Since I was advised on this board to keep our old carpets in view of the fact that we hope to have a puppy next year.....has anyone any experience of effective machines for shampooing said carpets, which are desperately in need of thorough cleaning. Also, will doubtless need much more frequent cleaning once puppy arrives!!
Thanks,
Cathy.

Mind you, this is only my opinion. I suggest you have a professional carpet cleaning company come in and do them for you. The suction on their machines is more powerful than any machine you can rent or buy. Plus the stain removers they use really work. Shirl

I got Kassie in May so I didn't bother with new carpets either, in the summer though once she was house trained I did hire a carpet cleaner out of our local paper- you could pay £25 for the fella to use it or £12 to hire it and di it yourself:) It brought my carpets up lovely- I was really chuffed:) And now I'm having new after Christmas when I re-decorate:)

Stacey x x x

We bought a Bissell Proheat clearview 12 amps it has 5 cleaning rows of dirtlifter power brush and built in heater that makes the water hotter. I found this very good and takes out the pee stains ect. Thats just my opinion. It works for us. :) I have tried others but found this one works the best.

Thanks very much for your advice. I have seen the Bissell one advertised and thought it looked OK.
Cathy.

One of my freinds runs a cleaning business and she tells me the best shampoo/cleaner around is the RUG DOCTOR you can hire it for as little as 4 hours from Safeway and Homebase. Easy to use and very effective.

I personally have used this one several times and my carpets have been like new.

It has a scrubbing action, and it sprays into the carpet and sooks out..so not soaking wet..

Pam

Your best bet will be any device that you can use on a regular basis at home and that is cost effective at the same time. Remember, dogs have an extremely evolved sense of smell and will soil any part of the house that 'reminds' them of going to the potty. The trick is to try and get the scent out as well as possible. You might want to get a product that will neutralize smells and scents and work it into the carpet with a brush in 90 degree angles. Let it sit for about an hour and then vaccuum.

This should clean your carpet and help potty train your pup at the same time. Thus, answering your question and also helping to resolve an unanticipated problem as well. Good luck!

Rob

Um, Just out of a hunch that you're working with primarily 'the theory of cleaning carpets', Rob ;) :P
....when was the last time you steam cleaned your carpets? No cheating, now. :) When you actually did all of the work with no contribution from your esteemed partner? :rolleyes: :D :D

I swear by my 'Bissell' products ----Small carpet areas....my ancient but handy 'Lil Green Machine." For the full blown back breaking job of moving furniture plus the entire house's carpets ---the "Big Green Machine." They work very nicely with transformers to leave everything clean and fresh for a very old beige carpet and it's wool pad :)

Did you know ;) ............(feel like Micheal Caine!) that shampooing your carpets is bad for them?!
Firstly it removes any stain protection and then most cleaners leave a residue of detergent which actually acts as a magnet to dirt! Thats why your carpets seem to get dirty real quick after you've cleaned them!!
Not many people know that!!!! :D
want to know why you can't get tea and coffee stains out of carpets? esp polyfibre ones? cos if the liquid is very hot it actually partly 'melts' the fibres then becomes 'part' of them, clever huh if slighty annoying!!!!!!!
Sorry, will crawl back under my pile of boxes now!!! :D
jue..... who worked in a carpet shop and had to learn all these amazing facts!!;)

Julie. Yes I have heard this before. I think it is true too. I have often found that after shampooing carpet that it is harder to keep clean. I have a cleaner from the states that you dry clean the carpets with. Works great!! It has a dry powder that is worked into the carpet with the machine, let stand for 30 minutes, then vacumm up with the machine! No mess, no wet carpet, and it doesn't take the stain protection off. :-) Shirl

Loved your Michael Caine impression Julie lol :D
My friend used to be fanatical about cleaning her carpets and always complained about them getting soo mucky so quickly again....now we know :)

Hi Cathy,
A friend of mine has a vax carpet shampoo machine. She used it on my hall carpet and it's come up fantastic. The suction on it was great and I couldn't believe how easy it was to use. The model she has isn't the most expensive vax but the 2nd dearest one. Well worth buying if you were going to use it often.
Dot

Hi Dot, I have used 2 "different" carpet shampooers - water suction aside, I found a TOTALLY different (unique) way of cleaning my carpet. I did a search at google.com and found a product called swedry dry carpet cleaner. I am completely impressed with this dry carpet cleaning process that I have sold my wet carpet cleaning machines!
Stephane

i had a friend who said to me that she had a vax carpet cleaner and it was really good and that she was 'always using it'. she was shocked when i told her that the reason she was 'always using it' was because these sort of carpet cleaners just aren't powerful enough. they put water deep into the carpet but don't take enough back out. this means that the carpet doesn't dry thoroughly and dirt and dust collects in the sticky residue. that, of course, causes the carpet to look dirty more quickly.
i would always recommend a professional carpet cleaner, they aren't that expensive, and the good ones will have insurance to cover any problems.

val

I am most amused that this thread has suddenly turned up again - nearly a year after my original post - when, now that we currently have 7 dogs, rather than the one puppy we envisaged.....guess what, we're actually on the point of purchasing a Bissell pro-heat deep cleaner. The advent of unexpected tiny feet has finally pushed me into action....:) :) :). I'll let you know how it goes.
Cathy.