LOOKING TO HIRE A RUG DOCTOR OR HIRE A PROFESSIONAL CARPET CLEANER?
OUR EXPERIENCE HIRING A RUG DOCTOR & A PROFESSIONAL CARPET CLEANER! WHICH ONE IS BEST?
Founded by Pam and Mark Smith from Liverpool, Merseyside.
About Us
Creating a CARPET AND HARD FLOOR CLEANING LIVERPOOL website was first thought of: by me Pam Smith of Liverpool.
Recently me and my husband needed some carpets cleaning in our home and I thought lets save some money and clean the carpets ourselves by hiring a Rug Doctor from our local supermarket, We did lots of research from accridited carpet cleaning bodies like NCCA and even read on the carpet cleaning forums to help aid our search.
Hiring a Rug Doctor
Hiring a Rug Doctor to clean my home carpets would be a normal reaction for someone like us: we've both decorated our whole house together, gosh we've even built an outside shed from scratch, so it's not as if we weren't handy or hands-on doing a bit of DIY, little did we know how difficult it was going to be to use a Rug Doctor Carpet Cleaner. We simply had no idea how cumbersome the machine was to pack into our car, quite heavy, although two people can comfortably lift it into the back of your car, 10ft of hoses and two carpet cleaning attachments. 1) a small nozzle gun for upholstery and a larger cleaning wand for carpets. So, we took the plunge & actually hired our first ever Rug Doctor.
Safely inside the boot of our car....now lets drive to our local DIY shop that sells carpet cleaning shampoo, as we had some coffee stains on our lounge carpet and some mascara stains on my bedroom carpet we'd purchase 2 stain removal products also.
The total cost of hiring a Rug Doctor: Carpet Cleaning Shampoo & 2 Stain Removal products were as follows:
All in we were:
£39.99 to hire the Rug Doctor machine for the day
£7.99 for make up stain removal
£5.99 for coffee stain removal
£24.99 for carpet cleaning shampoo
Total £78.96
That total didn't include the cost of diesel back and forth to the local supermarket to hire the machine and to pick up some cleaning shampoo and stain removal products.
If we thought our biggest problem was getting a Rug Doctor into the back of our little car then sadly we were just scraping the top of an ice berg! When I come to think of it, despite this being a very popular brand to hire and truth being told a-lot of people do hire Rug Doctors: however, despite knowing or hearing of friends and family hiring one over the years I've never heard anyone say that they would recommend it...hmmm
Finally the day has arrived and we're about to clean our 3 bedrooms, stairs and landing and lounge carpets: dirty carpets I may add but and in a few short hours all our carpets will be like new again, Right! after about 20-25 minutes we eventually pieced together the rug Doctor, cables/wires, vacuum hoses and water pressure hoses attached, full with water and 1/20 ratio with carpet shampoo: everything seems to be going to plan until we realized we couldn't carry the the machine up our stairs...I know what you're thinking? school boy error and you'd be correct, we should have soused this out: all we had to do was disconnect the hoses and empty the machines water into a basin, wrong we had to empty the whole machine into our sink as we had already added the carpet shampoo: ok I know we're knew to this but an hour has passed and we haven't even started to clean the carpets yet!
ONE HOUR LATER
We now have the machine upstairs, pipes attached, power on, water and carpet shampoo in the machine now lets crack on, my husband was doing the donkey work on the machine and I was now applying the stain removal product onto the make in my carpet, we had about 7/8 small make-up stains in our carpet ranging from mascara to foundation: when I added the STAIN REMOVER on to the make-up I could actually see it starting to disappear slightly, I cracked on with the first few stains and TBH it seemed to be working quite well however, I quickly ran out and only managed to work my magic on about 50% of the stains...which was quite disappointing since i did pay £7.99 for the make-up remover although it was working quite well.
My husband on the other hand was struggling with the Rug Doctor, it is really heavy when full of water and unlike a vacuum cleaner you can only go backwards pulling with a Rug Doctor, 30 minutes in and I could see he needed a cuppa, off I popped and made us a brew (cup of tea) ten minutes later I returned with a well earned cup of tea and his favorite biscuits (kit-kat) I only break them out when he's working really hard you know! haha.
