I have a ~1800 sqft 4 br 2 ba home that is about 6 years old and the carpets need cleaning.
My plan is to go to a local grocery store this weekend, rent a Rug Doctor, buy the special Rug Doctor cleaning solution, and clean them myself. I am willing to spend a day of my time and ~$50 on this method.
Anyone have a better suggestion or plan? I'm assuming several things -- that the grocery stores still rent these sorts of things, that there's no cheaper/better place to rent, that a Merry Maids person or those carpet cleaning companies would charge me more...
I'm a big fan of DIY but after years of this I've sought professional help. I'd use a Rug Doctor for a hallway carpet or a flooded room but anything bigger than that is more than I care to handle.
The biggest problem with us amateurs is that we use too much soap, the water's not hot enough, and the vacuum doesn't suck enough. The remaining soap actually attracts more dirt and requires cleaning more frequently.
Perhaps you could find someone like this: A neighbor up the street is a carpet cleaner who contracts (among other places) the carpet of the local Chuck E. Cheese franchise. (You don't want to know, but he cleans it every night after closing.) He's been doing this for over 25 years (he's 62 years old and in great physical condition). For a house your size, with no surprises, he'd charge $350-$400. That's in Hawaii, so you'd probably be able to cut a better deal. There's an extra charge for moving furniture, but he can work around it. He'd do your house every year or two, considering kids/pets & foot traffic.
We start by giving the carpet a good vacuuming before he shows up. Then he stain-treats the spots (depending on the nature of the stain) and sprays a light coat of surfactant. He uses a truck-mounted diesel-driven extractor that heats the water to ~180 degrees. The tool is an 18" rotary brush (with sprayers on the end) that soaks and agitates the fibers and then sucks up the liquid. He finishes with a second pass of a narrow-mouthed vacuum attachment that gets the last of the water and has the carpet nearly dry enough to walk on, you can walk/sit on it with bath towels as soon as he's done, and it air-dries within 24 hours. He says he gets a great aerobic workout. It's fun to listen to the diesel squat & grunt under the load as he runs his tools & vacuum. The job takes about two hours from the time he pulls into the driveway. The dirt/debris that comes out of the truck's filter is impressive, and we don't even wear shoes indoors.
Word of mouth seems to be the best way to find a guy like this, and you don't want the companies with the scary high-pressure flooding/extraction ads. You might begin by literally phoning your local Chuck E. Cheese or some other restaurant and asking them who cleans their carpets, then tracking down someone who does residences.
