Carpet cleaning: Hire a service or buy a machine?

my favorite service to use is stanley steemer. you can almost always find a coupon code and you can schedule your service online. they run their hoses out to the truck. i get our carpets cleaned twice a year.......usually in late spring and then right before thanksgiving.

We have a Bissell carpet shampooer that is fine for routine carpet cleanings, and of course we spot clean spills and such as we go along......but there's no substitute for an occasional professional deep cleaning. We use one of the services that has big hoses going out to the truck. They can get deep dirt and soils out of carpet that no home cleaner can handle. I'd check with people you know for local recommendations -- and there are often coupons and "specials" in the mail, online, or in the newspaper. If it's been years since you've had those carpets professionally cleaned, it's probably time!

I just dropped a whole cup of coffee on the carpet here next to my desk this morning, and our cat had an unfortunate (!) digestive reaction to a new cat food last week. And of course, we just had the holidays. It's about time for some carpet cleaning over here, too!

You can check, if you have a janitorial supply place by you they may rent machines out. I found those are better than the supermarket ones. I'll do this in the spring, open all the windows and clean all the carpets in the house. (That way I'm getting the most out of renting.) But I do have a Hoover carpet cleaner for in between cleanings.

I'm leaning toward the Stanley Steemer type service just because it's been a while. So they do work well; that is good to hear. I'd like to freshen up these rooms.

Ideally I would like to rip up the carpet and just have the concrete floor with big area rugs but am fearful that the padding may have been glued down (not just at the perimeter) and plus there is so much furniture down there -- mostly bookshelves but also large desk and sofa -- that the thought of shuffling it all around to get the carpet up defeats me. Do they generally glue in the center of the room? It was installed by Home Depot about 10 years ago over a painted concrete floor.

Our local Stanley Steamer is a bust. I'd never hire them again after a bad experience once.

I have an Oreck floor cleaner. and I can clean my carpets at my own pace and in my own time. It is great when there are spills and accidents as well.

I think your choice should depend on what all happens on your floors. If you wear shoes in the house, have kids or pets with spills or accidents, then a good professional cleaning might be in order.

We have one grown kid, and no shoes in the house. Dog gets his feet wiped with diaper wipes at the door, so I think using my Oreck is plenty good, and I control the amount of water that goes into the carpet. Last time I had a professional, my carpet was soaking wet, a total mess.

Kachina, that's what I'm afraid of -- the soaps or whatever leaving a dirt-attracting residue.

I used to be meticulous about not wearing shoes down there etc. but in recent years it's become a repository for boxes and furniture of stuff belonging to deceased family members. I finally have purged enough to the point where the rooms are functional again and they sure could use freshening up from all the dusty boxes and such. Plus I have acquired two rescue Chihuahuas and while they are not allowed on the carpet unsupervised they do run around and play when I'm down there, and they can get grubby in the summer as I only bathe them once a week and they do play outdoors.

A friend of mine swears by a service that only uses hot water, no soap -- an independent person, not a franchise -- but he's 40 miles away and probably wouldn't come so far for a small job.

Whatever you do, check with local users. All the national services are local franchises and the owner of the franchise makes a big difference. More than the name of the company itself.