carpet cleaning paranoia

[here we are]

I want to clean the carpets in my apt. They arent visibly dirty , but i want to know how. I have looked it up and reasearched, but still i dont know except that they sound stressful, but soft. I think my choices are to buy a carpet shampooe r, which i am afraid of, water on carpet, not sucking up all water, leaving residue, not drying, mold growing...Anyone else afraid to shampoo their carpet? Or brave people who have had sucess? How about sprinkling baking soda and vacuuming?Is that a good substitute really? Seems maybe good for odors,freshening, but not same as washing..maybe i need to look into more dry carpet options, but chemicals seem to dominate. I havent had to deal with accidents on the carpet, but might need to and feel vulnerable without a plan.Maybe if baking soda is good enough for now and you a ll convince me, I will buy air filter instead of carpet machine and focus on cleaning dust that way..Sounds like a plan

[mamazee]

I use Bac-Out in my steam cleaner. It does leave some in the carpet, but that's good as it has natural enzymes to kill bacteria. I know other moms who use white vinegar, which also would kill bacteria, but of course the house will smell like vinegar for a bit. But there are some options. It does take a day or so to dry but I haven't had a problem with mold. You could either, depending on weather, open the windows to help, or turn the AC or heat up a bit to dry out the air.

I don't know if my suggestions help, but there they are. Good luck finding something you're happy with!

[willfulmama]

I've use white vinegar/water in my steam cleaner with success. We just fill the tank to the line indicated for water and then the rest of the way with vinegar.  As mamazee noted, it can leave a lingering vinegar smell so you may just want to keep that in mind if you go that route. When you DO steam clean the carpets, you just want to be sure to take your time and go over the spots until you can see that not much water is being lifted out of the carpets. We'll keep our windows open and sometimes a fan on the carpet to help dry the carpets faster.

Compared to the carpet cleaner we first bought when we purchased our steam cleaner, I can honestly say the vinegar works just as well - if not better.

[here we are]

Still figuring out how to use this forum, its so confusing. Your responses are reassuring . But i feel like i need to do a poll , if i could figure out how. I just have a hard time understanding how the carpet will dry because i cant see under there. And mold grows in 12hrs? Supposedly? How do i know it will dry in that time? I definetly would want to do that extra extracting, all the suggestions echo my instincts about it too, and I'm thinking crank the heat and evacuate. Luckily i have heat in those rooms with doors. Maybe even open a window at the same time? Do i need to know whats under the carpet, what kind of padding, i would think they would vary? And then, i read some companies like hoover , say dont steam only shampoo, because it damages the padding from being too hot. Is this true? Some companies seem to use the terms steamer/ shampooer interchangably. Can anyone say what machine you have? I am determined not to make a mistake.

[here we are]

If i could do a poll , it would be something along the lines of... Who has done shampooing for how long and never had mold/water issues from not drying? Who HAS had issues & do u know what went wrong?

[zebra15]

I've shampooed/steamed many a carpet in my lifetime.  I've had the hoover steamer - similiar to this model http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F5914-900/dp/B00009R66F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348382528&sr=8-1&keywords=hoover+steamvac+carpet+cleaner+with+clean+surge  

I've always used HOT water in the tank, I've used various cleaners and my carpets were very clean.  I did go over the carpets numerous times to suck up water and speed up drying.  Keep in mind I live in the desert so things dry very quickly out here.  We have ceiling fans and regular fans on all the time anyway as well as air conditioning.

I've also rented a 'Rug Doctor' from the grocery store.  Honestly, the hoover steamer worked better for me.  (got the carpets cleaner).  I would get a steamer/cleaner - and yes the terms are interchangeable- with the widest cleaning path possible.

My cleaning process looks something like this

1. Vacuum the area.  Move the furniture and vacuum again.  Empty vacuum, empty filter and vacuum again.

2.  Fill steamer/cleaner with VERY HOT water, add cleaner and start in far corner of room.  Once tank is empty, empty dirty water,  continue process until room is 'cleaned'.  

3. Go back in room with empty top container and just run steamer over carpet and suck up excess water from carpet.  Empty bucket as needed.

4. Leave fans on - carpet should be dry in a couple hours.

I have a child with asthma and carpet is my nemesis, I steam/shampoo every couple months.

[justmama]

I had carpet in my old apartment and we shampoo'd it after the basement flooded and we tracked dirty water all over the carpets bringing items upstairs to salvage what we could.  I used bac-out and hot water in a rented carpet cleaner from lowe's.  I think it cost like $25 a day?  It worked amazingly well and I opened the windows up in hte entire house afterwards to help encourage airflow.  It dried in just a few hours.  

