Carpet.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've finally finished re-decorating the hall and stairs - all three floors of it having got through 22 rolls of wallpaper, 8 litres of emulsion, and

7 litres of 'wood' paint. And am sorting out the carpeting. It's pretty old but good quality - a sort of oatmeal colour. Mostly it's fine but there are some worn bits on some treads. No way can I afford to replace it all. I've used new Cloud 9 underlay throughout, and have enough spare from the original fitting to repair what's needed. But the spare has been kept in a light free area so hasn't faded like the original. Unless it's just good plain old dirt - it's only ever been hoovered and never shampooed.

Would steam cleaning or some other type of cleaning restore the original colour? If so any recommendations? The difference in colour isn't vast.

[John Rumm]

It might, but there is a fair chance what is down has just faded a little in the light.

[leenowell]

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When you say there are worn bit on some treads, I assume they are on the stairs? If so, could you refit the carpet by sliding it up/ down the staircase by the width of the tread? This way, the bits that were on the risers will now be on the treads so you probably won't notice the wear so much. Also, if you repaired one bit, again it wouldn't be as noticable.

[meow2222]

Cleaning certainly lightens oldish carpets significantly.

NT

[John Rumm]

That works well if its a stair runner with stair rods. Not so easy with a fitted stair carpet.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've just tried some spot cleaning with an aerosol of 'Vanish' carpet cleaner and it has made those bits cleaned look closer to the replacement. But there's an awful lot to do like this. Any of the hired cleaner systems any good?

[David]

=A0 London SW

Hopefully the Medway Highway Man will be here soon, anyway I used Prochem chemicals with a Vax and Rug Dcotor and had some excellent results.

[dmc]

I hired a rug doctor and it was pretty impressive. Not sure it'd be as good on stairs though - it seemed to be the aggressive brush that helped and you wouldn't be able to use that on the stairs.

If you do hire one, don't consider Homebase - *much* cheaper from Morrisons I found.

Darren

[The Medway Handyman]

Oi! Highwayman indeed. Who dear? Me dear? Highwayman dear? NO dear. How very dare you.

Most hire shops have the Escort/Haggarty/Karcher extractor or the Rug Doctor. With the latter you need the extra hose & stair tool.

Yes it will help. Bear in mind most carpet cleaning products contain a fabric brightener which will make the cleaned area look better - for a while.

[John Rumm]

The rug doctor is pretty good IME. (B&Q etc - about £24 for the day iirc)

[Doki]

Apparently. However they do seem quite dear to me - if you've not got a vast area to do it might be as easy to get a man in. OTOH if you want to spend all day doing the entire house...

[David]

Sorry I done that purposely to see your reaction ;-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Indeed. He will have a machine many times more powerful than anything you can hire, a huge range of specialist chemicals & a great deal of experience - assuming he is a NCCA member

bearing in mind there are more cowboys in the carpet cleaning game than Dodge City ever saw.