Professional carpet cleaning vs DIY?

Question

Is there any real difference in getting your carpet professionally cleaned versus the 'do it yourself' carpet cleaners you can hire?? Is it basically the same thing?? I'm sick of paying for professional carpet cleaners and wondering if i can get the same result from doing it myself. Any tips would be great.

Answer 1

depends on where you want your pain.

The rental machines often have issues and can be back breaking for nearly same cost.

The profesionalls often recycle water EVEN THOUGH THEY SAY THEY DONT and that can be deadly (room smelled like cat pooh when done)

The pro's do have better suction and your rug will dry faster, however you can suck and re-suck your rug till the cows come home, use your own cleaner mix (amonia) water temperture (medium warm) and a big fan.

the older you get the happier you are with throw rugs.

Answer 2

I've never hired a professional, but I have rented the DIY machines from the grocery store (I think they are called the Rug Doctor). A 24-hour rental plus the cleaner to put in it was less than $40, and the bottle of cleaning stuff was enough to do my whole 5 carpeted rooms and have some left over. It's a lot of work, and can be hard to get into corners and around the edges of furniture (if you choose not to move it all), but it's a great quick fix for getting the dog spots out of the carpet before the in-laws come to visit!

Answer 3

The so-called professional cleaners are going to use a dry or steam method for cleaning carpets. Here in New Zealand we can hire a Steam Clener quite reasonbably. The secret to cleaning a carpet, is to get the dust and dirt from under the pile of the carpet, and lifting dirt from pile.The hired Steam clener works well. You can purchase correct bottle of Carpet cleaner fluid as well.If it's a case of some dirt marks on carpet you can get a powder, which you shake on,and vacuum off. In the old days(50years ago) we used Fullers earth.Don't know if that's available now.But the only thing you pay a professional for is time, and their energy. Good Luck!

Answer 4

I have had a carpet cleaner for years (Hoover) and it has never done me wrong. I have four kids and a husband in Landscaping and my beige carpet gets pretty bad. But because I have my own cleaner, I clean them every 3 months. The best part is whenever an unexpected spill comes up, I can just pull it out and take it out real quick. I'm pretty much a clean carpet junkie and could not afford to have them done professionally as much as I like to have them cleaned! :) Good luck!

Answer 5

Professional. The ones that you buy for homes are not commercial strength and therefore do not do a professional job. I have had both. After years of spending 400/yr on a professional I thought I would spend 200 and buy a home unit. Great I thought only I found myself having to do them ever 4 months or so. Plus I had move the furniture and the chemicals that you buy for them are expensive and don't dry as fast and factor in the time it took me it just wasn't worth it and I gave it to a friend. We then got hard wood floors and now only get the bedrooms and staircase done once a year. I use Citrus-O and they use all natural orange based products and for 300 they do 4 bedrooms, a hallway and the staircase. Well worth it.

Answer 6

I own a Hoover Carpet Cleaner and it does a phenomenal job. Cost was +/- $500.00. If the carpet is REALLY bad contact Rasa Floors in Arlington TX... they have this dry chemical product you apply in one step (has a pigment additive to match color in your carpet) that cleans and restores. It's primarily used in industrial settings and commercial property... so the color matching can be a challenge-but it cleans like WOW! If you have the time and energy DIY. If you have the money to spare let someone else do it and go have some fun :-).

Answer 7

Go to Sears or KMart and buy a steam cleaner. They work almost like a vacuum cleaner, but you fill the tank with water. For the cost of a professional you could buy a couple of these machines. I use mine about every 6 months and it works great. I will NEVER let another so called professional in my house. They steal. If you do let them in, do not let them out of your sight. And put all your valuables out of sight. You can buy a new one for under $200.