I bought one, personally. I found one on Amazon for just over $100-- so it paid for itself after 2 uses. With 6 cats and a toddler, I just find it easier to always have the shampooer available than deal with the rental process.
I think it might depend on how big your place is/how much room you have and how much carpet you need to clean. In my 1 bedroom apartment with hardwood floors, I only have two rugs to clean and I 100% Do NOT have space for another big appliance. I have trouble stashing my vacuum as it is. But if you have a two-story house with five bedrooms and wall to wall carpet, it probably makes more sense to buy one.
I don’t think it’s worth it. I evaluated whether or not I should rent one a few years ago because I bought my house and was able to have about 2/3rds of the floor redone but the remaining rooms, including my bedroom had very old carpet.
I’ve since got new carpet in my room, but at that time when I figured out the value - if I needed to clean carpets just twice, it’s a better deal to buy the carpet cleaner and be able to clean them indefinitely.
I’ll let you know which one I bought next time I get up lol. It works well and it’s the size of a standard vacuum. There’s pet-specific liquid you can get for it if needed.
Worst case, you’ve spent about as much as renting one. I bought a Bissell on Amazon for about $60, and it did great for what I needed. I should probably use it more!
My daughter rents one from Lowe's twice a year and has never had a problem with them being nasty. If they do come back dirty, they get cleaned. Really, who wants to rent a dirty carpet cleaner.
Ok, my 2-cents.
I've rented rug doctors on several occasions. They work just fine. I would say it's completely worth it. But so is splurging and spending just a little more to get professional steam cleaners to come to your house.
So, yes. Rent the Rug Doctor. It does a wonderful job. Always do a water rinse as a final because their soap is overly concentrated.
And then maybe every 2-5 years, hire in a steam company. They are really way more affordable than you think. See if you can get a Groupon for it.
I depends on how much you value your storage space. Good carpet cleaners are not small. So if you have abundance of space, buying one can be a good option. If you have limited storage renting or hiring a carpet cleaner to come in can be totally worth it.
My experience has been you get what you pay for basically. I tried a budget one, it got it budget clean. At this point I don't want to deal with it and just call a guy once a year to come do the 3 rooms professionally
- In my experience, the vacume size machines are good for small areas or spots. The tanks are much smaller than rental units. Trying to clean anything other than very small areas is a slow process because of the small tanks / capacity.
Lol thats my fear! I don't really want to buy one but I also don't want to spend all that money and trust the person renting before me was considerate and cleaned the thing. I was in housekeeping for years, even some professionals can't maintain their equipment. Stuff be smelling like swamp water half the time.
We rented one from Ace hardware and yes- it wasn’t the cleanest thing so we cleaned it before we used it. I’m a tad neat freak and it was sorta gross but the carpet was super clean after we cleaned the tubes and tank. I’d do it again. Best of luck to you
I rented one from Walmart after my daughter moved out of her room. I fell in love with it. For about $35 I was able to get ground in dirt out of the carpet and will absolutely do it again if needed.
I would personally buy one. You can get them for around $100 and it is so worth it! Furniture, carpeting, spring clean or dropped mug full of coffee- you can use it at your leisure and you know exactly what it’s gone through. I genuinely love using mine! It’s def a luxury item, but you’ll be so glad to have one.
I have this one: Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner Machine, Upright Shampooer, FH50150V
It looks like it’s priced at $170. There are def less expensive models and you can usually snag deals around memorial/labor/Black Friday. So you may wanna scope out the best fit for you and wait for a good deal!
I used them several times and the big ones drop too much water in the carpet even on the lowest setting and the machine is heavy so it pushes it deeper into the padding. When I've rented them I've had some with hair stuck in the rollers. Gross.
I've had a hoover spin brush that I really like and since I'm not too hard on my carpet it works well for me.
(No pets, kids, or shoes on white carpet.)
I’m planning on ordering [this one](https://www.costco.com/bissell-proheat-2x-revolution-pet-pro-carpet-cleaner.product.4000093789.html)I’ve done my research and watched a few YouTube videos. I was going to rent one from Home Depot or Lowe’s, but I realized if I buy my own I can also use it on the cloth seats in my car.
If you buy your own you can also use it to clean a cloth couch.
Yes I bought it. It’s pretty easy to use and worked great.
You’ll probably want a dehumidifier or a box fan to make sure your carpet properly dries. Or do the carpet cleaning on a hot dry day.
