The Rug Doctor is In

You may remember that we purchased a brand-new rug about this time last year. We were so excited about our brand new, stain proof rug. However, we are human and have two dogs. Needless to say the rug got stained. We pulled out the carpet cleaner and scrubbed and scrubbed, only to find that the carpet cleaner actually made the rug MORE soiled. Chris tried to solve the problem by scrubbing the living daylights out of the rug with one of my dishtowels - one of them that I had just recently bleached. So now, among the stains from dog puke and spilled food, we have a fine selection of deep yellow bleach stains all over the rug. Sigh.

 Today I went out and rented THE RUG DOCTOR, a rug shampooer from our local Lowe's franchise. It cost me about $45 for a 24-hour rental of the machine, an upholstery attachment, and two types of cleaner. I got it home and the day was mine. (Note: this had a hilarious warning on it that indicated that failure to return said Rug Doctor would result in prosecution/jail time. Imagine that. "What are you in for?" "I stole the Rug Doctor...").

So here's the rug before:

Now, not to sound snobby, but I have a master's degree. In English. And the instructions on this thing were almost impossible! After much drama (and reading the instructions in Spanish as well), I was able to steam-clean both the couches and the carpets. It worked well except that it only moves backwards and well, that was weird. 

Here's the rug afterwards. I tell you, the smell is incredibly fresh and lovely:

I'll sadly remind you of how it looked before...so much for 'stain proof' carpet...


So, not so great but not so bad. The amount of dirt pulled up was enough for me to feel like I got my money's worth out of the good Doctor. However, it seems like no amount of spot-treating or scrubbing will eliminate the bleach stains. It's especially annoying because they look like pee stains, and Penny and Leo have never even peed on the rug. I did have to sequester them during this time so we're going for a big walk now to celebrate it being done.

Verdict? Rug Dr. is worth it. Just DO NOT scrub a rug with a bleached rag!!

Okay! Let's go for walkies!