Carpet Cleaner/Cleaning - Buy or Keep Renting ?

[Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 11:55

Hello everyone,

I'm renting a 3 bedroom townhouse and every room, the hallway and the living room have carpets. Not the greatest looking but it could be worse I guess. The colour: light cream/grey.

To clean it, I go to Bunnings, rent a carpet cleaning machine and do the job. The darn machine, works but it's bulky, I don't really trust it and it's a pain to use it. Renting and getting back I spend about 30 minutes (at least) on the road plus time in the shop which is at least another 10 minutes there each time.

Getting sick of this and was thinking of getting my own carpet cleaner but not sure if it's worth it.

Should I keep renting ?

Should I buy one of my own ?

  • if yes, which one ? The market it's tiny in this segment and was thinking at Karcher Puzzi 10 ($730 delivered) (commercia, very good reviews)

Should I hire someone to do my carpets ?

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • ihbh on 08/01/2017 - 12:32

    Buy your own. Don't anchor yourself to the $1.5k price.

    For example, a couple of years ago I bought this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vax-W90-RU-P-Pre-Treatment-Upright-…

    It's pretty good and you'd pay for it after a couple of times renting the Bunnings machine.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 12:50

      Thank you, I'll look into it.

  • Elppa8 on 08/01/2017 - 12:42

    Depends on how often you clean the carpets. To buy the Karcher rather than rent, even if you cleaned your carpets every 3 months it would be nearly 5 years before you would be in front assuming no maintenance or repairs and you have to store it somewhere.

    I would keep renting, although it would be too much hard work for me and would get someone in to do it once a year or so.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 12:50

      That's exactly what I was thinking.. but the house is pretty big and I would pay quite a bit to have someone to do it for me, hence the renting.

      When I do it myself, It takes me roughly 3 hours to clean the carpets… Not sure how much I would be charged for that.

      I don't wash my carpet that often, mostly because it takes me at least 1.5 hours to rent and take back. Now I feel like I would do it on a more frequent basis (like once every 3 months) if I had one of my own… but I might be just as lazy and do it twice a year :)

  • bluesky on 08/01/2017 - 15:05

    Probably better to buy your own. I bought one, but mainly because I don't know what a rented cleaner would have been used to clean prior. It should not matter; it is psychological, but still, I feel better with my own cleaner.

    I bought mine at Godfreys a few years back; curious from this post, so I googled Godfreys. Saw this on sale, have no idea about the brand, how good or whether suitable for your needs, but just thought I'd mention - Wertheim SE2000 Deep Cleaning Carpet Shampooer $149 save $150 - but buy instore only.

    Maybe this will be good enough for your needs; it will be light and easier to use. And not too expensive. You can recoup the cost after 4 times of use.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 15:28
      +1

      thank you for this.

    • endotherm on 08/01/2017 - 23:10
      +2

      I agree, get a $150-$200 upright machine, you will use it for small spot cleaning as little problems come up and not have to wait for the whole lot to be done.I recommend the Bissell range. Make sure you get a machine that injects/sprays hot water and detergents into the pile and immediately extracts it and the dissolved dirt via suction. Under no circumstances get a circular brush type of scrubber; it will put permanent swirls on your pile and destroy the carpet.

      • bluesky on 08/01/2017 - 23:16

        Very good point. Bissell is what I have too.

  • try2bhelpful on 08/01/2017 - 15:09
    +1

    Do you have someone you know who would also be interested in using it to do their carpets - you might be able to get someone to help you offset the costs seeing the unit won't be used a lot of the time.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 15:28

      Thx, I'll ask around

  • mskeggs on 08/01/2017 - 21:42

    Do you have an ambition to own your own place? Carpet cleaning really seems to be a thing that happens as part of rentals (maybe we just bought more sensible coloured carpets). I haven't used a machine for 15 years, since I moved out of my last rental…

    • [Deactivated] on 08/01/2017 - 22:29

      well, ambition or not will have to rent for the foreseeable future.

      The carpet is not new and it doesn't look really nice but the color of it makes anything on it stand out. It's looking like a shit hole after 6 months of not cleaning.

  • outlander on 08/01/2017 - 21:45

    Second hand, maybe. Never new unless it was a really great price

    • bluesky on 08/01/2017 - 21:55

      Haha, I would have thought the new $149 cleaner from Godfrey's (see comment) - is quite a good price!

