the loose dirt and debris. In many cases a second vacuuming is recommended.

Step 2: Now that all the loose dirt is gone pre-treat and spots and high traffic areas of the carpet. Be sure and follow the directions on the chemicals you are using. In some cases you are better off testing the product first in a corner closet or some place out of the way. This is to ensure you will not be causing any carpet discoloration. A low cost and effective carpet pre-treater can be found HERE

Step 3: Once the carpet is pretreated, fill the solution tank of the machine with hot water and carpet detergent.

Step 4 Start up the machine and clean the carpet in a series of overlapping passes with hot water and carpet detergent to flush the pre-treater, dirt and residue from the carpet. The full directions on how to use the equipment are usually posted on the side of the machine. They are usually very simple to use.

Step 5: Go slow. Once you are done with an area go back and pick up any excess water on the carpet with the vacuum only. Most likely you will have to go over the heavy traffic areas a few times but that is normal when cleaning carpets even with heavy duty cleaning products.

Step 6: Once you are done if you feel there is still too much residue left in the carpet, fill your solution tank with HOT WATER ONLY and clean the carpet again. This will leave your carpet squeaky clean.

Step 7: If you like, use your carpet rake and fluff the carpet up after you get done cleaning. You could also treat your carpet with a protector like 3M Scotchgard

Step 8: To speed up drying, put a few box fans on the area you have cleaned, and if you removed furniture from the area with wooden feet, put it back but make sure you put waxed paper or aluminum foil under the furniture, to prevent stains.

By following these simple steps you should be able to get your carpets looking around 50-100% percent cleaner. Most do-it-yourselfer's would agree that cleaning your own carpets is a good way to go to save money.

If you purchase your own carpet cleaner, you can save even more money in the long run, and can be more convenient for you to use.

Check out my recommendation below for a carpet extractor that is affordable and powerful.

The Hoover F7411-900 SteamVac Dual V Widepath Carpet Cleaner
is a very good choice for homeowners that cannot afford the more expensive Carpet Express. This machine has very durable tanks, a good pump for spraying the solution into the carpet and includes hand tool attachments.

The hot exhaust air is channeled back to the steam head and keeps your hot water, hot, for cleaning your carpet.

The downside to theHoover F7411-900 SteamVac Dual V is the plastic parts can break just like anything else so you want to be careful when using it.