It’s a sponsored post, y’all. But unfortunately, the problem I solved was completely naturally occurring.
Have you noticed the oh-my-word-can-things-please-stop-happening-I-need-to-write-a-BOOK theme around here lately? Don’t feel bad, my house hasn’t noticed either. I am overwhelmed with the normal aspects of finishing a 60,000 word manuscript, but abnormal things keep happening anyway.
Like a few Fridays ago, when the skies opened up and poured huge amounts of water on our Texas home. It was crazy, y’all. Several of my friends were stuck for hours (like, more than 8) on interstate highways that were shut down because of flooding.
Thankfully, we were safe at home.
And then I stepped in a puddle in my master bedroom. I blamed the dog, but she was nowhere near, and the spot was cold (ifyaknowwhatImean). By the time I got to the spot with a towel, it had grown significantly. We were petrified that it was coming up through the slab foundation because we couldn’t see a leak coming from the ceiling, but finally realized rain was coming in near the fireplace (the fireplace in my master bedroom which is really cool but no one but us ever sees) and pooling in this spot.
For the next two days, we lived with the carpet pulled up and a fan blowing on it until the rain finally stopped and it all dried up. Thankfully, the roof is now (hopefully) fixed and the carpet is dry.
But can we go back and talk for a second about what happens inside the head of someone like me when she sees what was under her 30 year old carpet??
Right. 30 year old carpet.
I’ve been meaning to replace it for the last 10 years, but I just haven’t. We only have carpet in the bedrooms and we keep the bedroom doors closed when people come over, so it’s just never felt urgent to me. (And replacing carpet is really expensive!)
It feels urgent now.
But even though I HAD to deal with the puddle, I’m not willing to put in new carpet until after this manuscript is out of my hands.
And that’s where Rug Doctor comes in. I had already agreed to review their rental machines and spot cleaner, so it was quite the coincidence that I needed to deep clean my carpet in order to save my sanity. I vacuumed the PILES OF DIRT off the concrete before we put the carpet back down, but I still had the heebie-jeebies.
Once the roof was fixed, I headed to my local grocery store (I had multiple location options in my small town) to rent a machine. You can find one near you on their website. You can search for a location here.
I asked at the front desk, and was directed to the cleaning aisle. (Duh, but I hadn’t thought to look there for some reason . . . ) There were two prices, which totally confused me until I actually read what the little letters said:
29.99 is the cost to rent the machine for 24 hours, and 39.99 is the cost for 48 hours. We rolled the machine to the front and I was directed to the service desk where they filled out a contract and scanned the machine to charge me for the 24 hour rental. It was a very easy process.
I rolled the machine to my Suburban and lifted it into the back. Since I’m in Texas, the man parked nearby offered to help, but I already had it. If you’re older, or not as strong as me (hee hee), I recommend going to a store where you think someone will help you take it to your car.
So was it easy to use? Totally, if you don’t count pouring. We had pouring problems . . . but that has nothing to do with the machine. The machine was extremely easy to use because the instructions are printed right on it, with pictures. Yay for directions that can’t possibly get lost.
Those hairy hands are Hubby’s, in case you’re confused.
We mixed the solution in a bucket, poured it into the bottom section and I got right after it. Turn it on (there are two switches which both have to be “on”), and press the red button on the handle when you want to put out the solution. You just drag it slowly backwards. I especially liked how it was able to get right into tight spaces.
Really. It’s easy. Super duper easy.
When I was done, I removed the white top part and poured the (VERY) dirty water into the toilet. I do recommend you NOT worry about taking a picture while you pour the dirty water out. The angle is just wrong for photographing while pouring, and I made another mess. And didn’t get a picture.
So did I like it? Yes. I had imagined it would be more expensive than it was, but for less than $45 (that includes the solution I purchased that I can use again next time), it was a perfect thing for this mama who needed to know her carpet was thoroughly cleaned so she can (hopefully) stay sane until she can replace it. If I wasn’t spending every available minute on this book, I would have done our other carpeted rooms and felt like I was getting an amazing value.
Now that I know how easy it actually is, and how affordable, I definitely will rent one more readily. I like that I can do it on my schedule and I can justify doing only the area I want to do (instead of upending the entire house to make hiring a professional worth it). Although it did go quickly and I only did the one area of my bedroom, I think next time I’ll rent it for 48 hours since that’s only $10 more.
Rug Doctor also sent me a Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner. This is not something you rent, but is available for purchase for $129.99 at various retailers.
I was already a fan of this spot cleaner, because, ummmm . . . I already had one. And I love that thing. I gave the new one to my niece who is getting married soon. Seriously, the Rug Doctor is one product well worth the minimal storage it requires. I could go into how I’ve used it over the few years I’ve had mine, but instead I’ll just say two words. “Dog vomit.”
