Has anyone done a professional carpet cleaning?

[risa00]

We got a new puppy last November so you can only imagine what our carpet is like in some rooms. I have poured all kinds of cleaner on the areas he went and steamed cleaned and injected the carpet pad with stuff. The smell is just not coming out. Has anyone done a professional carpet cleaning for this sort of thing and if so, did it work?

[villanelle75]

I don't know if this will help but our old house had an area of carpet when we moved in that was well stained from the previous owner's dog. We only really noticed a smell when using the fireplace becadue the area was right in front of it and I think the heat released the smell, but if you got down and sniffed hard, it was always there. We hated the discolored look, and i was generally grossed out, so we had it professional cleaned. It actually made it worse. I think getting the carpet wet and really soaking it released the scent adn our house clearily smelled like dog pee for a couple days. It faded gradually to how it had been pre-cleaning, but never went away.

We bought new carpet shortly thereafter!

[Georgiana]

I use Stanley Steamer.. I have used them for years and they are awsome! The first time I used them I had a grey carpet (it was there when I moved in my old house) and going on the carpet, We painted our living room and dining room grey as well. Well when they got done with it I noticed it the carpet was blue :confused:
I asked them how that happend and the guy said, "Uh Mam that is the real color..blue" That is how clean they got my carpet!

I still use them in my new home and they still do an excellent job. My carpet is off white and it looks as good as the day I got it installed. All I do is spot clean it and I have them do an over all cleaning once a year. Also I had candle wax on the carpet and they got that out with no effort. Since I have only one room, it cost me (in my area) $67.00. Check often because they have specials. They also do a great job on upholstery too!

[amtaylor]

I used Stanley Steamer and hated it... my carpets came out streaky and looked horrible. We had to fight with them and even turn them into the better business bureau. They tried again... but I still didn't get a satisfactory job... what a waste of money! (cost was over $100)

[Georgiana]

I used Stanley Steamer and hated it... my carpets came out streaky and looked horrible. We had to fight with them and even turn them into the better business bureau. They tried again... but I still didn't get a satisfactory job... what a waste of money! (cost was over $100)

I guess since they are independently owned, the results may vary.... Sorry to hear about your expreirence :(

[Pineknot]

risa,

I have hired different companies to clean my carpet, but none have really been great. I finally bought myself a rug shampooer. NOW I'm happy. :)

Beware of those great coupon deals you see in the paper for carpet cleaners. If you try to get them to stick to that price, they are in and out of there faster than your puppy was when he was doing his duty. They try to sell you extras because there isn't really a profit in those coupon deals. The companies that really seem to be better charge at least three times more than those coupon companies.

I do know what you mean about the smell of the doggie accidents. My little doggie, before she passed away, really had a hard time 'holding it.' She at least went in the same place each time, but every time summer rolled around and the house heated up, the smell came back. Once I bought my rug shampooer, I really spent some time in 'her area.' I never could get it to go totally away, but I know it became about 60% better than before.

I have recently read on another women's board about a product you get at petsmart that is specifically designed to clean the carpet after pet accidents. I wish I could remember the name, but it is sold in a clear looking gallon container. Everybody was just raving how it cut the smell down from pet accidents.

[smiles33]

We have a dog who likes to mark, so it's not about accidents. :mad:

I stock up on Nature's Miracle from the pet store (it has enzymes) and we had our carpets professionally steam cleaned before we sold it a few months back. The white berber carpet in our old house (chosen before we even entertained the idea of getting a dog) was streaked with grayish stains until the professionals came and did the whole house. It was $150 and our house was almost 1800 sq ft (but 3 bathrooms were vinyl and we had hardwood in half of the downstairs, so I think the carpet was only about 800 sq ft).

FYI, FIL had given us an expensive steam cleaner (Hoover?) as a gift but it never really completely cleaned the stains. We found out from the professionals that the smaller units don't have the power of the big van-based cleaners.

[DallasLady]

Our first house had a big dog pee stain on the carpet- the previous owners strategically hid it under a big chair :rolleyes:. We had the carpets cleaned and the smell got worse for a while, it's like they stirred it all up or something. The stain did lighten, but the smell never completely went away until we replaced the carpet.

[risa00]

Thank yall so much for all of your responses! smiles33, I think your response really relates the most to our current situation. We have 2 dogs and a cat that seem to have marked the carpet for territorial issues.. I have poured gallons of Nature's Miracle everywhere and it hasn't helped. We also have Bissell and although I love it, it hasn't helped with the urine either. We have decided to replace the carpet and padding all together. My parents are coming in the fall and I sure don't want them sleeping in the stinky room. Now I need to figure out how much all of that is going to cost. :rolleyes:

[Toonces]

Bump

Has anyone used Chem Dry? If so, wdyt?

[BeachBum]

We've used Chem Dry regularly for the past 5 years. We've had fabulous results with them. We have a pale golden carpet and spilled red wine on it once in like a 3 foot streak. Chem Dry got it all out.
We do our family room 2x per year ($50 each time) and our whole house 1x per year. I'm very pleased with them.

[karlatta]

I have a dog who has a bit of a marking problem too. It's not frequent, but there are certainly places throughout the house that he has claimed as "his."

We've used ChemDry and had great results. (And they left us with a bottle of stuff to use to clean the carpets between visits that worked wonderfully.) The guy cleaning our carpets worked so hard that he was soaked with sweat by the time he was done. I'm trying to talk DH into getting the carpets done again in the next couple of weeks before the baby comes. We shall see.

[Littlelamb11]

Bumping!


I just booked Healthy Home to clean all our carpets this coming Monday.. It will be interesting to see how it goes. We've only professionally cleaned our carpets once before, we used Service Master. It was awful, sticky, chemically and the carpet was drenched. We couldn't use it for well over 24 hours. Healthy Home is completely green and when I talked to the guy, he said it dries very quickly--like an hour. We decided to do every carpeted area in the house except our newly carpeted basement.

Question though:

I forgot to ask the guy if we need to move anything. Do most companies want you to move furniture or at least clear things up? Do they even clean under the furniture? My housekeepers vacuum under the furniture so I don't know that it NEEDS to be steam cleaned under there...

[Geranium]

I don't think you need to move furniture. They will lift it, clean under it, and put it on little styrofoam blocks during the drying time. I would move pictures and anything breakable off surfaces.

We're cleaning carpets next month, I'm going to check to see if there's a Healthy Home cleaner here. I love the idea of a green cleaner, please update after they do the work.

[phoenics]

I used Stanley Steemer and it was great for me. Best carpet cleaning I've had.

[Aug2002Bride]

Ive also used Stanley Steemer and had great results.