Is The Rug Doctor Worth It?
Is The Rug Doctor Wrecking Your Carpet?
Nobody has ever told us that cleaning carpet is easy or fun. It's just one of those things that has to get done every so often. Just recently we had a client right her in Irvine, California that offered us her opinion on the subject after she had rented a Rug Doctor and tried to clean her carpet by herself. We blushed when she told us that she is too old for this s#@!
What could possibly go wrong?
Your carpets and area rugs are dirty, they have spots and who knows what else hiding in the fibers. You know they are overdue for a good, deep-cleaning. However, the last time you called a so-called professional out to do the job you thought you could have done a better job yourself for a lot less money. Your carpets got dirty quickly after that cleaning and this time you're going to do it yourself. So off you go and head over to the grocery store and rent a do-it-yourself rug cleaning machine (we'll refer to them as a Rug Doctor from here on) and buy a gallon of rug shampoo. What could possibly go wrong?
Carpets full of soil attracting shampoo
Because we clean a lot of carpet, not only in Orange County but also in Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino, we have a pretty good idea what can go and most likely will go wrong! Carpets left full with residue and soil attracting shampoo. Whenever we see very dark, pronounced traffic lanes in the carpet, nine out of ten times, it will be somebody who attempted to clean the carpet with a Rug Doctor themselves.
QUICK TIP: If you absolutely have to do the cleaning yourself with a rug doctor, let me give you some advice to at least end-up with a respectable job and not a soaking wet disaster. Don't put the shampoo in the machine itself. Use a trigger sprayer and mix-up a small amount of shampoo with warm water and mist that on the carpet you'll be cleaning. Work in small sections of carpet (6×6 or 8×8 squares) and lightly agitate the shampoo solution into the carpet with a soft brush. Then use the Rug Doctor machine to rinse the carpet with either plain water or add a small amount of clear, white vinegar to the rinse water. The hotter the water the better. Then make several passes over the carpet to rinse out the soil and dirt. Don't stay on any one area too long as you'll risk over wetting the carpet.
What's the problem?
Actually there is more than one problem. First off, the Rug Doctor cleaning machine you picked up is under powered for the task at hand. It doesn't have enough suction to properly rinse and extract the soapy water you're applying deep into your carpet. So not only does it leave your carpet sopping wet, it also leaves the dirty, soapy solution deep in your carpet.
Unsanitary, unhealthy and plain disgusting
Another problem is the fact that the Rug Doctor generates little or no heat. Hot water has a sanitizing effect which is a key element of a good professional carpet cleaning. So, not only does it not sanitize your carpet, it actually contributes to conditions without your carpet that make it more likely to be unsanitary, unhealthy and plain disgusting.
The Rug Doctor carpet cleaning machine simply massages the soapy solution around the carpet fibers and then leaves most of the moisture, shampoo and residue in your carpet. This combined with the fact that your carpet will most likely not be 100% dry within 24-48 hours and you've created the perfect environment for bacteria, fungus and a host of other delightful creatures to start calling your carpet home.
Carpet cleaning is hard work
Do-it-yourself carpet cleaning is a lot of work. You'll have to go to the store to rent your machine and buy the shampoo, then bring it home, unload it, start reading instruction and filling the machine with water. Then you have to keep moving it back-and-forth and empty the dirty water. Re-fill with clean water, etc. Once you're done you'll have to clean the machine and put it back in your car. Murphy's law says it will tip over in your car and leave a dirty brown spot on your otherwise clean car upholstery. Then you have to bring it back to the rental location, wait in line and finally return the machine.
Is doing it myself worth the effort?
That's a good question to ask and ultimately you're the only one who can answer that. By most objective standards it's not very effective at actually removing deeply embedded soil from carpet and worse it has the potential to add a lot of sticky, soil attracting residue. Use the QUICK TIP from earlier in the article and at least you'll end-up with an OK job and not a terrible disappointment.
Our professional opinion won't surprise you
As you probably suspect, we don't have a very high opinion of the results that most people achieve with a Rug Doctor. Even a trained professional has to deal with the limitations in water recovery and lack of heat that such machines have. So instead of putting money into renting a machine and spending countless hours cleaning your carpet yourself, with mediocre results at best, we invite you to give yourself a break and call us today.
An invitation and a gift
We're equipped with professional equipment that has the sanitizing heat and powerful suction to do the job right. We don't use soap or detergent, just a high pH alkaline water solution, so we don't leave residue, and your carpet will dry and end up soft and clean in no time.
We applaud your effort to do the job yourself, but in this case, (in our opinion) it is just not worth the trouble. You don't need the aggravation, and the result just won't meet your expectation. Our prescription is that you leave the rug doctor at the grocery store and give Zerorez a call. We can fix whatever ails your carpets and area rugs and make them clean and healthy in no time!
Call 949-387-2222 to speak with a service representative, or email jeff@zerorezsocal.com. Mention the fact that you were going to rent a Rug Doctor and we'll give you a $50 credit toward your job with us.
Zerorez for a clean, healthy and residue-free home. www.zerorezsocal.com
