Professional carpet cleaning can be an expensive project. It can easily cost hundreds of dollars to have your carpet steam cleaned depending on the size of your home. If your carpet is in need of a carpet cleaning and you are looking to save some money, you should consider doing it yourself. You can do it for a fraction of the cost of a professional and do just as good of a job if you just follow a few simple steps.
Step 1: Rent the machine.
Visit your local home improvement store and rent a portable carpet cleaning machine. Make sure that the machine is in good condition by examining the physical condition of it. If it looks bad on the outside you can be sure that it probably does not mechanically work much better. When you rent the machine be sure to grab some of the carpet shampoo, you do not want to use any home recipes. The machine that they sell with the machine is designed for use on carpet.
Step 2: Prepare your carpet for cleaning.
Move as much furniture out of the rooms as possible before you begin. You do not want to be moving furniture while you clean. After you get the furniture moved out, vacuum the carpet thoroughly. Take your time and vacuum slowly to remove as much dry soil as possible.
Step 3: Pre-treat your carpet.
Take the shampoo that you purchased and mix up a solution in a pump up garden sprayer. The directions will say to put the solution in the machine but you will not be doing that. Instead spray the carpet with the shampoo solution separately and allow it to dwell for a few minutes to give it time to emulsify the soil.Spray only a 10 foot by 10 foot area at a time so that you have time to extract the solution before it dries.
Step 4: Extract the cleaning solution and soil.
Fill the machine with plain water and use it to rinse the shampoo and soil from the carpet. Make at least two separate passes to remove as much of the cleaning solution as possible. Any shampoo left in the carpet will contribute to rapid re-soiling of your carpet. Move the machine slowly and deliberately to give it time to work properly. If the carpet is still soiled after two rinsing passes, reapply the pre-treatment and start again.
Step 5: Dry the carpet.
You want to get your carpet to dry as soon as possible after cleaning to minimize chances of any soil wicking up or browning from occurring. If it is a nice day, you should open windows to allow fresh and dry air in. In hotter weather, run your homes air conditioning to remove humidity. In cold weather run your heater to heat up the cold air so it can absorb more moisture. Air movement is the key to a quick drying carpet so turn ceiling fans on and make use of any portable fans that you might own. Your goal is to get your carpet dry in under 6 hours.
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