Cleaning carpets

[Color Me Badd Fan]

A guy from Stanley Steamer told me my house would cost about $200 to get everything cleaned.

I've thought about buying one of these from Costco -- they cost the same as what it would cost Stanley Steamer to do it once professionally.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...at4716&topnav=

Though I know this wouldn't do the same job as a professional, I just thought I could use spot remover on individual places in the carpet and then just do the rest with one of these Bissell machines. I'm not sure if I'm keen on getting the chemicals from a professional service into my carpet. I figure I could use one of these things and just steam clean everything and make sure to open up the windows to get everything dry as quickly as possible.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had one of these things and whether they worked.

[Katy Lied]

We use this, and it works pretty good, although it is heavy as all git out, so the husband (or, the beefier of the couple) will be the one to push it around.

If you use this, never never never never ever never never use it and then let it sit for a few days before cleaning. The dirt dries to the innards of the machine, and then you can never get them out again, and the machine doesnt work as efficiently.

My husband's friend has one of these, and cleaned his house but didnt clean the machine afterward. So he ruined it. So he borrowed ours, with me reminding him at least 4 times to clean it right after he used it, when the insides of the machine were still wet. I knew something was wrong when he didn't return it 4 hours later. He brought it back 2 days later, and I could tell he let it dry before cleaning. My husband had to hold me back from kicking him in the nuts.

[BigPiney]

I got one for my wife for her birthday last year. She loves it. It is probably not as good as professional service, but it works really well and did wonders on high traffic areas.

[TripletDaddy]

Steam cleaning the entire house can take hours, if not an entire day. No thanks.

[falafel]

Does anyone have something like this that can handle stairs?

[dabrockster]

I used to work for a company steam cleaning carpets in Tucson, Az and Phoenix.. Those summers were harsh...

But I would take a professional cleaning over those crappy store bought machines any time... They just can get the same level of suction (Uhh.. errr... That's what she said. Let me just get that out of the way now..). Nor can the water get the level of heat you need to truly clean the carpet...

[CJF]

This thread is a major disappointment.

[Pelado]

A guy from Stanley Steamer told me my house would cost about $200 to get everything cleaned.

I've thought about buying one of these from Costco -- they cost the same as what it would cost Stanley Steamer to do it once professionally.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...at4716&topnav=

Though I know this wouldn't do the same job as a professional, I just thought I could use spot remover on individual places in the carpet and then just do the rest with one of these Bissell machines. I'm not sure if I'm keen on getting the chemicals from a professional service into my carpet. I figure I could use one of these things and just steam clean everything and make sure to open up the windows to get everything dry as quickly as possible.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had one of these things and whether they worked.

Don't do it, man. It's a lot of work, it won't get as clean, and you may damage your carpets. Just fork out the dough for an occasional professional clean (not necessarily through Stanley). You'll be much happier that way.

[falafel]

I had my carpet professionally cleaned a few years ago. We only needed them to do one average sized room and then up the stairs. I think the quote was like $60 or something, but once they got there, they explained that that was without soap or pretreatment or some garbage like that and that the carpet wouldn't get nearly as clean without those things. So of course I had to go with the upcharge. I can't remember the final bill, but I want to say it was something like $150. I was super pissed.

Is that a semi-standard experience? It turned me off of getting my carpets cleaned at all. Doing the whole house would cost me $900.

[TripletDaddy]

That sounds like a huge rip-off. we do ours approx. every 6 months. The entire house cost us around $300.

[Pelado]

I had my carpet professionally cleaned a few years ago. We only needed them to do one average sized room and then up the stairs. I think the quote was like $60 or something, but once they got there, they explained that that was without soap or pretreatment or some garbage like that and that the carpet wouldn't get nearly as clean without those things. So of course I had to go with the upcharge. I can't remember the final bill, but I want to say it was something like $150. I was super pissed.

Is that a semi-standard experience? It turned me off of getting my carpets cleaned at all. Doing the whole house would cost me $900.

Sounds like con-artists. I have two different companies that I use - both give firm, all-inclusive estimates, and neither ever approaches $900. Maybe your house is 3 or 4 times bigger than the ones I'm having cleaned.

I recently had a rental cleaned (around 1400 sq ft total, 4 bedrooms, family room, and bonus room). In addition to the the regular carpet cleaning, he dyed some bleached areas, removed some bad red stains, removed what looked like melted wax, re-stretched the carpets in some areas, and treated under the carpet for what we believed was pet urine. The total bill came to $279.

[Donuthole]

Yeah, I just had our two main living areas and our halls and stairs cleaned for about $120. The rest of the house would have been another $140.

[falafel]

Yeah, I just had our two main living areas and our halls and stairs cleaned for about $120. The rest of the house would have been another $140.

I would appreciate a referral.