How to steam clean a carpet

[pear-shaped]

Our living room carpet is pretty dirty. I've tried to do spot cleaning but that hasn't helped, and anyway the carpet really stinks , I'm sure it's time for a deep cleaning. I have a steam cleaner, but I don't know how to use it on carpets. Until now, I've only used it on our tile floors.

Do I just steam the carpet and then vacuum it? Is there anything else I need to do? It's synthetic. (I know, yuck.)

I'm thinking of drying it outside on a terrace to expose it to the sun too. I'll have to ask a favor of my BIL to do that though because our balconies aren't big enough, but his are.

Any other advice?

[Katie T]

I have a dumb question but honestly don't know...
Is what you have one of those machines that blows steam or is it actually a carpet steamer? I have used something on my carpets but it just used hot water and then heated it more. It didn't steam. I don't think that is what you have.

I would like to know if you could use just a steam cleaner that blows steam to clean carpets as well.

[pear-shaped]

That's not a dumb question. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it is It's basically a vacuum that also sprays steam. It doesn't have a bag; the dust and dirt collects in a little tank that has to be filled with water. Does that make it a carpet steamer? It's marketed here simply as a steam cleaner, which is the reason for my confusion, I guess.

[Katie T]

OK, i have used one of those on my carpets lol. Don't know if I did it "right" but I will tell you what I did.

I vacuumed really well and then I put the carpet soap in the correct area (it differs by model) then I would run it slowly across the carpet starting in one corner and working my way across the room. I would press the button on the pull back and then go over it several times. If I had a bad stain I pretreated it and then would go over it several times. Once I had done the entire room I repeated with no soap to "rinse" the carpet as the soap left in will attract dirt.

It is time consuming but worth it in the end. I had to empty the dirty water cup and refill the fresh water cut many many times. But that all depends on the size of your rooms.

I hope that answers your question, if not let me know and I will try to help.

Also do you have area rugs or installed carpet? If it is a area rug I would wash it and hang it outside, it would smell great!

[JD5351]

You want to vaccum really good first, and then run the steam cleaner. It will suck the water/dirt up into it. Don't run your vaccum over the wet carpet, it could ruin it.

Use very hot water, and a little vinegar. it will cut the yucky buildup. I clean my carpets quite a bit, as my son likes to make a mess.