45 minutes into cleaning our first bedroom and my poor husband has only finished 50% of the room, he says that you have to do several passes over and over the same spot to get the dirt out: at this point I can't really complain as we 're getting 4 rooms cleaned and our stairs and landing for £80 albeit a bit of hard work.
A FURTHER TWO HOURS LATER
Hurray we're now finished our first bedroom upstairs, we only have 3 more rooms to do and our stairs and landing, I can see you smiling whilst you're reading this! haha, you're thinking these other rooms aren't getting cleaned! Well you're absolutely spot on, 3 hours we've been at it emptying and filling buckets, pulling pushing, stain removal and dare I say it we did actually start to get on each others nerves a little. Building IKEA furniture together is far less stressful than using a Rug Doctor I can tell you!
We decided to pack it all away, lick our wounds and search for a professional to do it for us, it simply wasn't worth the hassle or hard work to do it ourselves.
Next day we returned the Rug Doctor to the supermarket and TBH if I never see that machine again it'll be too soon. haha
Read below to see what we did to rescue the carpet cleaning mission.
Later on I found this wonderful article on the web about the Pros and cons of Hiring a Rug doctor Vs the professionals
Firstly we looked on Facebook for carpet cleaners in Liverpool most of the carpet cleaners weren't local but The St Helens Carpet Cleaner did have reasonable prices! or seemed to use equipment not too dissimilar to the Rug Doctor, next port of call was YELL.COM they ought to have some decent carpet cleaners! I searched around yell for a bit and there did seem to be one or two carpet cleaning companies that might interest us, however after doing some sneaky due-diligence on YELL.COM I read that yell only show carpet cleaners high up on the list if they are paying for advertisements! I don't know about you but I wanted a carpet cleaning company to be high up on the search on their own merits, because they had decent content and amazing reviews.
Of course our next search was on Google! yes just like half the worlds population when they need something. Google was by far the best search we did for local carpet cleaners in Liverpool: In fact the selection on offer was to a very high standard, but who did we choose and were we happy with the carpet cleaning service?
Who did we choose and why?
We spoke to several carpet cleaning companies in Liverpool areas and were keen to keep our costs down so carpet cleaning offers and deals were high on our research list, I was also keen on hearing what the different carpet cleaning companies were offering by way of a cleaning service because the ones I spoke to were all different. I'm not here to bash the other carpet cleaning companies and give this reason or that reason on why we never choose them, I'd like to explain in detail on the company we did pick and our reasons why we picked them.
Ok, the suspense is over: we eventually picked Eco steam clean who are Liverpool carpet cleaners, they impressed us on many levels when we called them back to book in. carpet cleaning prices and deals with them were 3 standard rooms & stairs and landing (£110) other offers they had on were 4 standard sized rooms (£100) stairs & landing (£40) all competitive prices in the Liverpool area because we did do some comparison quoting. ok, so what did we really like about them and why did we choose them as our Liverpool Carpet Cleaner.
Firstly I have to mention how smooth and easy the website was to maneuverer around, slick, bright, contemporary and an amazing built in calculator that had us glued to it for hours searching for the best possible carpet cleaning deals. 10/10
- tel: manner was excellent, I spoke to Mark & he talked us through all the deals they had, and asked us some questions like had we tried to clean the carpets before? haha, yes we told them what we did and how we got on! he also asked us things like what was the street parking like, as they have a built in steam generator built into the back of the van they needed to park directly outside our home which wasn't a problem. They also asked me about what carpet stains we had, which I explained and almost felt quite proud I had contributed in my own little way when I explained what I did.
2. When booking in he offered us a morning or afternoon slot and
had several days waiting list which we were quite happy with as it took our bedroom carpet nearly 3 days to dry after using the Rug Doctor, we decided to get all carpets cleaned again and plumped for two separate deals, 4 carpets for £100 and £40 for our stairs and landing: all in it was going to cost us £140, not nearly as expensive as the some other companies and certainly not as expensive as I thought it would be to get our carpets professionally cleaned
3. The day arrived a few days later and we were going to see how carpets should be cleaned, two chaps arrived in the time slot provided, just as they said and were very pleasant in there presence and demeanor. Both arrived very smartly dressed and wore all black and had the companies logo and name on the polo shirts. I gave them a quick cup of tea and off they went to clean our carpets.
