Getting a Carpet Steam Cleaner: My Experience
About a year ago I sold my apartment and moved into my first proper home with my now fiancé. While I was preparing my apartment for sale I decide that the carpets definitely needed a good cleaning if I was going to make the place look good to potential buyers. I called up a local cleaning company who were very helpful and reasonable; to be fair the apartment wasn’t that large so it was never going to be a big job. I can definitely recommend this type of service when you are looking to sell a property. Their cleaning really gave a lift to the look of the place and with a quick re paint of the walls the apartment sold quickly.
Our new home was considerably larger than my bachelor apartment and was carpeted throughout and after about six months it was clear that giving the carpets and rugs that we had a good team clean was going to have to become a regular event, certainly as far as my girlfriend was concerned. While I would have loved to get the professionals in every three months our household budget just didn’t extend to such luxuries.
My friend David mentioned that he had had a lot of success renting a carpet steam cleaner and so I decided to give it a go. My first run was far from a qualified success. The machine I rented wasn’t the most up to date and didn’t come with much in the way of instructions. The net result wasn’t a disaster but it certainly wasn’t up to professional standards. I ended up getting the carpets very damp and it took over a week before the carpets were entirely dry. Of course walking around on wet carpets, as well as being uncomfortable, only got them dirty before they were dry and the chemical smell was pretty strong. Also I think I must have used too much cleaning solution because even when the carpets died out there was still a strong odor and the floors felt a bit sticky with residue. The final disappointment was that although cheaper than a professional service, renting still wasn’t that cheap and was a bit of a hassle to organize.
Thankfully another friend of mine, Tim, had the perfect solution. He’d gone out and bought himself a domestic upright steam cleaner. It looked like a pimped up vacuum cleaner and very space age with all its different attachments but he swore by it and I was convinced. With his help, I navigated my way through all the different brands and models and ended up buying a Bissell steam cleaner that did all the jobs I needed. This particular model was even good for cleaning the tiled floor in the kitchen. Although close to $300 it has definitely been a wise purchase. I can tackle all the cleaning jobs around the house and the very detailed instructions and clever features means I haven’t damaged any surfaces.
If you have the storage room for such a machine and can get the full use of all the different attachments it is definitely worth the initial outlay. Shop around for the best price and also take the time to research the right cleaning solutions as well.
I’ve found two great sites for more information on carpet cleaning. The first is a site called Carpet Steam Cleaner Solution.com with all sorts of advice and the second is Carpet Cleaning Solution.org which deals specifically with cleaning detergents.