Right. Just know when that nightmare happens (in the middle of the night, of course), and you walk into your daughter’s room to find spots all over her comforter and her carpet, having this spot cleaner that allows me to clean it up without actually touching it is the best thing ever. And I feel a lot better about sticking her bedding in the washing machine post-chunk-removal.
Sorry. I said I wasn’t going to share details, but they were sorta kinda necessary.
How does it work? Well, you pull up the telescoping handle (my favorite feature) and roll it wherever you need to go. Fill the clean water side with clean water and cleaning solution. Turn it on, and start sucking up whatever you need to suck up. You can turn on the motorized brush to give it more oomph. Once the top layer of juicy mess (I know, I wasn’t going to get so descriptive . . . sorry) is sucked up, spray on the cleaning solution and then suck that up as well. All the gross stuff goes into the dirty water side and you can dump it in the toilet and flush it away forever. Yay!!
Here’s how it worked on my couch. Sometimes, I . . . ummm . . . don’t get little spills cleaned up right away. (Shocker, right?) Once the whatever-it-is is dried and ground in, it’s a tough spot to clean. I used the spray solution first which loosened it up and cleaned it well.
Yay for small but powerful things that make cleaning easier!
This post was sponsored by Rug Doctor and I was provided with a Rug Doctor Rental Carpet Cleaner and a Portable Spot Cleaner. All opinions, experiences, leaky houses, puking dogs, and dirty couches are mine.
And there’s a giveaway! Just leaving a comment telling me about your holiday cleaning plans, and if they include deep cleaning your carpet! You’ll be entered to win a Rug Doctor Clean Care Pack valued at 24.27!
It includes:
(2) 24-oz. spray bottles of Platinum Spot & Stain(1) 64-oz. bottle of Professional Oxy-Steam Formula Carpet Cleaner
This giveaway is only for U.S. residents (sorry!), and one entry is allowed per person. Prize will be furnished and shipped by Rug Doctor. Giveaway will close on 11/19/15 at 9 p.m. Central. Winner must respond to an email from me informing them they have won within 48 hours or they forfeit the prize and another winner will be chosen. Winner will be chosen using the random number generator at random.org. See all giveaway policies here.
This is post-holiday, but once we get to January, I’m planning to pack up my office in preparation for moving next year. Once that’s done, we’ll move our bedroom down into the (small, but main floor) office, so I won’t have to do stairs with the newly-arriving baby. And then! We hit the deep cleaning upstairs. I’m planning to rent a Rug Doctor and go to town on our carpet in preparation for putting our house on the market. 🙂
We’re staying home over Christmas break, so lots of big cleaning plans while I have others to entertain the toddlers. I would LOVE to clean the carpets during that time.
My baby is having heart surgery this week, so we anticipate by the time we are home it will be time to clean and decorate for Christmas. Since half our family of six had a stomach bug yesterday, I will now be cleaning carpets in addition to everything else. Yay.
I’ve got MS, which sucks pretty much all the time, I’m dreading the holidays on the horizon, not so much the pre cleaning, it is the post cleaning after the 11 adults, 3 youngsters ages 2, 1 and six months along with their 7 good sized dogs leave that is difficult. Believe me there will be plenty of those oops’ to deal with over 4 days and that little rug doctor sure would make my life easier.
I wish I had time this holiday season to clean my carpets! With 4 kids, they are nasty!
My carpets desperately need cleaning. Do I count as qualifying as being in the US if I’m in DFW until after the day you draw a winner?
I have already stared my holiday cleaning. I cleaned my oven and started to wash my curtains and ended up ruining them in the process. I need to scrub the carpet in my foyer going up to the second floor of my house. Hoping to get rid of clutter too :)!
I will be hosting both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and that means a lot of traffic. We also just became the proud owners of 2 rescue cats and have no idea how they are going to react to all the activites. I will be cleaning my house for the next week straight. After that I hope to ‘keep it clean’ until after the holidays, a spot cleaner would be a blessing.
I’ve already started the major cleaning because Girl Scout fall sale stuff is getting delivered to my house for our whole service unit so I need to empty the front hall for the delivery and then make the visible areas presentable for the pick up. But with that jump start, I’d really like to tackle all the carpets downstairs. Thankfully it’s all hard wood upstairs.
I have been meaning to shampoo my carpet since before my youngest and he is almost 3! This would be an excellent time to finally get that done!
Luckily, we go to my parents home for holidays. We couldn’t fit anyone else into our tiny home. However, I will start decorating for Christmas next weekend. 😀
We rent rug doctors about once a season around here. We rent and have very cheap carpet that shows every mark and stain. With two kids we have a lot of stains. I love how clean my carpet gets, also fluffy, in fact it’s on my list of things to do this next week before thanksgiving!
