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Do the carpet cleaners work that you rent at the grocery store?

I live in Austin TX. I just bought a home (HUD foreclosure) & the carpet is yuk! I'm hoping to pull it up soon (begining of 2008) but in the meantime I have to clean it somehow! I think the previous owners had pets or something, I don't know how anyone can get a carpet THAT dirty! My question: Has anyone used those carpet cleaner rental thingies you rent at the grocery store (or anywhere, I don't know what they're called but they're those bulky red/blak cleaners.. Any suggestions on getting the funk out? My whole house STINKS & I think it's coming from the carpet.. if it's not.. then I'm SOL!

Public Comments

1. THe ones around where i live are called Rug Doctors. I've used them, and i really think they help. They're definately better than not doing anything. Just be careful not to use them too often - my panrents used to use them all the time, and then found that the insulation under the floor (under the house) got wet too, (because they did it so frequently), and it came away from the floor, and was no longer effective. it's best to do it in the summer itme, when the air is warm, and will dry it out. but, if you don't do it frequently, and you will be replacing the carpets soon, i'd suggesst go for it.
2. They do work very well, but when you are renting a machine, you are taking a gamble that the people who used it before you took care of it and used it properly. It's like renting a car... a lot of people will beat the snot out of it, figuring "eh its just a rental". It is really hit or miss with rentals.
3. YES AND NO - Yes they get the visible stuff (usually) BUT..... I had a friend who used to go and clean her grandparents house every week and she would go rent a rug doctor...... Her g-parents house was NASTY - they had three dogs who crapped all over the house and she would use the rug doctor to clean up whole globs of poo off of the carpet - then it recirculates the water - so guess what you are cleaning the rest of the carpet with!!!! Even IF you found one that doesn't recirculate the water.....it still uses the same brush rollers to "scrub" the carpet with - I would come off the $150 to get the carpet "professionally" steam cleaned (steam will kill the germs/bacteria that cause the odor) and forget about the rug doctor.
4. I've used rug doctor with success, but you have to really let it dry a long time before you put your furniture back on. Get the pet stain removal solution...and watch out...the machines are pretty heavy not so much to roll but to load into your car or truck. I'm with the poster who suggests steam clean professionally. I would call a Service Pro (they're called that here). They clean up after fires and floods and should do a good job for you. Who knows, you may not even have to replace the carpet. But imagine all the germs in that carpet! Ick. Are you sure you wouldn't rather pull it up and go with area rugs or bare floor until you can get to recarpeting?
5. Yes, they work pretty well... not as well as some of the pro machines, better than the home versions. Three hints: 1) Work in smallish sections at a time. You don't want the rug to get soaked down to the padding -- you get interesting brownish discoloration of the carpet as it dries if that happens. 2) Keep the carpet as dry as possible. Wash, then rinse, then go over the area a couple of times with just the vacuum function on. 3) Soap left in the carpet after multiple shampooings gets to the point that it starts attracting more dirt. This can be a special problem if someone has done something truly dumb like use hair shampoo in the carpet cleaner. If it's a big job and you can afford the extra time and effort, I like to go over the carpet again with a plain water rinse (and vacuuming) once it's dried from the first shampooing. Don't just rinse a freshly shampooed and still damp carpet multiple times -- see #1 -- but let it dry after the initial wash and rinse. Because you have an odor problem, you might consider pretreating the entire carpet with something like OdoMute, or the machine companies can sell you a deodorizing cleaner that's usually pretty good.
6. Yes, those cleaners do work very, very well.... It's certainly better than NOT doing anything at all... I would suggest that you do it and have some fans circulate the air to dry the carpet throughly... To help with any kind of pet odor you can either add about 1/3 c. of baking soda to the Rug Doctor water along with the cleaner OR before you use the Rug Doctor sprinkle dry baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for a couple days vacuum like mad and then use the Rug Doctor. If you are worried about re-soiling high traffic areas get a can of scotch guard to use after the rug dries... and spray in the high traffic areas... Good luck
7. Yeah, they do work good- but one my sister and I rented (to shampoo both our houses) had MAGGOTS in it when we first started using- luckily she used it first! (haha) Clean it out well before and after you use it. Also, make sure your carpet DRIES, you can get a special carpet fan or just you can just use your home fans! :)
8. All the answers are good ones I just want to add when shampooing carpet make sure there is plenty of air stirring that will help dry out the carpet. I agree with the one answer go over after the shampooing and suck out the water more than once so the carpet will dry better.
9. When it is that bad, definitely call a carpet cleaner service; ask if they have any specials. It will be worth it if plan to save the carpet. That bad, I would seriously consider replacement of the carpet. The odor may be even through the pad and onto the subfloor.