Rug Doctor

Author
Discussion

Sixpackpert

Original Poster:

4,841 posts

227 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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Getting our new sofas on Wednesday and was thinking about cleaning the carpet.

Have heard good and bad things about the Rug Doctor cleaners you can hire from all DIY places.

Anyone on here used them? Godd, bad, indifferent?

I can get a pro in to clean the lounge for about 60 quid.

NiceCupOfTea

25,336 posts

264 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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They're alright. Hired one after some bd fox shat on my doorstep and it got trampled into the carpet mad Cleaned it up and shampood it with the rug doctor thing.

Make sure you clean it first though. Whoever had it before me had dogs/cats and didn't bother to clean it after doing their carpet. Had to take it home on the pass.seat of the MX-5 and it was covered in dog hairs frown

CatherineJ

9,586 posts

256 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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We used one a number of years ago, shortly after we moved into our current house. The stair and upstairs carpet was all cream and you can imagine it was a bit grubby quite quickly.

I have to say it did a really good job.

Fatboy

8,197 posts

285 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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I've used them before - did a really brilliant job, I was very happy with it, definitely recommend giving it a go.

TheCarpetCleaner

7,294 posts

215 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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They are ok for doing small areas

I would NEVER approach a sofa with one though - so much to go wrong...

Bear in mind that a professional carpet cleaner has a machine 3x more powerful than a rug doctor, a selection of over 200 chemicals on average to choose from to get the best possible job from your carpet, and suction power to ensure that the sofa and carpet are as dry as possible, meaning less risk.

Plus once you factor in rental / chems / use and your time, it may be cheaper to get a carpet cleaner in.

Saying that, they are good machines, and as said do a great job on carpets that are lightly soiled, and cheaper sofas that are not at risk of watermarking and shrinkage. I would certainly recommend them for doing a once over on a couple of small rooms or whatever. Beyond that its usually cheaper to get someone in.

Mojooo

13,178 posts

193 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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I did our whole house with one - they are OK

If you are just doing one room then a pro may be just as cost effective because once you hire the mahcine and buy a bottle of the cleaning stuff you are prbably near 30-40 quid anyway

F i F

46,446 posts

264 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
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For 60 notes I'd get the pro in tbh.

Rug Doctor has some brushes which agitate the carpet to improvr dirt removal. With some kinds of carpet you can end up with tracks that are difficult to get out.

TheCarpetCleaner

7,294 posts

215 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
F i F said:
For 60 notes I'd get the pro in tbh.

Rug Doctor has some brushes which agitate the carpet to improvr dirt removal. With some kinds of carpet you can end up with tracks that are difficult to get out.
yes

OP - forgot this point - if you use one make sure you use a GOOD QUALITY hoover first of all to get all the dirt out the carpet. Otherwise it turns into a sandy much and will screw up your carpet possibly permanently.

If you decide to get a pro in, go to www.ncca.co.uk and pick one off there if possible - only reason being that to be in the NCCA, you need to meet quite a lot of strict and expensive minimum requirements, therefore one off jobsman and cowboys wont be registered generally.

Sixpackpert

Original Poster:

4,841 posts

227 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll get the pro in.

Sixpackpert

Original Poster:

4,841 posts

227 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll get the pro in.

TheCarpetCleaner

7,294 posts

215 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions - I would offer to give you a quote but you are a bit out my area hehe (assuming your profile is correct)

Simpo Two

88,603 posts

278 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
TCC - from my limited experience of getting carpets cleaned, you can either have some geezer from a leaflet who comes in for £20 and leaves the carpet very damp and not much cleaner, or pay £70 for Chem-Dry, who do a better job and it smells of oranges. Where do the independent bods on the NCCA website fit in the scheme of things?

TheCarpetCleaner

7,294 posts

215 months

Saturday 14th November 2009
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
TCC - from my limited experience of getting carpets cleaned, you can either have some geezer from a leaflet who comes in for £20 and leaves the carpet very damp and not much cleaner, or pay £70 for Chem-Dry, who do a better job and it smells of oranges. Where do the independent bods on the NCCA website fit in the scheme of things?
Chemdry are good, but usually expensive. They excel in areas like professional damp restoration.

A good local independant carpet cleaner (usually like myself, owner and operative) will do as good, or better job.

As a rule, in normal conditions, any carpet that I clean will be left cleaned to a professional standard and be signed off that the customer is happy with the work performed, and will be dry within usually two hours. I have several odourfresh chemicals to leave it smelling however you like hehe

The NCCA is a good option as all cleaners that are part of the NCCA have to have certain minimum standards to be listed, one being you have to have completed the NCCA training course, have full treatment insurance (a lot of cleaners do NOT have this, therefore you have no easy comeeback if they ruin your carpets), and we have to pay an annual fee which puts off the local cowboy or normal house cleaners that think carpet cleaning is easy, and buy a cheap machine.

Long time damp carpets usually equal a crap quality machine. Our machine alone cost £3,000 and although not the best on the market, is not bad either.

To surmise - If you get a cleaner in, they should give a free quote. Ask them what machine they have, what type of cleaning process they use, how long it should take to dry etc. Any carpet cleaner worth their salt will be able to answer these questions straight off without thinking about it. The act of carpet cleaning is easy, using the equipment, chemicals and experience to get the best result is the tricky bit, thats what you pay good money for yes

Sorry for the longwinded reply - watching the latest rubbish episode of Stargate Universe so had aa lot of time hehe