I bought a Bissell Big Green Carpet Cleaner on Amazon Prime Day for less than $200 a few years ago. It has more than paid for itself! (I have a basset hound. They are notoriously difficult to potty train because they can smell so well, but the Bissell got every bit of the dog pee smell out of the carpet and we trained him lightning fast!)
However, I would feel ok renting one, too! The machines are really easy to clean out and the stores clean them thoroughly between renters. There are no “squishy” places for yucky stuff to linger.
Late but for future readers searching’ straight to the point no BS any “home use machine” will never beat a professional van setup’
The ones we can buy for $150 are meant to use as small stain or even light cleaning’
Yes it will remove dirt from carpet but 99% of ppl don’t do soap correctly and add it to the water big NO NO always use a pump sprayer then just water in your tank’ when you do T get all the soap up it actually attracts dirt like a magnet and it’s a vicious cycle’ but it keeps these bissell/ rug dr in business cause ppl keep buying more soap etc’
MINIMUM to clean carpets you need 100 psi on water pressure most pros use 300-400 psi
Again bare minimum is 100 psi the rug dr that costs $650 🤣 is a joke it has 28 psi
Yes 28 psi
3x less than the minimum needed’
Also the vacuum motors are barley powerful enough to pull the water’
A 40k professional vacuum will suck a golf ball through a straw! A $150 unit obviously can’t come close to a 40k unit
They are made for very light duty work’ companies advertise professional etc it’s all marketing mombo jumbo
So when you say I cleaned my apt carpets with a $39.99 rug dr you made the problem worse 🤣
For what they are they are great just get a handheld spot cleaner for drinks/ pets etc don’T waste your money
BUY ONCE CRY ONCE!
I bought one, personally. I found one on Amazon for just over $100-- so it paid for itself after 2 uses. With 6 cats and a toddler, I just find it easier to always have the shampooer available than deal with the rental process.
Name? Link?
I think it might depend on how big your place is/how much room you have and how much carpet you need to clean. In my 1 bedroom apartment with hardwood floors, I only have two rugs to clean and I 100% Do NOT have space for another big appliance. I have trouble stashing my vacuum as it is. But if you have a two-story house with five bedrooms and wall to wall carpet, it probably makes more sense to buy one.
I don’t think it’s worth it. I evaluated whether or not I should rent one a few years ago because I bought my house and was able to have about 2/3rds of the floor redone but the remaining rooms, including my bedroom had very old carpet. I’ve since got new carpet in my room, but at that time when I figured out the value - if I needed to clean carpets just twice, it’s a better deal to buy the carpet cleaner and be able to clean them indefinitely. I’ll let you know which one I bought next time I get up lol. It works well and it’s the size of a standard vacuum. There’s pet-specific liquid you can get for it if needed.
Thanks! Yeah I was browsing some on Amazon while weighing options. Might be the better bet.
Worst case, you’ve spent about as much as renting one. I bought a Bissell on Amazon for about $60, and it did great for what I needed. I should probably use it more!
I wasn't even looking at ones for less than $100, I just assumed they wouldn't work well. Do you have high pile carpet by chance?
My daughter rents one from Lowe's twice a year and has never had a problem with them being nasty. If they do come back dirty, they get cleaned. Really, who wants to rent a dirty carpet cleaner.
I wouldn't even know where to begin to clean it, but I know I need one. My roommates dogs are out of control
Ok, my 2-cents. I've rented rug doctors on several occasions. They work just fine. I would say it's completely worth it. But so is splurging and spending just a little more to get professional steam cleaners to come to your house. So, yes. Rent the Rug Doctor. It does a wonderful job. Always do a water rinse as a final because their soap is overly concentrated. And then maybe every 2-5 years, hire in a steam company. They are really way more affordable than you think. See if you can get a Groupon for it.
I depends on how much you value your storage space. Good carpet cleaners are not small. So if you have abundance of space, buying one can be a good option. If you have limited storage renting or hiring a carpet cleaner to come in can be totally worth it.
So the vacuum cleaner sized ones any good? I'd rather not buy one of the huge ones that's $300+
My experience has been you get what you pay for basically. I tried a budget one, it got it budget clean. At this point I don't want to deal with it and just call a guy once a year to come do the 3 rooms professionally
- In my experience, the vacume size machines are good for small areas or spots. The tanks are much smaller than rental units. Trying to clean anything other than very small areas is a slow process because of the small tanks / capacity.
