We just purchased a townhome that was a foreclosure. The carpets were in good condition but needed to be cleaned. We looked for a way to save money on carpet cleaning and decided to do it ourselves.
Last week we closed on our townhome and one of the many things we needed to clean was the carpets.
We had a few options we could rent a carpet cleaner, buy a carpet cleaner or pay for a professional cleaning. Since the carpets weren’t dirty enough to need a professional to come clean them, we decided to purchase a carpet cleaner.
Knowing we would also need to clean the carpets at the apartment we are renting, it made sense to purchase a carpet cleaner.(Plus Toddlers = Messes)
When deciding if it will save you money on carpet cleaning to buy a cleaner, be sure to factor in the time it will take you to clean. Apposed to having a company come in and clean for you.
After doing some research we ended up deciding to get the Hoover Power Scrubber.
Hoover Power Scrubber
The Hoover Power Scrubber is lightweight, weighing less than my 1-year-old at less than 19 pounds.
The carpet cleaner comes with a long 8-foot hose, upholstery tools, and a sample size shampoo. (Don’t forget to order more shampoo!)
What we really loved about this carpet cleaner was the fact that it has spinning brushes to help get a really deep clean. I also like that it has a wash setting and a rinse setting.
The carpet cleaner is easy to use and does a great job give the carpets a quick freshening.
Using the Carpet Cleaner
Putting together the carpet cleaner is really fast and easy. All you need is a Phillips Screwdriver.
Now that the carpet cleaner is ready to use, fill the water tank with hot water and the solution tank with carpet cleaning solution.
Don’t Forget to make sure the carpet has been freshly vacuumed.
Now pick which side of the room to start. I found it easier to start on the right and move left.
First, you do two laps (forward and back) holding the trigger. Then, according to the instructions you do two more laps without holding the trigger. I found that it was usually 3-4 more laps to get all of the water.
For hard stains in the carpet, we found that if we pre-treated them it worked really well. Most of the floor we only had to go over once, a few spots with darker stains we cleaned a couple times.
It took 4-5 hours to get the carpets cleaned in the new house. But with 2 toddlers it went faster than I expected. (The time it takes totally depends on how dirty your carpets are, among other things!)
Tips for Cleaning Carpets with Helpful Toddlers
Here are a few tips from our carpet cleaning experience.
Have Someone Watch the Kids
We were lucky my sister decided to come out and help us with the moving process.
With her help, one of us could clean the carpets while the other watched the kids and tried to clean other areas of the house.
If you can’t have someone help at the house having someone watch the kids is always helpful.
If the Kids are “Helping”
If kids are “helping” you there are few things you don’t want to forget.
Snacks – We found the best snacks for my littles to be Fruit Snacks and Veggie Straws. Something they don’t always get makes it a fun and exciting treat.
Baby Gate – The baby gate lets the kids watch what you’re doing but keeps them out of the way.
Ipad – I try not to let the kids have to much screen time, but sometimes they get to watch shows on the Ipad.
Baby Carrier – If you have a little that wants to be held a baby carrier is perfect so you can still clean while holding them. Miss E spent over an hour napping in the carrier while I cleaned the carpets.
Take Breaks – We broke up carpet cleaning the whole house into 2 days. So we only spent two-ish hours each day cleaning. We also took breaks during that time so the kids could have some mom time. Taking breaks makes the cleaning take longer but keeps the kids happier.
Don’t Forget
Don’t forget that to clean your carpets you need carpet cleaning solution as well as a carpet cleaner. If you have a lot of darker spots you will probably want a pretreatment solution. Our hardest spots were from strawberries!
We were really happy with how clean the carpets look at the new house and how easy it was to clean them with our new carpet cleaner. Now we get to clean the carpets at the apartment.
If you’re moving here are 8 places you don’t want to forget to clean in your new house.
Great round up of tips. I’ve been feeling the itch to do some carpet cleaning. So these are perfect!
Great article Adree. You can also go for green cleaning to reduce cost. While it may look like green cleaning costs more than the standard process, the less money you spend on cleaning products and energy resources like electricity and water could have you come out ahead—financially, environmentally and health-wise.
A great stain pretreater is plain old vinegar. Just pour it liberally over the stain, let it soak for 20 minutes, and then proceed with the carpet cleaning. If the stain is really tough, try white foaming shaving cream.
Awesome info, thanks for the tip Joy, with 2 toddlers I know I’m going to have a lot more stains to deal with! 🙂