Being a nosey so and so had a quick look to see what they were doing and how me and my husband were trying to clean carpets....I can only describe it as night and day! firstly they pre-sprayed all our carpets with an eco-friendly cleaning product that doesn't smell of any chemicals what-so-ever, they then re-piled all our carpets which brought the pile back up on the carpets and it also took out years of embedded in dust & hair that our vacuum just couldn't do, they then worked on all the carpet stains both up-stairs and down.
Finally, they steam cleaned all our carpets and it took them no more than an hour from start to finish!!! I was gob-smacked at the speed they worked and the team work they showed was very impressive.
4. The end results were incredible and our carpets were nice and fluffy once more, our carpets hadn't looked this good since we bought them 7 years ago: at the end one of the chaps walked us through the whole job and explained what they did and why, I do really feel that what we got and the minimal disruption was well worth it, so much so I decided to do this blog on our little trial and tribulation of carpet cleaning.
Before taking the payment (we paid by card) they gave us some paperwork to explain that ventilation was key in drying our carpets (which I didn't know) also to be careful we didn't slip on any hard surfaces when walking from the damp carpet on to our kitchen tiles.
5. When the chaps had gone It might sound strange but I did actually feel like the rooms were cleaner and I could breath easier, It might just be me but if you do get your carpets cleaned too maybe you'll feel the same as me.
6, I also liked the fact that The Eco group were eco-friendly because the chemical that we bought to use in the Rug Doctor was very strong and smelled like artificial apples haha.
7 The next day the carpets looked even better than they did after being cleaned, it took the carpets approx 4-5 hours to fully dry and we made sure to follow the instructions and ventilate for 3-4 hours after-wards.
Eco Friendly Cleaning Products: Why You Should Make The Switch
You may not realize it, but the cleaning products you use have a significant impact on the environment. Many of the chemicals in commonly used cleaning products are harmful to the atmosphere and contribute to pollution.
Eco-friendly cleaning products are made from natural ingredients and are biodegradable. They don’t contain any harmful chemicals, making them safer for the environment.
In this article, we will discuss why you should make the switch to eco-friendly cleaning products. We will also provide some tips on how to find and use these products
1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Using eco-friendly cleaning products can help reduce your carbon footprint. Traditional cleaning products typically contain chemicals that contribute to air and water pollution. Eco-friendly cleaning products are made from plant-based materials that don’t harm the environment.
2. Healthier for You Many traditional cleaning products contain harmful chemicals that can be dangerous to your health. These chemicals can cause skin irritation, allergic reactions, and even respiratory problems. Eco-friendly cleaners are made with natural ingredients that are gentler on your skin and the air you breathe. 3. Protects the Environment When you use traditional cleaning products, the chemicals can end up in the air and water supply. This can have a negative impact on the environment and wildlife. Eco-friendly cleaners are biodegradable and contain natural ingredients that won’t harm the environment.
4. Saves You Money Eco-friendly cleaning products can save you money in the long run. While they may be more expensive upfront, they are typically more concentrated, so you use less product overall. Additionally, since they are made with natural ingredients, they are less likely to damage surfaces and require replacement.
How to Find Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Read Labels – Look for cleaning products that are labeled as “green,” “natural” or “eco-friendly.”
Check Ingredients – Make sure the product lists its ingredients. Avoid products that contain bleach, ammonia, phosphates, or formaldehyde.
Research Brands – Research the company to ensure they have a history of making eco-friendly products.
DIY Cleaning – Consider making your own eco-friendly cleaning products using ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and essential oils.
Switching to eco-friendly cleaning products
Is a simple way to reduce your impact on the environment and protect your health. It can also be an effective way to save money in the long run. Remember to do your research and be mindful of the products you use in your home.
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Conclusion
I hope I have helped to guide my fellow Liverpudlians by helping you to choose a very good carpet cleaner in the Liverpool area, we used Google for the search term carpet cleaning and we saw eco steam clean, and would highly recommend them. This is only our experience and wish you well in your search who-ever you choose.
I will add that my sister lives in West Kirby on the Wirral: she hired the wirral carpet cleaning company who had affordable prices. Is also owned by Merseysteam clean and again they did a marvelous job cleaning her hard floors and carpets and the blog on their website was well worth a read, especially about BEDBUGS.
I hope you have enjoyed our little experience and i didn't bore you too much.
Thank you
Pam Smith