I have a messy toddler. And I am pregnant. So I would totally use this before Baby arrives!! And before we host friends this winter!! The carpet grossly covers the entire apartment besides kitchen and bathroom. That means the table is in a carpeted area. GROSS!! I wish I could show you the built in stains that regular vacuuming and the spray I tried didn’t get up… Vegetable soup, cooked lentils, oatmeal, baby food (it stains!!),
Of course this means DH would be cleaning it but it would totally make this mommy happy!!
Oh, and thank you for this blog. You have changed the way I view housekeeping and I can finally see the bottom of our closet!! Never before seen (since we moved in!!)!!!!
I have a big rug I need to clean. This would probably be helpful for that.
We’re hosting Thanksgiving for both sides of the family so are in full cleaning mode!
I plan on getting some real dusting done! I think i have dusted once since we moved into this house:/ and my husband has asthma…oops!
also I need to deep clean my kitchen!
I bought a carpet cleaner several months ago with the intention of cleaning. I do hope to get it done over the holidays and would love some ckeaner to go with it!
Already holiday cleaning. I’m going through all boxes and containers and tossing out junk and filling up bags for the thrift store. I have three carpeted floors that need deep cleaning badly! My old carpet cleaning machine no longer works. Renting a Rug Doctor is in my future.
I just told my family yesterday we were totally renting a Rug Doctor before the end of November. I want to get out our decorations in a CLEAN house this year. Thanks for the review, very helpful
Let’s just say…my carpets are so bad with 4 chihuahuas who don’t seem to care what “potty outside” means I don’t know if the 48 hour rental would be long enough ~ ugh! I can’t keep up with spot cleaning. But maybe if I can get the carpet really clean I can stop the cycle of resoiling…They have no clue about the holidays!
I am totally deep cleaning my carpets but was so undecided about renting or buying one. I don’t have room for such a contraption but the convenience of having one at my disposal seemed too strong.
I do believe I will rent one for the holiday clean up and if I’m lucky, I’ll find one of those awesome spot cleaners on sale.
We had a similar situation just a few months ago. Only it was our water heater leaking, water running under the wall and soaking the family room carpet. We are also on a slab and it took us a while to figure out the problem (we thought it was cat pee at first). After the fan spent several days drying the carpet out, we used a carpet cleaner to get the spots. While I was at it, I did the whole room. Twice. It was that yucky. It still looks so much better. 🙂
We rent. Our dining room is carpeted! We have three kids 5 and under. I’m sure you can imagine what our dining room carpet looks like.
Yes, I would like to clean the high traffic areas before the holidays!
We rent our house and the rugs are getting to be a mess what with a stomach flu, mud, and food spills. I would love to have the carpets clean before Christmas so I don’t need to put throw rugs over the main rug in order to have guests over 🙂
i’ve used rug doctor before, but hate the hassle of renting and returning. we got a bissel pro-heat pet, and i make my own homemade carpet cleaning solution out of vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and blue dawn.
Holiday Cleaning Plans??? How about NONE??? Shopping plans? Yes. Cooking plans? Yes. But never plans to clean 🙂 🙂
I bought a carpet shampooing machine (craigslist!) that is regularly borrowed by neighbors and church friends, and I shampoo my fully-carpeted house about 3 times a year. The Rug Doctor oxyclean shampoo is a good one. I teach my kiddos at home (=dirty carpet), regularly watch neighborhood children (=dirty carpet), own a dog (=dirty carpet), am married to a handy repair-anything husband (=dirty carpet), and have a semester-based part-time work schedule (=not much time to clean dirty carpet). Finals are coming, so that means time for cleaning carpets is coming soon, too!
Thanks so much for this article! I recently found out about rentals but never knew where to find, or how cheap it actually was. Honestly, my carpets probably won’t be cleaned in time for the holidays but I can’t wait! And with my new vacuum I’ll be getting for Christmas (Black Friday sale, $245 Cordless Vacuum of my dreams! Lol) I’ll be on my way to beautiful carpets! I’m seriously totally excited lol.
I’m not entering because I’m not in the US but just wanted to chime in and say I have hired a rug doctor before when I lived in a rental that had grimey carpets and it was great. Very satisfying to see the dirty water and know all that grossness is out of your carpets.
One thing to take care of is not not go over one spot too slowly as you can soak your underlay, which won’t dry easily.
We have been blessed with a beautiful long fall and have spent most of it outside doing yard and garden chores. Now it’s time to deep-clean the inside. I discovered your blogs in September and have read almost every one, and keep telling myself “If SHE can do it, then I can do it.” Our house is much more presentable on a day-to-day basis.
