Table of Contents
Before you start shampooing your carpet, use a vacuum cleaner to thoroughly pick up any loose debris.
You will have a carpet deeper cleaning when you shampoo your carpeting to last longer than simply vacuuming. It’s a good idea at this time to spot clean stubborn stains.
A good product for eliminating stains and odors is Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Stain & Odor Eliminator – Enzyme-Powered Pet Odor & Stain Remover for Dog and Cat Urine. The enzymes will disappear wine and coffee stains as well.
Remove furniture from the room or at least move it away from the carpet area you are first spot cleaning then shampoo.
Read your shampooer’s User’s Manual for how to clean. If you don’t have the instructions, use the methods discussed here.
After you’ve used the cleaning solution, its best to run the shampooer again with clear cold water without soap. Be sure your carpet is thoroughly dry before putting the furniture back.
Cleaning Carpet
Move the furniture or put on the opposite side of the carpet being cleaned. If you can’t move large items, put the legs on wood blocks and clean under it.
Protect bottoms and legs of furniture wrapping with foil or plastic to protect from water in the shampooer.
Vacuum completely to pick up larger particles and pet hair. This fluffs the carpet making it easier to shampoo. Pretreat any stains now.
Go around the baseboards with a handheld vacuum or whisk broom to pick up any particles, crumbs, dead bugs and other dirt since the carpet cleaner cannot get as close to the baseboard.
For cleaning your car carpeting, try the ingredients in the video! It works—I did it but removed the small removable carpets putting them on my driveway to clean and rinse and let air dry in the shade. Rubber floor mats are easier to clean using a garden hose.
Go back into your vehicle and do the same cleaning process for the attached carpet after the carpeted floor mats have been removed.
Amazing way to super clean the nastiest vehicle carpet or filthy indoor carpet.
How to Fill Your Carpet Cleaner Machine
Be sure you understand how your shampooer or rented machine works. Check out the buttons, parts, and other items on it.
There are several types of carpet cleaners. Some work the same way as a vacuum cleaner and some you will walk backwards with and pull it along with you.
A robotic vacuum or handheld vacuum will not get up as much debris when using a shampooer.
Fill the shampooer with the correct amount of water and cleaning solution. Your carpet shampooer might have a removable clean water tank or a fixed water tank.
Don’t fill your carpet shampooer tank past the max line and use either cold or hot water per the instructions. Hot water always works best with soap. Be sure your carpet can handle hot water; wool carpeting or area rugs might shrink.
When you add the carpet shampoo, be sure it’s right for your rug shampooer and only use the amount directed.
You don’t want to leave soap a layer of soap foam or crust on your carpet. Be sure you put it in the clean water or separate compartment.
Operating a Carpet Shampooer
Carpet shampooers don’t move the same as a vacuum does going back and forth. They either go forward or backward. Start in a corner getting close to the walls with your shampooer. Go from that corner to the opposite wall corner. Turn and overlap the last strip and continue until you’ve completed all of the room.
It will take more time running a shampooer unlike the vacuum cleaner. Shampooers dispense soapy water down deep into the carpet then sucking it back up. When you move too fast, the cleaner doesn’t have time to pull the dirty water back up. The slower you go the better the results for a clean carpet.
You can tell when the water level is getting empty or the dirty water tank is getting full. Listen. The motor will sound as if it’s stressing, and it could be, so stop the cleaner and dump the dirty water down the toilet or outside and refill the cleaning solution tank if necessary. If you don’t do this, you could burn out the small motor.
Some shampoo cleaning machines will have a gauge or light to let you know the dirty water tank is full and needs to be disposed of.
You might need to dump and refill tanks often depending on the size of your room and the amount of liquid the tank(s) hold.
Completing the Carpet Cleaning Process
The shampooer will leave soap scum residue so run it another time with cold water only. You will be able to move faster this time and do it barefoot to keep dirty shoes off your clean carpet.
Let the carpet dry on a nice day with windows and doors open for air flow. If too cold, use oscillating fans to dry and if you have ceiling fans, turn them all on at low speed. Don’t put furniture on damp carpet because the legs or bottoms will indent the carpet impossible to remove.
Maintaining the Carpet Shampooer
Empty the tanks and rinse well after each carpet cleaning job. Dry the tanks outside if possible, to keep mold and mildew from growing on any moisture left behind. Leave the lids or caps off the tops of tanks for a few days until the tanks are thoroughly dry to evaporate any moisture left inside.
Move your furniture back and enjoy a fresh clean carpet!
How to deep clean your carpet with a Bissell® or similar shampooer video.
