If you have large pieces of furniture that are difficult to move, it’s your decision to leave them in the room. If you leave furniture in the room, it will be harder to shampoo because you have to work around it. If you can’t or don’t want to move large furniture, you can place squares of aluminum foil, wood blocks, or plastic film under the legs or base to protect them from water during shampooing.
Since you are going to the extra effort of shampooing, vacuum a little more than you usually would. Go in straight lines up and down the room and then do another set that crisscrosses the first set. As you vacuum, look for stains that need pre-treatment before shampooing. Set a sticky note or marker of some kind on the spot so you can easily find it.
Some carpet shampoos are meant for tough stains, so you may not need to use a stain remover.
Some shampooers work if you push them forward like a vacuum, but many others require that you walk backwards and pull the shampooer along with you. If you try to use the shampooer in a way besides how it was designed, your carpet won’t get clean. Look up tutorials online to learn the most effective way to use the specific shampooer you have. Before you rent or purchase a machine, do some research to find out if it’s been verified by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), which ensures the machine works well and effectively cleans carpets. It’s important to use a machine that works well since you likely won’t clean your carpet often.
Follow any instructions regarding hot or cold water. Hot water activates soap better, so it is usually best.
Read reviews online of the best carpet shampoos and consult the instructions on the shampooer to determine if there is a specific soap that works best. Most shampooers will work without soap and will still clean the carpets to an extent, so it is better to put less than enough soap than too much.
Shampooers are not meant to be pulled back and forth in a random pattern like vacuums are. Making straight lines across the room is the most effective cleaning method.
It may feel like you are going too slow and that it is taking too long, but the slower you go, the deeper the machine can clean your carpet.
You can also watch the machine and notice the water level of the clean and dirty tanks. If you notice you are almost out of clean water, go ahead and stop. You may need to empty the dirty water and refill the clean water multiple times before you are finished shampooing the room. It depends on the room size, the tank sizes, and exactly how slowly you are moving. If your carpet is very dirty or worn, you might run the shampooer over the carpet more than once, which will require that you empty and refill the water tank multiple times.
If you have to dump dirty water down the sink or shower drain, dump it slowly with hot water running the entire time. This will help keep the drain from clogging.
The emphasis is on cold water because hot water will activate the soap that remains which could cause it to suds up again. On this time around, take off your shoes and socks so that you don’t leave any dirt on the freshly cleaned carpet.
If you put furniture back on wet carpet, it can cause bad indentations and mildew can build up because the wet carpet has no airflow on it. You may want to hang a sign saying that you have just shampooed the carpet so that people will not walk around on the wet carpet.
If the tank has a cap of any kind, leave it off for a day or two to allow the excess water to completely evaporate.
