Comparison of Rug Shampooers

Choose the Right Shampooer

• The more carpet you have, the more time it takes to shampoo it. This means you want a shampooer that will do a good job in the least possible time. Having said that, there's no point in you forking out more money than necessary. You do not need an "all singing all dancing shampooer" if all you have are a few carpet runners with a short pile to protect hardwood flooring.

The Push-Along Shampooer

• If you have just a few rugs and carpet runners, a push-along shampooer is the cheapest option. The push-along process involves three stages.

  Firstly, you vacuum the rugs and carpets being shampooed to remove all loose dirt, dust and debris.

  You then fill the tank of your push along shampooer with the recommended amounts of detergent and warm water, before rolling it over the carpet surfaces you wish to clean. The roller distributes the shampoo solution, and works it into the fibers.

  The shampoo traps ingrained dirt in the rugs and carpets as it dries. Once it is dry, you vacuum the surface again, sucking up the dried shampoo along with the dirt it has removed.

The Extraction Shampooer

• If your home is fully, or almost fully carpeted, an extraction shampooer will take some of the effort out of keeping it clean. These machines distribute warm water and detergent through their cleaning head. This is agitated into the carpet by a brushroll. It is then sucked up by the vacuum function of the machine into its dirty water tank, bringing the dirt it has loosened from deep in the carpet with it.

  If purchasing this type of machine for a house with carpeted stairs, remember to buy one with a hose and hand tool for shampooing the treads and risers. Make sure the hose is long enough to stretch from the bottom of your stairs to the top.

The Combination Shampooer and Polisher

• If you have a large amount of carpet, but also some hard flooring which requires buffing, it is possible to purchase machines which are combined carpet shampooers and hard floor cleaners. The benefit of these machines is that they cut down on the amount of storage you need for your floor-cleaning equipment. Instead of a vacuum, shampooer and polisher, you have just a vacuum, and one other machine.