The Basics of DIY Carpet Cleaning

While wall-to-wall carpeting is very attractive in any home, it is something that must be cleaned on a regular basis in order to keep it good looking and to extend it’s longevity. Hiring a carpet cleaning company that will come into your home to clean your carpets professionally is great if you can afford to pay the often high prices asked, but many of us simply cannot afford this luxury every few months.

You can quite easily clean the carpeting in your home yourself and the results will match the job done by the professionals if you use the proper equipment. If you have a rental company in your area that rents equipment, give them a call and see if they rent out carpet cleaning machines. Often times certain large department and even grocery stores rent out carpet cleaners so ask around until you find a business that does.

You usually can rent a carpet cleaning machine on a per-day basis and can generally expect to pay between $30 and $40 for renting the machine overnight. If you have an average sized home, and have a day or two free, then this should be plenty of time to get the job done. Be sure to pick up carpet cleaning shampoo at the same time as the chemicals used in this solution are strong and effective at removing ground in dirt and stains.

Before beginning the steam-cleaning process, use your regular vacuum cleaner and give your carpets a thorough going-over. Even though the machine you rented is powerful, this will help to lift the strands of carpeting up prior to using the steam cleaner. A carpet cleaning machine comes with a receptacle for holding water. You must fill this tank up with warm water and the suggested amount of shampoo. The attached wand with the narrow plastic head contains two or three jets.

Once you turn the power on, hold the trigger on the handle down fully to make sure that water is being sprayed out of all of the jets. If not, simply clear the jets using a small piece of wire until the water comes gushing out. You can then start the cleaning. Simply hold down the trigger and run the apparatus across the carpeting in small areas. Once you have soaked a small area, release the trigger on the handle so that the water you just sprayed is sucked up and into the holding tank. Continue cleaning in this manner and feel free to go over heavy traffic areas twice and even three times. It is important to vacuum up as much moisture as you can with the machine to speed up the drying process.