      • outlander on 08/01/2017 - 22:10

        Maybe :)
        But in my experience, no. The consumer stuff you can buy for those prices is always a far cry from the proper commercial stuff. It works well enough at first, but breaks soon afterwards. If they could make them as good as the commercial units bunnings rent, then you have to ask, why doesn't bunnings rent out those units?

        However, if you can find a used commercial unit, say on ebay or other auction site, then the difference in the price you'd get from buying it, using it, and selling it on again, can be less than the overall cost to rent it.

        • bluesky on 08/01/2017 - 22:19

          Fair point :-), I am willing to price in a premium for it being "new"; which may not be the case for everyone.

        • outlander on 08/01/2017 - 23:22

          @bluesky:
          What is it about something being 'new' that you like so much?

          Personally, I hate buying new stuff..

        • bluesky on 08/01/2017 - 23:37

          @outlander: See my comment - psychological! :-) A lot of other stuff, I don't mind second-hand. Just something about this. Not saying it is rational! The same way I have an aversion to using a laundromat.

  • mogy1808 on 09/01/2017 - 07:45

    I purchased one from godfreys, was only $200 or $300, does a decent job.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2017 - 18:07

      Any links please ?

  • ms_caz on 09/01/2017 - 08:07

    I would factor in how dry the carpets are as a result of cleaning. Commercial cleaners generally have stronger suction which leads to the carpet being drier sooner. A home based domestic product might not leave the carpets dry enough quickly enough. I'm not sure how you would test that though!

    I'd go for a very good quality vacuum cleaner so that the dirt in your carpets is really lifted, along with spot cleaning for small dirty marks, and semi regular commercial steam or dry cleaning.

    • endotherm on 09/01/2017 - 13:18

      Having used both, I didn't find a lot of difference in motors between the small domestic units and the large Britex/for hire machines. The main difference is one only holds about a litre of hot water whereas the big machine holds gallons! Once the water gets into the pile and the dirt is dissolved, it is a lot easier to pick it up with a light suction, and does a better job than trying to remove the dirt with just vacuum. Even after a thorough vacuum (which you should do first anyway, to remove the large chinks of debris) you will be surprised how much dirt is still extracted. The recovery tank will appear quite muddy, even in a fairly new carpet! These machines should not be used as a replacement for a vacuum cleaner.

      In terms of drying, you can walk on it immediately with bare feet and it should feel damp, not dripping moist. If it does, you haven't run the suction over it enough and extracted enough water (and dirt). You won't be tracking wet footprints very far if you do at all. The dampness should be less than a t-shirt you hang on the line after washing and a good spin drying. In this weather,it should be perfectly dry in an hour or two. In winter, I do it in the evening and in the morning it is bone dry.

  • WT on 09/01/2017 - 11:42

    I had some stuff, which works well.
    Angle grinder with buffing wheel
    Car polisher
    Wet dry vac

    We already have this stuff and only have 2 rooms with carpet.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2017 - 18:04

      haha, I like your DYI … how's that working ? Can you give more details?

      • WT on 10/01/2017 - 13:40

        I really only do one room, if it was a huge area or needed it often I would replace the floor or buy something more suitable.

        works well enough, spot stains I will do with just a bucket/sponge and vac it up. My car has cloth seats and I do the front seats every couple of years- foam it up and vac.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/01/2017 - 20:45

          Thank you !

  • PVA on 10/01/2017 - 13:45

    Search around a get prices for someone to do the carpets.
    Surely you only do them every couple of years. ( I think it wrecks the carpet myself)

  • HeWhoKnows on 10/01/2017 - 19:39

    Commercial machines are $4,000 to $6,000 and more so you little Karcher Puzzi @ $730 is just a joke and ain't gonna do the job. If anything will take hours longer and you will just throw it out.
    Gp onto the tradesman/task sites and get some quotes.
    Tell them its a ongoing contact job every 6 months or whenever
    Try the following:
    airtasker.com.au
    serviceseeking.com.au
    homeimprovementpages.com.au (Hipages)

    • [Deactivated] on 10/01/2017 - 20:04

      Thank you for this. WIll give them bell.

  • simpocleaning on 25/07/2017 - 13:48
    -1

    You should check out the Britax, it's about 1500 bucks and is good for most purposes inside a normal home. We've purchased a few of them for our teams which are on the road. It's great for removing stains and is easy to move around a small unit. We only use our big commercial machines for big jobs now.

  • thoughty1955 on 28/07/2018 - 06:39

    Relies upon how frequently clean the rugs.To purchase the karcher instead the lease, presumably better to purchase your own.I dont realize what a leased cleaner would have been utilized to clean earlier.

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