[mamalisa]

Originally Posted by zebra15 

I've shampooed/steamed many a carpet in my lifetime.  I've had the hoover steamer - similiar to this model http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F5914-900/dp/B00009R66F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348382528&sr=8-1&keywords=hoover+steamvac+carpet+cleaner+with+clean+surge  

I've always used HOT water in the tank, I've used various cleaners and my carpets were very clean.  I did go over the carpets numerous times to suck up water and speed up drying.  Keep in mind I live in the desert so things dry very quickly out here.  We have ceiling fans and regular fans on all the time anyway as well as air conditioning.

I've also rented a 'Rug Doctor' from the grocery store.  Honestly, the hoover steamer worked better for me.  (got the carpets cleaner).  I would get a steamer/cleaner - and yes the terms are interchangeable- with the widest cleaning path possible.

My cleaning process looks something like this

1. Vacuum the area.  Move the furniture and vacuum again.  Empty vacuum, empty filter and vacuum again.

2.  Fill steamer/cleaner with VERY HOT water, add cleaner and start in far corner of room.  Once tank is empty, empty dirty water,  continue process until room is 'cleaned'.  

3. Go back in room with empty top container and just run steamer over carpet and suck up excess water from carpet.  Empty bucket as needed.

4. Leave fans on - carpet should be dry in a couple hours.

I have a child with asthma and carpet is my nemesis, I steam/shampoo every couple months.

As long as you only make one pass, it really doesn't get that wet.  If there's a stubborn spot that I have to go over a few times, I make sure I keep the fan there for longer than it takes to surface dry.

I shampoo my carpet all the time.  Like, every 6 weeks.  I rent and I've raised 3 dogs and two kids, it ALWAYS looks dirty, but I feel better knowing it's at least surface clean.

[kanga2roo]

I have the same concerns! We are being gifted a carpet cleaner and I'm trying to find out the best one to buy. In the past we've used a green carpet cleaning company, but I love the idea of having the option to clean more often and not having to do the whole house at once. 

  There are so many machines! And since I don't want our house to smell like vinegar, I'm thinking of using Bac-Out, which we already use for puppy accidents. How do you do it, though? 

Thanks!

[talia rose]

AFM Safecoat also makes a non-toxic carpet shampoo you can use in a steam cleaner. They also make carpet products that seal in the toxins found in carpets. We would run fans or turn the heat up to help with drying....

[here we are]

This reminds me to ask , does anyone have this type of carpet cleaning machine that can also be used on other flooring? My dirty carpets are.still.waiting, but everytime I look up cleaning machines it seems like there is no all in once type. So frustrating.

[crunchy_mommy]

Do any of your friends have a carpet cleaner you can borrow? I borrowed one from a friend and just used white vinegar in place of the shampoo or whatever chemically thing you'd normally put in. It worked great & cleaned way better than I expected (and the smell of vinegar has never really bothered me, we use for cleaning everything around here...) I don't recall having any issues with it drying, the kind I used sucked up all the excess water so it really was just damp afterwards, not soaking wet or anything. We kept all furniture out of the room overnight to give it time to dry completely.

Anyway, I'd suggest borrowing (or renting) one since it sounds like buying one is giving you anxiety & holding up the process. It's not really something you need to do more than once every few months so I don't really see the advantage to owning one.

[dejagerw]

I have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F5914-900/dp/B00009R66F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355686959&sr=8-1&keywords=hoover+steamvac

My parents have it too. We both like it. The carpet dries pretty fast with this carpet cleaner, and it can clean bare floors as well. (I've never used it on my bare floors though). It's rated well on Amazon too.
 

[blessedwithboys]

OP, you remind me of me...overthinking yourself into an anxiety attack!  haha

Just rent the wide track Rug Doctor (make sure it's clean before you leave the store!) and use nothing but hot water and white vinegar (do NOT tell them you plan to use vinegar unless you want to be forced into buying a $400 rug cleaner).  If you have stubborn spots, use some diluted Bac-out on them and rinse like crazy witih vinegar.  Keep extracting until you no longer see liquid being drawn up into the machine, and then go five minutes longer.  Don't turn your heat on!  Just open all your windows and maybe use some fans.

[kanga2roo]

Updating! 

  We bought one- and I love it! I feel so much better knowing that my kid is laying around on a clean carpet :)  :)    We used the chemical-free citrus cleaner that game with the machine and it smelled great. Some of our old stains are still there- but the carpet is very light, and they were old. As far as drying- that took awhile. I went over the carpet forever, and there always seemed to be water coming up. This really took a long time. It seemed to take 2 days for the carpet to be fully dry, but during that time it was just damp. We don't wear shoes indoors, so it was noticeable in bare feet and/or socks. 

  I love the convenience of having our own machine! I was able to do the playroom before our Christmas party, and am doing the dining room this weekend. I'm going to get Bac Out or Brommers- do I just use it instead of the rug cleaner-same compartment?

Thanks!