Rug Doctor - a review

This moving house is a time consuming task, every spare minute of every spare day is spent up there getting it ready to move into. I suppose in some respects we have been fortunate having this eight week cross over period, I have no idea how people manage when you have to move out of one house lock stock and barrel in a morning and into a new house in the afternoon.

But by the same token it is lovely to have the opportunity to put my own mark on a house I am going to be living in instead of having to accept somebody else's choice in carpets and wall paper. We are not replacing two of the bedroom carpets and so I wanted these cleaned thoroughly as a dog use to live in the house.

Luckily for me I was  offered a timely chance to review a Rug Doctor and so I said yes please.

A Rug Doctor is a large carpet cleaning machine that you can rent from local shops with which to shampoo your carpets.

Rug Doctor tell us

Vacuuming is not enough to ensure a fresh, clean and soft carpet which will look its best for years to come. The act of vacuuming only removes loose pieces of dust, dirt and other bits, whereas a deep-clean will wash the carpet fibres and base, which is where much of the dirt and bacteria can hide. A thorough clean of your carpets is easy if you rent a carpet cleaner. Whether or not you've used a carpet cleaner rental service before, you won't believe how easy a Rug Doctor is to use, and you'll love the way it makes your carpets look and feel!

How does the machine work?

INJECT: Excellent carpet cleaning results start with the right use of effective cleaning products mixed with hot tap water. It's not enough to just wet the carpet. To really clean,

you must put inject into the pile an adequate volume of cleaning solution so that loosened dirt can be suspended in the moisture and allow the solution to act as a rinsing agent. Too much water can cause problems with drying. 
That's why Rug Doctor is designed to clean in one pass.

AGITATE: Rug Doctor's unique vibrating brush has an oscillating motion. The brush gets down in between the carpet pile to really work at loosening tough ground-in dirt and grime. At the same time, it leaves the carpet pile fluffed up and raised (not flat and matted) so that the vacuum can do its job to extract the liquid along with the dirt that lays deep down in between the fibres.

EXTRACT: Powerful vacuuming extraction is essential to effective cleaning as, without it, dirt and excessive moisture is left behind. Rug Doctor's powerful vacuuming action is essential to give effective cleaning. 80% of the cleaning solution is extracted during the cleaning process leaving most carpets and upholstery dry within two hours. 

So what did I think of the machine?

The machine is fairly heavy but not unmanageable. I would recommend if you are using it upstairs to carry it up empty and fill it upstairs. The machine is easy to fill, just pour the water and solution into the large red tank at the bottom of the machine. Relocate the white tank back on top to collect the dirty water.

The machine has full instructions printed onto it on how to use it, and the instructions are easy to read and follow.

one run over on the carpet, what a difference

So I filled the machine and followed the instruction and started to clean the carpet, the machine is fairly heavy but used correctly it is easy to manoeuvre. It makes a great job of the carpet with just one pass of the machine. Must admit the carpet did not look that grubby before I started cleaning.


Once I had finished cleaning the room I did not feel the edges were very clean, but then it was a cream coloured carpet that had been down for six or seven years and had a dog sleeping in there. But I used the hand tool to go round the edge of the room and it brought the edge up really well. I have to say on the purple carpet I did not need to do this.

the dirty water

A full tank of clean water does not seem to go far, for the bedroom that was 10 ft by 12 ft I used six tanks of clean water, but maybe I was moving the machine too slowly,  but then I did get good results. It certainly brought a lot of dirt out of the carpet, has to be a lot healthier now.

the dirty arm

Next up I cleaned the sofa bed we had bought second hand a few weeks ago to put  in the children's room so they have somewhere to sit when they are upstair. This was cleaned with the hand tool. I sprayed the couch arms first of all and left this to work at breaking down the marks whilst I gave the cushions a going over, these did not look too dirty but I did not think it would do any harm to freshen them.

a cleaned arm

The tool worked well and took all the dirty marks off the arms and faded a white mark that was on there.

Overall I have to say I  was very impressed with how easy the machine is to use, how effectively it cleaned the carpets and the end results it produced.

I was sent a Rug Doctor and a bottle of shampoo to review, but the photographs tell their own honest story.