Rug Cleaning - Do It Yourself Or Hire Out?

Like anything else in our home, eventually it too must be cleaned! That's right, we're talking about your carpet. No doubt your kids "drank" smoothies and smashed grapes into the carpet. Maybe it's time to sell your home, or give back the keys to your rental. Whatever the reason, you have to decide whether to do it yourself or hire a professional. As with any choice, there are pros and cons to both decisions.

Maybe you work in the carpet cleaning industry, but for the rest of us, how do you clean a carpet? Everyone has had something spill on the carpet. You probably spot cleaned the trouble spot and moved on with your day. Cleaning your carpet yourself involves renting a rug cleaning machine. Many of us don't even know how to use one. In fact, I would go with most of us. There is also the chance that the machine was returned dirty. What if you get blamed for breaking the machine? Great, now you have a dirty carpet, AND a fee to repair someone else's machine. It's all so exhausting, and what about buying the soap?

Well, of course you want to deodorize from years of Fido napping in the corner too. Some type of cleaning agent is a must. Do you buy the stuff they sell at the rental place? What chemicals are safe to have around your baby? These are all really good questions. There are chemicals that are found in traditional cleaners that are not safe to inhale.

There are even chemicals that might ruin your carpet. In fact, how do you know if your carpet requires special care? Do you have an oriental carpet? Does it run wall-to-wall, or is it just Grandma's old rug? Whatever you have, you want it to come out smelling fresh and looking great. Ideally, it will look as great as the day you had it installed, or brought it home from Grandma's. You will want to try a test spot to be sure your carpet is not damaged. What if you go through all the trouble to rent the machine, test the spot, vacuum two different directions, send the kids to Grandma's and dry it overnight with fans going everywhere, and it doesn't look good?

I think that's the moment you realize that hiring a rug cleaning professional can save you a lot of time, and sometimes even money. With a professional, you choose the soap you want after they tell you the pros and cons of each. You tell them what room, and voila, it's done! It really does look great! They do the test spot, they tell you when its safe to put your furniture back, and it no longer smells like mold and years of smoothies and grapes. In fact, it smells quite good. Now that's rug cleaning made simple.