Does anyone own a home carpet cleaning machine? What brands? What features does it have? How costly is it? How satisfied are you?

We have borrowed a Dirt Devil Easy Steamer from a co-worked because my dog puked on the carpet, plus it was just dirty. I've only done one room.

I haven't yet returned it, Thank God!!! I opened the door when I returned home from work and was blasted in the face with the oh-so-NOT-pleasant scent of POOP! My dog had apparently gotten sick and had diarrhea in 2 rooms of my house on WHITE carpet. I almost puked myself! Anyway, the machine was still here and I spent an hour shampooing part of the carpet in 2 different rooms and lit incense to kill the smell.

We were *thinking* of getting a machine, but obviously want to get the very best we can afford.

Anyone have any recommendations?????

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 08:18 pm:

Nature's Miracle will kill the odor. You can buy it at most pet supply stores. Expensive but worth every penny. Works for pet and human vomit, urine and feces. DS puked all over his beige rug in his bedroom. I thought we were doomed with the stain and odor. Nope! Two applications of Nature's Miracle and the stain and odor are GONE!

We have a Bissell Proheat carpet shampooer. It's OK. We bought it 3 or 4 yrs ago. I think it was about $150. It's good for normal cleaning but not much for stains. Which reminds me, time to shampoo the rugs again. Yippy Skippy!

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 08:25 pm:

Thanks Trina. I know all about Nature's Miracle, just don't happen to have any on hand.

By Yjja123 on Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - 08:26 pm:

I love my Hoover Steamvac purchased recently from Sears for $179.00. It was recommended in one of the consumer guides as best pick for steam cleaners. We are very pleased with it.
Yvonne

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 07:32 am:

Thanks Yvonne! Anyone else want to weigh in????

By Emily7 on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 09:29 am:

I also have Hoover Steamvac, it is nice to have around.

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 09:54 am:

One of my friends has a Bissell Pro-heat, and LOVES it. She has a house full of cats, and kids, and this cleaner works for her. I see them at Best Buy for under $200. Shop around, and use the price match at Best Buy to get the lowest possible price!

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 10:18 am:

I went over the affected areas 3 times last night. They *look* OK, but I bent down to sniff them like a fool this morning, and OMG! The stench! DH is under strict orders to get some Nature's Miracle today.

Question for those of you with cleaners and pets:

What does your cleaner use - Rug Doctor stuff, or something similar? And does it remove the ODORS and stains as well as dirt??

By Jelygu on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 10:30 am:

I am interested in the answers to your question as well. My dog had diarrhea in my bedroom 2 nights in a row. It is disgusting in there! I am borrowing my moms cleaner, she has a hoover I think, but it doesn't heat the water. I have never been impressed with it, but its the best I can do right now.

By Yjja123 on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 10:42 am:

Ok, though I hate even mentioning it..we had a dog poo mess to clean out of carpet (our dog is 13 and wasn't feeling well). We used a solution made for animals. It is $7.50 approx. at Walmart and made to go in all cleaners. Our Hoover Steamvac got it out and yes I sniffed and nothing. I waited a week and went over the area again. I was curious to see if it would come up clean (clear water). It did!
Karen, I am trying to find that consumer guide (so far no luck) that compares the steam cleaners. If I remember correctly the Hoover has more brush action than the Bissel and I think it heats the water better. I know there were 3 things noted as to why it was better than bissel.
Regardless, we are very pleased with the Hoover. If you decide to go with it, when we looked it was cheapest at Sears.
Yvonne

By Truestori on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 02:01 pm:

I have the Bissel Pro Heat steamer and I love it! It is very easy to use! I think Amazon always runs specials and so does Overstock. I bought mine at Target before I got savvy with online codes! LOL

I have seen them as cheap as $87.00 dollars online.
For us it was worth it. Having little kids and animals ya just never know!!!

By Paulas on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 03:16 pm:

I, too, am watching this post very closely as we are also considering buying a steam cleaner. Both the van and truck need cleaned and around here they charge $75-$100 to detail cars plus the carpets need done as well. It costs about $40 to rent the machine so I figure with all that I'm better off buying one and then I always have it. We have some orange pop on the carpet that has been there several months. I wonder if it will come out.

I, too, would be interested in that consumer report.

By Truestori on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 05:40 pm:

Paula,

What ever you do don't try oxiclean! LOL
My daughters friend spilled orange soda in my new van and it never came up. It has been stained ever since. Even with the steam cleaning, the stain still remains!

By Kaye on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 06:35 pm:

I have a hoover, it doesn't heat the water. What I found is I spot shot all the stains and then just use plain water, it works great. I don't clean the carpets often, it just takes SOOO long to do a good job and ultimately it isn't good for them. I also think i heard you have to be careful what your carpet is made out of with the heating water ones, because you could shrink your carpet.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 07:37 am:

I've given DH all the information here and put him in charge of researching. We are leaning towards the Hoover.

He brought home a gallon of Natures' Miracle last night, which, BTW is sold under a different name now, but I can't remember what. I put some of it directly on the spots so it could soak through the pad and the stench.

Then I used it in the canister, 50/50 mixture with water and went over the spots several times, plus a few old stains from doggie puke. It got some of THAT up too, but when I buy a machine, I want one a bit *better* than this one I borrowed.

Thanks for all the info. If anyone else has any input, I'm happy to hear it!

By Children03 on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 07:38 pm:

I have a Bissell Pro heat steam cleaner and it is the best. I love it. The water stays hot and it is very powerful. I clean my carpets at least once a week with it. It keeps my carpet looking new. I also use it to clean my van. It was about $179-$200. I bought mine at Lowe's Home Improvement.