DIY and Save

In the past we've hired Stanley Steemer to come in and clean our 24-year-old carpets once a year, but when our dogs both died of old age right before the holidays in 2020 I just couldn't deal with it. Then we got the puppies the following year, and I wanted to wait until they were grown and fully house-trained before we cleaned the old carpets. That's why it's been two years since the carpets were cleaned.

The price of Stanley Steemer's service has doubled since the last time we used them. We've tried cleaning the carpets ourselves in the past with the rental machine Rug Doctor, which didn't do half as well as the commercial service. My guy did some research, and found out that Bissell also had a rental machine available at Lowe's that had gotten sterling reviews. So we gave it a go a week before Thanksgiving.

We've always moved the furniture ourselves, even with Stanley Steemer, so that was nothing new. The Bissell machine is big, clunky, heavy and a bit hard to maneuver in tight spots. It took three hours to do our livingroom (my guy went very slowly, which may have contributed to the time involved.) Those are the major downsides.

That said, the Bissell machine pulled so much soil from our carpets that the return water was literally black (and I vacuum our carpets every week without fail, so I was really shocked.) The cleaning solution and spot treatment we chose got up even the oldest stains as well, and left the old carpet and our house smelling wonderful. The carpets also dried overnight with just the ceiling fans on.

Best of all, the total cost for renting the machine for 2 days and the solution we bought is about $50.00. We can clean as many rooms as we like. Stanley Steemer's minimum charge is $200.00 for up to 5 rooms, and then they charge more for every room after that.