Carpet Cleaning - Davis

Carpet Cleaning can either be a part of home maintenance, or in order to get your security deposit back.

Professional

Rental

Places in town where you can rent equipment.

ACE Hardware: Ace rents a Host Cleaner system, basically an dry cleaning system that is billed as environmentally friendly. You more or less sprinkle a their specially cleaning stuff on your carpet and brush it in with their machine. After an hour you vacuum it up with your vacuum cleaner. Cost for the brush machine is $15 per day, $100 deposit. Cleaner is $26/3 room or $6/hallway area.
All Star Rents: Power flight (similar to Rug Doctor but a little bigger), $30/24 hours, cleaner is 12.50/half gallon (~600 sq ft) or 20/full gallon (~1200 sq ft).
CVS: Rug Doctor (see below, wide track not available)
Nugget: Rug Doctor (see below)
Safeway: Rug Doctor (see below)
Save Mart: Rug Doctor (see below)

Places in town that should rent carpet cleaners but don't.

Target: Does not rent carpet cleaners.
Walmart: Does not rent carpet cleaners.
Party and Vac: Does not rent carpet cleaners.

Rug Doctors are carpet shampoo machines. You fill them with hot water, add a special cleaning solution, and run them over your carpet. They have a special brush agitator on the bottom for applying the cleaner and a powerful vacuum that sucks up all the water. Rentals are virtually the same for all stores that carry them. Price for a regular size is $24.99/24 hours, wide track is $26.99/24 hours, optional hose attachment is $3.00. They also typically require a $20 deposit and and ID. Rentals are usually on a first-come first-served basis. Cleaner is required and varies from $12.99/small bottle (one room) to $19.99/large bottle (two to three rooms). Additional products like spot removers and pet stain specific items are available at even more cost.

Working Efficiently with a Rented Carpet Shampooer

Here are some tips for getting the most out of a rented Carpet Shampooer:

Set Aside Enough Time to do the Job Right — A proper cleaning with a shampooer can take 1-3 hours per room. If you haven't done it in a while, you'd be surprised how much dirt you have worked into your carpet. It is likely you will need repeated passes to do a thorough job. Don't expect it to be as quick as vacuuming.
Use Your Regular Vacuum First — Vacuum the crap out of your carpet with your normal vacuum before you rent. It will make your job a little easier.
Know Where the Brushes Are — After you pick up your shampooer, take a moment to flip over the machine and see where the brushes are and how they work. This will help you understand whats going on while you're running the machine.
Switch Off Between Cleaning Solution and Hot Water — If you're doing repeated passes on a deep clean, you can save cleaning solution by doing a few runs just using hot water. The cleaning solution is definitely good, as it helps break up the heavy stuff, but you'll find you can do a lot with good hot water alone. A typical shampoo/rinse regimen might go: Rinse, shampoo, rinse, shampoo, repeated rinses until waste water is almost clear, shampoo, rinse, dry.
Change Direction Often — Switch up which way you pull the machine around your room. This will let the brushes agitate in different directions and pull up more dirt.
Lift the Handle — On the Rug Doctor, if you pull up on the handle slightly, you'll apply more pressure on the brushes on the front and work them deeper into the carpet.
Do Some Dry Runs At the End — Suck up as much water as you can at the end for a quicker dry.