We always have all of the holidays at my house, so right around now, I go a little insane trying to declutter and deep clean the house. We LOVE the rug doctor at my house and rent it several times a year.
Well… I am thinking about cleaning the carpet now! LOL. We’ve just recently unearthed the carpet in lots of areas in our house and now that the junk is gone my vision has cleared a little and I took a first real look at the carpet in our living room. It’s a super high traffic area and it shows… And the stains. I had no idea it had gotten so bad. We need a massive cleaning. I was just thinking about having someone come in and do the tile in our kitchen and the living room carpet. But I think I am going to give the Rug Doctor rental a try first.
I had my carpets done by a professional once before with a 5 room special for $99 that cost $399 before it was over with. Though I have to say the difference was amazing.
But we’ve been in this house for 13 years, 8 of them with insanely messy boys! It’s time. It’s so time…
So does it really work? Does it get out those mystery stains? Obviously we need to pretreat with something – any other secrets to getting the carpet really clean?
I have all hardwood floors now, but prior to pulling up the carpet we used a Kirby vacuum. When we pulled up the old carpet there was absolutely no dust on the hardwoods. Yes, it is a heavy vacuum, but mercy, I was impressed.
We’re moving in February into a house (no more apartment living, yay!) Post-holiday clean up will be the perfect time to give everything (including the carpets) a good deep cleaning in anticipation of packing. There is no point in paying UHaul to move clutter and dust!
Wow this has inspired me to clean our carpets but it’s hard when you on a tight budget. We have had some pretty aweful spills and pet accidents. It would be awesome to have a portable cleaner.
I would love to get new carpet since living with 3 boys and a husband my carpets and couches are filthy. It would be awesome to be able to deep clean them.
My cleaning plans involve hiring a maid for a 1-time deep clean, and yes, hopefully a desperately needed carpet cleaning, so this post came at just the right time.
Ugh don’t remind me! I have two room-sized rugs I need to clean, plus I need to rent the upholstery attachments to clean my couch and mattress. And I’m hosting my in-laws at my house for the first time in 6 years at Christmas so my house must be company clean! Your rental is much more expensive than mine, I can’t rent one for about $15 for a one day rental here in Nebraska. And thanks for the tip about dumping the water in the toilet, I’ve been dumping it in the tub, and then you have to clean the tub when you’re done cleaning carpets!
My holiday cleaning plans includes decluttering my holiday decorations. I don’t really have a place to store them so the Tree bag and boxes y have sat in the floor of my living room or dining room for the past 3 years. Therefore, while I can make some money being for Christmas, I am going to sell it all and buy a live tree. Using craft projects with the kids everything that goes on the tree will be able to go in the compost, fire, or can be planted in the backyard. I plan to keep only enough Christmas decorations that will fit in a small trunk in the living room that is decorative and is. currently used as a side table. My husband is in disbelief as I have typically Been over the top with my Christmas decorations. But the annoyance of not having space for them has got to stop.
I did that last year.We had lots of paper snowflakes and evergreen arrangements around the house instead, and I loved it. I now have only one easily-carried bin of Christmas ornaments/decorations and one diaper-box of Christmas cds, books, and movies. It’s great!
Thank you so much for this article. I hace had my carpet for four years and have never cleaned it. My hardware store carries the rug doctor machine and i have always wanted to rent it. I thought it would be too confusing and difficult to use. After reading and seeing how simple it is to use, I will be renting it for the new year. Thanks for the “descriptions”! Ive been spot cleaning “cat hairball puke” for years. Cant wait to use the Rug Doctor!!!
As a teacher, I have to schedule my deep cleaning around holiday breaks. We are currently on Thanksgiving Break and I typically use this time to do Fall Cleaning. (I’m not a huge fan of Spring Cleaning – I think it’s because we were typically busy with Girl Scout Trips. That’s no more, so I might pick up Spring Cleaning, too.)
This post reminds me: I really need to deep clean my carpets. (I REALLY should contact my landlady and ask for new carpet…but this seems incredibly daunting.)
Hi! Do you have an update on your Rug Doctor portable since the date of your original blog post? Lots of negative reviews on Amazon about spray nozzles that quit working. I have owned a (different brand) carpet cleaning machine that quit spraying after owning it for a short time. Also, every rental machine I have ever brought home with a hand wand – the sprayers NEVER work on those. Never. What is the deal, anyway, manufacturers? Why can’t they design a machine that works for more than a half dozen uses before these spray nozzles clog forever. I just can’t waste any more of my hard earned money on these products. Just curious about your long term experience with the portable Rug Doctor.