Life with a toddler is messy. Our sofa and carpet felt the brunt of daily life with spilled cups of juice and pots of yogurt, not to mention the ready transmission (sometimes projectile!) of bodily fluids. I used carpet cleaners and stain removers and thought I was getting rid of the muck and grime. Until I used a Rug Doctor.
Such was the state of our sofa that it was hidden away beneath sheet slipcovers or blankets. I had been hankering for my husband to rent a Rug Doctor for ages. Every time we passed by one in the shops, I'd point to it and drop hints that our filthy couch needed a deep clean. He'd shrug off my prying, not fully grasping what I wanted. But after seeing our carpet and sofa 10 shades lighter, we've agreed to make Rug Doctoring a regular part of our cleaning regime.
How many times a day do your kids spill things on the carpet? If you have a son who's a toddler, how many times a day does he pee on the floor? Don't be embarrassed.
I'll raise my hand and admit that we had a phase during the hottest days of summer where Callum (who wore nothing but a nappy to keep cool in our un-airconditioned flat) would rip off his diaper with great gusto and create little puddles of pee on the floor of the living room. He was so pleased with this feat that he'd applaud himself and run to hide nakey-tushed behind the sofa while we mopped up urine and sprayed the floor with carpet cleaner.
Now we look back and laugh at the sight of him racing naked for cover, nearly shaking with glee and pride. Then? Well, then it felt like having a puppy in need of housebreaking! Of course we cleaned up the floors as quickly as we could and as best as we could, but even with soaking up the liquid with kitchen roll and then sanitizing the fuzz off the carpet, you just know you've not gotten deep into the fiber of the rug.
That's where Rug Doctor comes in. This easy-to-use machine cleans, deodorizes, rejuvenates and protects your carpet or upholstery. That patchwork stains of family life get erased almost instantly, leaving you with fresh carpets and couches. So fresh that it's like you don't even have offspring! Back in the quiet old days before kids, before spills and splatters of urine. Back when stains cropped up on the carpet once a year, usually after a raucous party that stretched long into dawn where the only thing toppling over was a poorly placed glass of wine.
But, snap out of your pre-kids reverie! Those days are long over and now we must contend with spaghetti, curry sauce, yogurt and chocolate, milk and juice, smushed grapes, corn, urine and barf. How to deal?
With a Rug Doctor. From the first whir, you'll notice a huge difference in your carpets and/or upholstery. You'll wonder how you ever cleaned without it and you'll feel slightly nauseated at the thought of all the filth and grime you've been wallowing in, falsely believing that your carpets and sofa were clean!
The machine won't come with any paper instructions, just pictures and a bit of text printed on various bits of the device. This is good because it means you won't have to worry about lugging it all the way home only to find that someone forgot to give you the manual! This is bad because the instructions are in the worst possible locations and you feel like somewhat of a contortionist, trying to crane your neck just to read them.
Here's a tip before you spend age searching for it: the instructions for using the Rug Doctor to clean upholstery are hidden underneath the handle. They're there, ever so faint and in an odd location. The instructions for detaching and attaching the hose aren't terribly straightforward either. Hint: pull. Don't twist.
A few more tips: this machine is h-e-a-v-y heavy! With a capital h, in fact. Lugging it around before you fill it with water is bad enough! Don't even think about trying to cart it about filled with cleaner and water. Not unless you're in the World's Strongest [insert your gender] competition. In that case, by all means, move it with your brute strength and Herculean muscles.
Be prepared: it's going to take a few trips to the kitchen sink with a pitcher to fill the lower basin with water. I think after about 4 liters, we finally reached the right level of water. Also, the instructions on the pitcher of Carpet Detergent we used says to pour in 150 ml. Except, the measuring guide on the side of the pitcher is in 200ml increments. D'oh. We guessed. We may have been wrong, but at least our sofa's clean.
Speaking of which, be prepared for the awful sight and smell of the dirty water waiting for you in the white basin. It's going to be gross. You've been warned. Also, be prepared for the roaring loudness of the machine. It's best not to Rug Doctor after midnight when your spouse is asleep and so are the kids. There's a good possibility they'll leap out of their skins, fearful of some type of late night attack.
All in all, the Rug Doctor challenges your normal cleaning products. It shows you all the crap they leave behind and it makes you fall in love with it, thankful for clean places to sit when the kids are asleep, peeing up their beds instead of your sofa.
Written by: Anyonita Green | Anyonita Nibbles
Rug Doctor Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner
Date published: 09/13/2013
5 stars / 5 stars
Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post by getting to hoover my floor and clean my sofa for free. It doesn't sound like much fun, but trust me, it is!
Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post by getting to hoover my floor and clean my sofa for free. It doesn't sound like much fun, but trust me, it is!
Nice post, it gives first rate of knowledge about Carpet Cleaning. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post.
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