Does shampooing carpets, ruin them

tsb

We have cream carpets in our house. We are trying to sell our house at the moment and my wife politely asks viewers to take their shoes off or wear those plastic over shoes, as no one has ever worn shoes in the house.After reading the thread in the house selling site, regarding shoes or no shoes whilst trying to sell a house, there seems to be a 50/50 split. I've suggested buying a carpet shampooer(george vac) and allow viewers to leave their shoes on. My question is-- Does regular wetting and cleaning with a carpet shampooing machine actually have a detrimental effect on the carpet?

Actual advice on carpet shampooing solutions please, not the 'shoes versus no shoes' ! As interesting as that is, it's still going strong on the house selling thread!!

daveyjp

Depends on the quality of the carpet.

We use a small Vax carpet washer and for £60 it does an excellent job.

For small areas we use neat carpet shampoo and this gets stains out too. Always test on an unseen area first.

TomsMom

My d-i-l regularly shampoos their lounge carpet. With three children, a cat and a nutty dog it needs it. It's a good quality man-made carpet, terracotta colour (so a good few years old, that colour's not the trend now) and it looks great. No problems with shampooing, she uses a Vax (a big upright one).

Debt_Free_Dreamer

I think it is fine to ask people to put plastic on their shoes. It is what happens in many show home new houses.

I think it shows you have taken care of your carpet and as a buyer, I would be impressed.

In my first house I always made people take off their shoes. Now we have a cat and 2 kids, the carpet has no chance, so it no longer seems to matter.

As for shampoo. I used to clean my carpet all the time with a carpet vac. Never seems to do it any halm.

jackieb

I think you need to make sure you get all the shampoo out of the carpet, as if it's not then it can attract dirt.

danmurray

I wouldn't buy a carpet shampooer rather I rent a carpet cleaner from a hire store or the likes. I use a Hagerty carpet and upholstery cleaner on my carpets (a cream carpet in the reception room, light blue in the living room, a weird colour on the upstairs landing). I clean them about once a month or so and have done now for maybe two years. They're still as new if I'm honest. The hagerty machine is professional and proper - an for all that I use it, hiring it out is the cheapest option.

jackieb

My mum, sister and myself shared the cost of a Bissell ProHeat cleaner. We paid £70 each. We buy the shampoo from Ideal World when it's £20 for 3 bottles. The same stuff is about £17 a bottle from Argos.

roddydogs

Do it now while its HOT!

underlay_guru

A main problem with carpet shampooing is that some people don't spend the time to rinse out the detergent. If this is not done efficiently, the shampoo leaves a slightly sticky residue, which will attract dirt.

If your carpet is of a man-made fibre (polypropylene or nylon), then I wouldnt worry about constant wetting and drying. If the carpet has some wool content however, the pile may look shabby and fluffy after a few washes.

purpleparrotuk

underlay_guru wrote: »

A main problem with carpet shampooing is that some people don't spend the time to rinse out the detergent. If this is not done efficiently, the shampoo leaves a slightly sticky residue, which will attract dirt.

If your carpet is of a man-made fibre (polypropylene or nylon), then I wouldnt worry about constant wetting and drying. If the carpet has some wool content however, the pile may look shabby and fluffy after a few washes.

What would you recommend using to clean a wool carpet.
I had the bissell deep clean but it pulled all the fibres in it and made it fluffy because it had brushes.