Anyone rent a steam cleaner and any tips

[bethie_73]

I need to stem clean my apartment tonight. I'm moving out and it is a condition that we steam clean the carpets.

I thought I'd check here and see if any mommies had any additional tips (I usually have it done but I haven't found anyone since moving here, and the apartment is pretty crappy, they should give it a complete overhaul so I don't really want to spend a ton).

[knaidel]

Yes, do you men "the rug doctor" thing you can rent at the supermarket? I have rented it before. First, that thing is really heavy- that's the first tip! Also, you don't have to buy those expensive "rug doctor" solutions that they sell there, most recently, I used just oxy clean and very hot water.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03aug04b.cfm


Enjoy your new home! We live in Baltimore, and DH is always whining that he wants to move to silver spring, but I like my job here---better him on the Marc train than me! :)

[MamaMolly]

Yup, rented one to get fresh paint out of the carpeting (oops!) and it really got the carpets clean. I totally second the Oxyclean and hot H2O.

Enjoy your new place!

[ThreeofUs]

Me, three! Rug Doctors are really great machines, and oxyclean works well in them.

Here are my tips:
1. Dissolve oxyclean in hot water first, then add to really hot water and then add mix to the cleaner.
2. Don't get too much cleaner liquid in your carpet - it's heck to clean up!
3. Go over your carpet with just the vacuum on, to get up excess soapy liquid.
4. Rinse your carpet of the soapy liquid, using just very hot water. This brings up a LOT of dirt, and also gets soap (which traps and holds dirt particles) up from the carpet fibers.
5. Did I mention suctioning up all the excess liquid? This will make your carpet dry much faster.
6. Turn up the heat, put a fan on the carpets, with a fan in the window to pull out the humid air.

Good luck! It's a hard job, but really worth it. Just think of it as a workout!

[Kungjo]

Try going to a grocery store. They have Rug Doctors that you can rent and they work pretty well too.