DALLAS – Sept. 15, 2015 – Now that school is in session, your busy family may provide more reasons to clean your carpets, whether it’s a juice spilled during breakfast on a busy morning or dirty shoes coming home from school.

When you deep clean your carpet yourself, you save about $200 over hiring a professional*, you can clean when it’s convenient for you, you don’t have to let a stranger into your home, and you know it’s clean because you did it yourself.

If you’re planning a DIY carpet-cleaning project this weekend, consider these tips to make your carpet cleaning a DIY win.

Start with spots and stains:

• Treat stains right away. The longer a stain sits, the more likely it is to become permanent. Even your annual carpet cleaning can’t remove a stain that’s had months to set in.
• Work on stains from the outside in. When tackling a stubborn stain, work from the outside of the stain in to avoid making it bigger.
• Use warm water to treat old stains. Just make sure it’s not too hot, which can damage your carpet. If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot.
• For removing paint, use non-acetone nail polish remover. Just make sure its NON-acetone.
• Use the right solution for pet stains. Pet stains are no ordinary stains. Their biological nature requires a cleaning solution with enzymes to break them down and prevent remarking from your pet.

Supercharge your results with a carpet cleaning machine:

• Move the furniture. It adds more work to the project, but it’s the only way to do it right and is important for removing debris and contaminants that get trapped in those rarely seen spots.
• Choose a cleaning solution designed for machines. These cleaning solutions are perfectly formulated to leave no residue.
• Don’t use bleach or vinegar in the carpet-cleaning machine. The pH balance has a lot to do with the effectiveness of your cleaning. Too high or too low can void your warranty or discolor or damage the carpet fibers.
• Use hot tap water in the carpet-cleaning machine. Hot water provides more cleaning power than cool water.
• Steer clear of clean, damp carpet. Whether you’ve spot treated a stain or cleaned the whole room, carpet is most vulnerable to being soiled when it’s wet. Stay out of the room until it dries or cover the spot-treated area with a dry towel.
• Repeat annually. Your carpet warranty likely requires you to maintain and clean your carpet, and it’s just good housekeeping.

*According to 2015 IBIS World, the average professional carpet cleaning costs $265.

About Rug Doctor:
Rug Doctor is an international manufacturer and marketer of the most convenient, compact, and powerful hot water extraction carpet-cleaning machines and products available today. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, its carpet-cleaning rental machines and full line of Rug Doctor carpet-cleaning products can be found in more than 33,000 grocery, drug, hardware, and home center stores across the US. Learn more at www.rugdoctor.com.