Carpet cleaners--buy or rent?

[PaulaO]

My carpeting is less than a year old and looks great except in the bit from the dining room to,the kitchen. That is the heaviest trafficked area, plus where the cat bowls are. Is it worth it to buy a home cleaner, or should I just rent one from the hardware store? I hate the thought of renting a big honking machine when it truly is about a 4 foot square area.

[Quelah]

I would just hire a service. No small machine will equal the power of a truck mounted unit. I have 3 German Shepherd and I live on a small horse farm and have nearly white carpet. It came with the house. It still looks pretty much like it did when we moved in 14 years ago. I have it professionally cleaned at least 2x a year, sometimes more if needed.

[StraightForward]

We bought a Bissell Liftoff a few years ago and really like it. It's nice being able to clean up the high-traffic areas without all the hassle of schedule and waiting for a pro, moving furniture out of their way and all that. It was around $250, so it's easily paid for itself.

[Kyra's Mom]

I have one (can't remember which one--Hoover or Bissell). So much easier to clean what you need to clean when you need to clean it. Despite only having carpet in my 2 small bedrooms, guess which rooms the cats end up puking in? I would go broke hiring someone every time. I like the bigger machine over the spot cleaner.

I keep a bottle of soap mixed up and only use as much as I need to use for each incident.

Susan

[cb06]

I bought a Bissell years ago. It was not that expensive (<150-200? onsale/with coupon from Kohls I think?). Completely worth it. Easy to use, and does a VERY good job, gets up ALL of the pet hair and dirt ground into the carpet. I use the pet shampoo and stain remover in the high traffic areas, and it has a good upholstery attachment that also that gets hair out of furniture.
I tried one of the major truck-based companies (Stanley) for a very basic clean, right after I moved and because I thought they'd be better...was very disappointed, totally not worth it...left pet hair in carpet, and it smelled like 'wet dog carpet' when they were done. ....my little cleaner with the pet/stain shampoo does a MUCH better job.

[Tarlo Farm]

I've used the Rug Doctor regularly (every Spring). Best advice I got was to use the hottest water you can get your hands on, regardless what the machine says. Almost boiling.

[Sunshine2Me]

I just bought this one, and I love it. Easy to use, not TOO heavy, and I can clean whenever I want!

https://www.bissell.com/proheat-pet-upr ... aner-89104

[PaulaO]

S2M, that is exactly what I'm looking for! Off to Amazon.....