I need to hire one to clean a couple of generally grubby carpets, but don't know a lot about them. Are they all much of a muchness in how they work (ie squirting soapy water out of a brush/nozzle thing and then sucking it up again?!) or are there some more effective than others?
Thanks David
There are two approaches. The noddy and the pro.
Noddy ones just suck water down, through the carpet and up again.
Pro ones have pressure fed water, contra rotating brushes and a powerful vacuum to clean up the mess.
Wish I knew where to get one..
The noddy variety can be made more effective by literally tipping a few gallons of warm detergent laden water on the carpet, and scrubbing with a scrubbing brush. Then use the machine to remove most of the water afterwards
LOL - brings back memories of our first house and the hall carpet. After we cleaned it with a hire machine it was about six inches shorter than when we started. Didn't quite cover the hall anymore!
Yeah that's what I'm thinking of.
Does that mean pro ones aren't generally available to hire?
Thanks David
Not sure if it is hosted on the main FAQ page yet, but Dave "The Medway Handyman" did a nice faq on carpet cleaning that may answer some of your questions. There is a draft here:
You have just described the Rug Doctor available for hire at Homebase.
Wouldn't reccommend that! You could easily cause shrinkage, colour run or browning.
Rug Doctor at Homebase or you can usually get a Prochem from HSS. Your local Janitorial Suply company may well hire out decent machines.
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