So the lovely people at Rug Doctor recently sent me a machine and some carpet detergent for the purpose of reviewing. It couldn't have come at a better time as I've recently decorated my living room and was toying with the idea of a new carpet to finish the look.
The machine arrived in a huge box, it felt like Christmas! Upon opening it, there was a net bag containing all the extra fixtures and fittings like tubes and nozzles to get at the corners of your carpets, a bottle of detergent and the Rug Doctor itself. Scrambling for instructions in the box, I started to panic that there weren't any! Seems I was having a bit of a panic over nothing as the instructions are as clear as day, on the stickers all over the machine. Clear step by step instructions - any dope could follow them - *BONUS*!!
 |
| Pic 2. First ever clean leaves filth stripes :-( |
The machine was much heavier than I'd anticipated, and I started to worry a little just how heavy it would be with the tank full too, but it was surprisingly easy to manoeuvre and those nozzles in the net are there to make it easier still.
Having several coffee spills over the years, plus the inevitable toddler 'food grind' etc I was aware there were a good few stains that needed lifting - so the Rug Doctor review was predominantly going to be about whether it worked in that department. Let's be clear... it does. (See Pic 1 at foot of review.)
However, using RugDoctor has made me really question why I've not cleaned my carpets before. In fact - it sickened me.
After doing the first run around in the living room, the water that had to be removed from the tank was black. I'm not kidding guys. BLACK. Never in a million years did I expect it to be so utterly filthy.
I re-positioned my furniture back in the living room - making sure I used tin foil under the feet to prevent any staining whilst drying - and I was just not happy. You could see lines of filth from where I'd run over the carpet with the Rug Doctor.
 |
| 2nd use - gleaming carpet! (Coffee table shadow, not dirt!) |
I was absolutely mortified and made a quick texting spree to make sure no-one was to come to my house for at least 24 hours! (Pic 2).
Impatiently I waited until the carpet had dried - a reasonable time of approx 3.5 hours, with open windows and radiator switched on - before I refilled the tank with hot water and detergent again and off I went...
Though not black, the water was murky grey in colour. Just how much dirt had my carpet been retaining over the past 3 years I'd been in this house? My son is 4 and he'd been crawling in this a few years ago. My gorgeous 3 year old nephew Tyler and my cousin's beautiful 2 year old girl Maisy-Sue have been playing on these carpets. I felt a wave of shame.
On the plus side, how powerful is this Rug Doctor to be able to draw out so much of what we can't see with our eyes?! With so little effort too.
 |
| After the second run - looks like new! |
I left it another 3.5 hours until repositioning the furniture in their spaces - in case I needed to re-do it again. But no, it was okay! PHEW!!! As it was drying, the second time around, you could see the lines were fading, the colour was brightening and the texture was softening. Utter relief, and shocked at the difference that was now evident. My carpet had been vile just a matter of hours ago, yet the only reason I wanted a new one was to finish the look of the redecoration, totally oblivious to the dirt I was allowing to join my family and I in our floor play times.
We vacuum every day so I'd always thought that this was "taking care" of our carpet.
How wrong was I? :-s
Going back to my initial pondering of Rug Doctor - does it remove stains. Yes it really does. I'd been concerned by a particularly large coffee stain that I was sure was set to stay, but this came out after the first use of the machine. The second run was clearly to deep clean the depths of the shag.
I'd absolutely 100% recommend this Rug Doctor for all and sundry.
 |
| Pic 1. coffee top, gone bottom! |
Step by step guide easily found on the body of the machine mean you cannot go wrong in terms of application of the detergent. The drying time is more than reasonable and the power in its' cleaning is simply awesome.
I've managed to save a massive couple of hundred pounds by not buying a new carpet, all for one days use of the Rug Doctor.
I received mine free of charge for the purposes of review, but you can hire these machines from retail outlets at a daily or 48hr rate, usually in the region of around £22.99.
Follow them on twitter
here too for hints, tips and special offers that they often tweet.
I'll be making the RugDoctor a part of more rigorous household clean from now on. I will use this a minimum of 4 times a year and I vow never to get such disgusting carpets ever again. Thanks RugDoctor!
To finish, just to show you again the difference between first clean and second clean with the RugDoctor again, see below - wow!
Have you used a RugDoctor before? I'd love to hear your stories!
Love Jo xxx
