The Rug Doctor: a product review

We began potty training Angelo about one month ago and I have to say its going potty! We moved into our current flat last summer. Before moving in Hubby shampooed the carpets, as we were also preparing for the arrival of baby number two, Valentina. The flat has been in Hubby’s family for many years. The living room carpet is about four years old but the bedroom ones must be at least ten years old. Adding to the mix, the flat has a damp problem.  So, the corners of the bedroom carpets are discoloured. I’ve tried several cleaners and nothing has shifted the stains. After reading and commenting on Circus Queen’s review of the Rug Doctor I was offered the opportunity to try it for myself.  The Rug Doctor worked well on the riding the flat the unpleasant smells from Angelo’s potty accidents but not the tough old stains.

Cleaning the Master Bedroom

Sorry for not preparing a video for my trial but you can find many on YouTube . The carpet cleaning was coincided with the arrival of the new bed Hubby bought us. I cleaned the carpet late evening the day before our bed’s arrival. The first thing that struck me about the Rug Doctor was how light it is! I also like the feature of the squared bottom which would allow the machine to go flush to edges and corners of the carpet. Perhaps it was the time but I thought the machine was a bit noisy. I think it maybe louder than vacuum cleaner. NOTE TO SELF:  If you don’t want to annoy your neighbours (mercifully I’ve got new ones and they have not moved in yet), its best to do your cleaning in the day time. Our rooms are not that big. I had to change water and add more cleaning solution three times and I spent about 25 mins cleaning the master bedroom, this is accounting for the water change etc. Overall the carpet looked and smelt good but the stains in the corner did not come out. They were only slightly faded. On second thought I should have treated those areas before cleaning but there is no telling how much difference that would have made because they're so old. I confess I went over some spots three times instead of the recommended two times, those areas took roughly 24 hours to dry totally. Here are the results:

before

after

before

after

ready first water change

Cleaning the Living Room

My main concern with the living room carpet was the unpleasant odours from Angelo’s potty training accidents and any germs that would develop due to it, as Valentina is now crawling. Regular daily household cleaners and odour eaters had done little to improve the smell. Rug Doctor worked a treat. The carpet was left feeling and smelling new and fresh. For the living room I changed water three times and added more solution and this allowed me to do the our short narrow hall way too. 

before

after

Although I didn’t clean our fabric three-seater sofa, if was useful to know that machine could also clean it. The attachment to clean household furniture comes with the machine. Judging from the videos, it seems pretty easy to readjust the attachments for this purpose.

 Overall the Rug Doctor machine is great. It works well. It’s light and easy to manoeuvre. Usually I’d leave that sort of job for Hubby but after viewing the ‘How To’ videos I felt confident enough to carpet clean for myself… OK so he did fill the water compartment and add the solution but that was it! From my trial experience, I’d suggest, be sure to select the appropriate cleaning agent for your concern. I would've been ecstatic if all the stains were gone, but my main concern was getting rid of the odours and having the confidence that my carpets were properly cleaned. I don't think a regular spray would give the deep down clean and get rid of any germs. In hindsight I should have got one solution for the mold and one for the odours for better results.  I would also suggest that depending on how old and tough your stain is, pre-treat the area. The Rug Doctor has a wide selection of cleaning and treatment solutions.   For more information on Rug Doctor products, please visit there website.

This is not a sponsored post; however I was lent a Rug Doctor Machine to use for the purpose of this review.