Carpet Steamer ????

[rere]

I am thinking about getting a carpet steamer but I'm wondering what can i put in there.I know my mom had on and she bought some kind of bottle of something or other to put in with the water.I'm thinking that's not needed.So,can you tell me what you put in your carpet steamer?

Thanks!

[Emilie]

You can buy carpet steamer stuff. It comes generic or from bissel. I think it is improtant. I have never tried it without, It is about 6-10 dollars a bottle and it lasts awhile. You just put in a few capfuls. You also should pretreat stains with a pretreater- it helps alot.
You can get a speicif one for pets, lavendar- ect I am not sure about the chemical content. as it has to be better than dog pee.
i think A SHAMpooer may be a better investment? my mom has that & her carpet is way nicrr than mine(nak)
good luck. we are pulling up our carpet for the hardwoods underneath. it is a pita for me to keep carpet stain free. i also would reccomend a steamer with a larger tank. our is super tine and i have to dump and refill a few times per room at least- more if ickier! i think a more $ for that is well worth it!!!
good luck!

[rere]

Thanks for the info.The house we're hopefully moving into has hardwood floors(thankfully)except for in the basement there is one room with carpeting.Carpeting kinda grooses me out due to a super nasty apartment experiance.I know i couldn't just have a vaccuum.

Another question - do i need to also vaccuum or does the shampooer or steamer take care of it all?

Thanks for any help.Other than the one naty apartment I've never had carpeting - and that too was only in one room.

[Emilie]

yes- you need a vaccuum. I try to steamclean every week tho too....( blah) but I am not good about keeping food out of the living room- and I have a dog that is peeing on the carpet!!!ACK! just one room you will not have to do so much. I also just do the spots and then my mom comes with her shampooer and does that. our whole house is carpteted tho- EVEN THE BATHROOM!ICK!
Good luck with the hardwood floor house! AWESOME! For one room- you could go with a smaller one than too.... you can get it for under $100-( i think 60-75?) I got mine at a yard sale for $10- I would also try www.freecycle.com. And check the for sales in your newspaper. You could also talk to friends in your area about swapping things- like childcare for use of their shampooer or steam cleaner?
or buying one together.( splitting the cost and sharing it since you do not use it everyday)
You should be able to get away with a smaller one since it is just one room. Is there hotwater access nearby it? even if it comes from the laundry.
Good luck. I am a carpet hater. LOL!

[stayathomecristi]

Hi Rere,

I have a Hoover and I use organic Rug Shampoo from Earth Friendly Products. I got it at my local health food store. It's super concentrated though, so if you decide to go that route use WAY less than you are supposed to. I use a couple of teaspoons in the dispenser and then add water to dilute it (it's supposed to be a 40:1 ratio, but I estimate). I can't use Bissel or any other detergent in there because I have environmental sickness and they all make me nauseous. This one is Bergamot Sage scented and gives me no problems at all. Of course the carpet cleaner manufacturers want you to just use their product, but this is working just fine for me

HTH

[mightymoo]

I have a Bissell Proheat that I love (helps tremendously with cat pee )

I don't always put carpet shampoo in it, I think it helps a lot just to wash with water and I've also used nature's miracle (cat depee stuff). Though the manufacturer makes it sounds like the whole thing will break down if you use anything but their patented stuff, all it does is combine whatever is in the soap tank with teh water, so you can put what you want, so long as it isn't too thick or foamy.

[anthasam]

We have a Bissel steamer and put vinegar and water in the "soap" dispenser area. Works well and rinses out, so your carpet doesn't smell like salad

I want to try the shampoo from Earth Friendly Products - glad to hear it works well.

[rere]

Thanks mamas!I knew I didn't need to use the products they insisted on but I just needed to hear it from someone.

We're moving forward in the house buying process so it's looking like I will be needing a steamer or shampooer or something.Even though it's only one room of carpet I can't stand the thought of not washing it.

Thanks for the help.Oh,and Emilie......EEEEEWWW carpet in the bathroom!?Who thought that was a good idea?Is this a common thing that I just never heard of?Is there carpet in your kitchen?What a pain.Good luck on your journey to get rid of it!

