Its a choice that everyone will have to make if they have any carpeting in their home. Whether to go with a professional carpet cleaning service or do it themselves with a rental unit. They both have their benefits and also there are reasons why someone might find one option less desirable then the other.
Instant Canned Carpet Cleaners
To start with, those carpet cleaning products that you shake out of a can that are sold as "instant carpet cleaners" are for small stains and only remove surface matter. Also, they are heavy on the "fragrance side" to give the user the impression that a carpet is somehow cleaner.
The rental units do have their place if they are working properly. They do as decent a job of cleaning a carpet as the person that is operating one is willing to put into it. However; be forewarned that if you have never used one to clean a carpet it is definitely not a glamor job.
Furniture has to be moved around and also the dirty water has to be periodically emptied from the machine and refilled. This is a task that you may not be prepared for and you may also be a bit shocked to see just how much filth your carpeting contains.
The rental unit may be somewhat cheaper but you are going to have to pack it up and get it back on time or you get charged for another whole day, because they generally don't rent by the hour.
A professional carpet cleaner is going to cost you more but there are several benefits involved. The first benefit is that their machinery is more powerful. It will inject the cleaning solution deeper in and also suck out much more filth from your carpets.
Professional carpet cleaners also offer other services as well, including stain removal and scotch guard on the finished carpet. Lastly, you won't have to touch any cruddy water and they do all of the heavy work for you. If your carpeting is especially dirty, you are highly advised to not even consider using a rental unit.