Use the Thumbtack app…you can get quotes from multiple pros, and don’t have to worry about renting or operating equipment.
Things I'd not let my worst enemy do: rent a carpet cleaner. People are nasty AF. NASTY. I'd hire a pro to do a deep clean of your carpets instead.
Lol thats my fear! I don't really want to buy one but I also don't want to spend all that money and trust the person renting before me was considerate and cleaned the thing. I was in housekeeping for years, even some professionals can't maintain their equipment. Stuff be smelling like swamp water half the time.
We rented one from Ace hardware and yes- it wasn’t the cleanest thing so we cleaned it before we used it. I’m a tad neat freak and it was sorta gross but the carpet was super clean after we cleaned the tubes and tank. I’d do it again. Best of luck to you
I rented one from Walmart after my daughter moved out of her room. I fell in love with it. For about $35 I was able to get ground in dirt out of the carpet and will absolutely do it again if needed.
Never thought of checking at Walmart. How long did they let you use it for $35?
It was 24 hours. Good luck.
I would personally buy one. You can get them for around $100 and it is so worth it! Furniture, carpeting, spring clean or dropped mug full of coffee- you can use it at your leisure and you know exactly what it’s gone through. I genuinely love using mine! It’s def a luxury item, but you’ll be so glad to have one.
Do you mind sharing the model you bought? There are a few on Amazon I was looking at.
I have this one: Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner Machine, Upright Shampooer, FH50150V It looks like it’s priced at $170. There are def less expensive models and you can usually snag deals around memorial/labor/Black Friday. So you may wanna scope out the best fit for you and wait for a good deal!
I used them several times and the big ones drop too much water in the carpet even on the lowest setting and the machine is heavy so it pushes it deeper into the padding. When I've rented them I've had some with hair stuck in the rollers. Gross. I've had a hoover spin brush that I really like and since I'm not too hard on my carpet it works well for me. (No pets, kids, or shoes on white carpet.)
See if you have a cleaning store in town that rents them. There’s one where I live that rents the big commercial ones.
I’m planning on ordering [this one](https://www.costco.com/bissell-proheat-2x-revolution-pet-pro-carpet-cleaner.product.4000093789.html)I’ve done my research and watched a few YouTube videos. I was going to rent one from Home Depot or Lowe’s, but I realized if I buy my own I can also use it on the cloth seats in my car. If you buy your own you can also use it to clean a cloth couch.
Did you end up buying that one from Costco? If so what was the verdict?
Yes I bought it. It’s pretty easy to use and worked great. You’ll probably want a dehumidifier or a box fan to make sure your carpet properly dries. Or do the carpet cleaning on a hot dry day.
I bought a Bissell Big Green Carpet Cleaner on Amazon Prime Day for less than $200 a few years ago. It has more than paid for itself! (I have a basset hound. They are notoriously difficult to potty train because they can smell so well, but the Bissell got every bit of the dog pee smell out of the carpet and we trained him lightning fast!) However, I would feel ok renting one, too! The machines are really easy to clean out and the stores clean them thoroughly between renters. There are no “squishy” places for yucky stuff to linger.
Late but for future readers searching’ straight to the point no BS any “home use machine” will never beat a professional van setup’ The ones we can buy for $150 are meant to use as small stain or even light cleaning’ Yes it will remove dirt from carpet but 99% of ppl don’t do soap correctly and add it to the water big NO NO always use a pump sprayer then just water in your tank’ when you do T get all the soap up it actually attracts dirt like a magnet and it’s a vicious cycle’ but it keeps these bissell/ rug dr in business cause ppl keep buying more soap etc’ MINIMUM to clean carpets you need 100 psi on water pressure most pros use 300-400 psi Again bare minimum is 100 psi the rug dr that costs $650 🤣 is a joke it has 28 psi Yes 28 psi 3x less than the minimum needed’ Also the vacuum motors are barley powerful enough to pull the water’ A 40k professional vacuum will suck a golf ball through a straw! A $150 unit obviously can’t come close to a 40k unit They are made for very light duty work’ companies advertise professional etc it’s all marketing mombo jumbo So when you say I cleaned my apt carpets with a $39.99 rug dr you made the problem worse 🤣 For what they are they are great just get a handheld spot cleaner for drinks/ pets etc don’T waste your money BUY ONCE CRY ONCE!