[stayathomecristi]

Down here (VA), we looked at a lot of houses that had carpet in the bathroom---YUCK!! I told my husband that if we bought one of those houses, we'd have to put linoleum or tile down before we moved in. Disgusting if you ask me! That's worse than putting hardwood in the KITCHEN! (Our new house has hardwood in the kitchen and I don't "get" it.) Why would anybody do that?! Apparently the previous owner had no idea that some of us actually cook and will spill things on the floor : I know I'm going to ruin this floor in a matter of months. Sigh.

[stayathomecristi]

Originally Posted by anthasam

We have a Bissel steamer and put vinegar and water in the "soap" dispenser area. Works well and rinses out, so your carpet doesn't smell like salad

I want to try the shampoo from Earth Friendly Products - glad to hear it works well.

I like the vinegar idea too!

Just remember that if you use the Earth Friendly Rug cleaner that you need to use very little (otherwise you will need to use the rinse feature on your machine--a LOT). Ask me how I know .

[whoamama]

I love the idea of hardwood in the kitchen, can't you just put a really good finish on it?

[stayathomecristi]

I think it has a decent finish on it, but it still makes me nervous. I'm constantly spilling things on it and will probably wear out the finish regardless. If I do put a stronger finish on it, I really have to refinish all of the floors because most of the downstairs is wood that flows into each other. Would look weird if I don't have them all done, kwim? Could be expensive, but maybe not as expensive as worrying about it all the time .

[rere]

The house my dad had when i was growing up had wood floors in the kitchen.It was never a problem.I would think they would be fine.It's not like carpet in the bathroom. Ahhhhh!!!That just grosses me out for some reason.

[mightymoo]

My parents have wide pine kitchen floor, I hate it! Well, its supposed to look rustic (their house is 200 years old) but man, when I spill something like milk and it runs down into the cracks I can't possibly get it out of, it just yuks me out.

[talia rose]

Safecoat makes a 3 step carpet sealing process. Step one is a non-toxic carpet shampoo that you can use in a steam cleaner. In addition to getting out the dirt, it gets out some of the harmful chemicals found in standard carpeting. If you want to take it further, you can use Step 2 "Carpet Seal" that seals the chemicals in the adhesives on the backing of the carpet (this would mostly be used for a newer carpet) and step 3 "Lockout" which you apply to the fibers of the rug to seal in those carpet chemicals from offgassing or getting on your babies hands (and into thier mouths) when they crawl. I have used all 3 of these and they are really great. Many people buy just the shampoo to steamclean with. You can find it at www.organicgrace.com

[SugarAndSun]

I definitely need a steamer. Can you just steam one spot instead of the whole room? I have heard that the capet gets dirty faster after cleaning it. I only have a few dirt spots from the dog I want to clean.

I think it depends on what kind of wood you have in the kitchen. I have a very hard wood that does not contract very much so there are no grooves in the winter. I love it. (I actually picked it out). In my last kitchen I put wide plank pine. No good! It contracted in the winter and left big grooves for food, etc. If your floors are pofessionally finished though, it would be hard to take the finish off just with spills.

I think carpet in the bathroom was a seventies thing when everything was carpeted. Hit the home depot. I just saw some awesome 1' by 1' slate there yesterday for $1 a piece. I'm sure you could find something similar at your home depot.

[lovemysunshine]

Originally Posted by SugarAndSun

I have heard that the capet gets dirty faster after cleaning it. I only have a few dirt spots from the dog I want to clean.

I've also heard people say that it gets dirty faster and have seen it happen in my own carpet as well. What I've read is that the reason that happens is the soap/shampoo is not being completely sucked out of the carpet. The soap then attracts dirt and voila~ dirty carpet again!

I've used my mom's steam cleaner with only HOT water and then with a mixture of vinegar, Borax, and TTO (plus water) to clean, instead of buying the cleaner. It works pretty well either way, at least for awhile.

[stayathomecristi]

Talia!

The link for Organicgrace isn't working now that I've come back to find the safecoat products. Do you know if it changed or where else I can find them?

[talia rose]

It is www.organicgrace.com - if this link is not working you should be able to cut and paste into your browser.....

[stayathomecristi]

Thank you, it's working now!