A Day Of Deep Cleaning (And Why Every Pet Owner Needs A Carpet Cleaner)
Our Wednesday evening group took a break over Christmas and New Year’s, but we’re starting back on our regular schedule tonight. So yesterday, I took some time to get the house back in order, and one of the biggest things I had to focus on was ridding my home of the dog smell. 😀
I love my Cooper so much. He’s a 100-pound bundle of energy and anxiety. He sheds about the equivalent of a chihuahua every week. He scratches my floors because he won’t let me touch his feet (even the vet couldn’t cut his claws without him being under anesthesia). And he makes a mess of my rugs. But he also makes me laugh every single day, protects me like his life depends on it, and makes me feel incredibly safe.
But it’s the rug and carpet situation I needed to take care of yesterday because when they start looking dingy and filthy, that also means they smell like dirty dog. And it’s impossible for the house to look and feel clean if the rugs look dirty.
When the rug in the living room is in need of cleaning, it starts to look dull in places, as if the color has faded from it.
But Cooper likes to sleep over by the window sometimes, so this area also starts to look dark and dirty after about three months.
I have the Bissell Pro Heat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus (affiliate link), and I absolutely love it. My favorite cleaning solution to use in it is the Bissell Clean + Refresh with Febreze (affiliate link). It has such a fresh scent without being overpowering. And it does a fantastic job at cleaning my dirty area rugs.
You can see the difference it makes below. I started cleaning from left to right. Look how well it removes the dirt and brightens those colors back up!
And here it is all clean.
Just look at this side-by-side comparison!
I emptied this thing about five times just to clean this one rug. Look at what was hiding in this rug. So gross.
The rug in the sitting room is the worst because this is where Cooper sleeps every night. He has free run of the house at night because his job is to keep our house safe. So he starts off every night in the home gym, and then during the night, he comes into the sitting room to sleep. Can you tell what spot he sleeps on? 😀
I have to admit that I love cleaning things that are really dirty. There’s so much satisfaction in being able to see a big difference between the before and after.
Again, gross. I think I removed about six of these from this rug. It’s a smaller rug, but it was quite a bit dirtier than the living room rug.
And here it is all clean. Cooper’s wondering what happened to his “bed”. 😀
This was my first time to use my Bissell in the home gym, but I was excited to try it out. When I put these black carpet tiles in the home gym, my plan was to keep the door closed to keep Cooper and Felicity (our cat) out of the room at all times. But Cooper LOVES this room, and it makes my heart happy to see him happy. He runs in here and skids across the carpet, and he loves to run, jump, twirl, and play in this room. I just don’t have the heart to kick him out. But he makes an absolute disaster of the back carpet.
After I vacuumed the carpet, I almost decided that it didn’t need the carpet cleaner. I thought it looked pretty good. But I decided to go ahead because I was curious to see how it would work on carpet tiles.
I’m so glad I did because it made a HUGE difference! I didn’t realize how dull the carpet had become until I began using the carpet cleaner on it, starting with the long entry into the room. Just look at the difference! I had forgotten how dark the [clean] carpet tiles are!
You can really see the difference here. The angle cutting between Matt’s exercise bike and the rebounder isn’t a shadow. That’s the difference between the vacuumed carpet and the carpet cleaned with the Bissell.
And here it is after it was cleaned with the Bissell.
It makes such a difference not only in how clean the actual rugs and carpet look, but it also makes the house smell so clean and fresh. It’s hard to get that clean, fresh smell in the house when everything except the carpets are clean. And Felicity approves. I came into the kitchen this morning and found her lounging about on the freshly cleaned living room carpet.
I need to do this more often. I think once every three months is a good goal. It makes such a huge difference in how clean the house feels, and it’s something I actually enjoy doing. In general, I don’t love cleaning, but this process of cleaning rugs is so satisfying. I also love starting off a new year with some deep cleaning. My preference is to start off a new year with a deeply cleaned house, but I was too busy making jewelry. 😀 So taking care of it during January is the next best option.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Looks great! I too love to see that dirty water as I’m cleaning so I know I’m actually doing something. Question for you: Do you notice any problems with the hardwood floors under the rugs after cleaning? Also about how long does it take for the rugs to dry out? I usually roll up my rugs and bring them on to our concrete driveway to clean and dry in the sun but that method depends on nice weather which in Georgia can be iffy in the winter months.
I’ve never noticed a problem with my hardwood floor underneath. I cleaned these yesterday evening, and they were dry by this morning.
Nice job…I also carpet cleaning in between professional cleanings. So refreshing.
Kristi, I could really see the differences in your rugs after using the Bissell PetPro. Your before and after photos shows the differences. Cleaning the rugs does make a difference on the outlook of a clean house…taking care of the aroma and making the rugs look almost new again. It’s a good thing to have pets because they bring much joy into our life….all through our life. I can see how much you enjoy your pets from reading your blog posts, and looking at the photos you post. We have 3 cats and we enjoy them to the max. After our 17 year old Lab passed away we haven’t gotten another dog yet.
Reading that you actually enjoyed the rug cleaning blows my mind. I don’t enjoy it but I’m sure glad to have the excellent cleaning tools to keep it done. I’m not on any schedule….and don’t plan to create one. LOL
So you are cleaning them in place over your wood floors? This is the question I’ve always had…would the moisture ruin the wood floor underneath?
My question too.
An FYI from a follower… I clean mine over my hardwood floors and never have any issues. I only make 3 passes with water+solution, suction no less 4 times to get extra water out
, then go over with plain water once with a few passes of suction only. Then I pull out my box fans and let them blow dry. The next day they are dry so I’ll vacuum to get anything that rose to the surface. Having dogs and cats, I definitely do this every 3 mos
I do clean mine in place, and I’ve never had any problems with my hardwood floors underneath. I took some photos. I’ll add them soon.
I have a Bissel carpet cleaner for my area rugs also. Yes, I leave them in place but put white plastic kitchen garbage bags around the edges on my engineered wood floors. I pull the cleaner back twice, that picks up most of the water and I have a pad under the rug.
It’s good to see how efficient this cleaner is, the pictures show such a difference. Regarding Cooper’s sleeping spot in the sitting room, could you put out a big dog bed at night, so he’s not directly on the carpet so much? Our dog loves her bed, it’s soft and comfy.
I was going to say the same. Why doesnt he have a bed?
We have spent so much money on different beds for Cooper, everything from the cheap ones at the pet store to the expensive memory foam and everything in between. He likes them for about a week or two, and then that’s it! He won’t sleep on them anymore, and he heads to the rug. So he sleeps on the rug by choice. Believe me, it wasn’t my choice. I’d much rather have him sleep on a dog bed!! 😀 But he’s such a quirky dog, and very much has a mind of his own. In the summer, he loves to sleep on the tile floor in the hallway bathroom. So I just decided no more beds, and he can sleep where he wants to sleep.
I love this post. I have a Hoover steamer for the last 8 years & it is a wonderful thing to have. It works just like yours I expect & Hoo er has a pet formula detergent. But I have also use diluted Simple Green & it is very effective as well & doesn’t have as many chemicals. My area rugs have pads underneath but I am very careful about over saturation because of my Bruce hardwood floors. I also have found the Bona wood floor cleaner & their polish to be excellent on my hardwood. Your carpets look beautiful!
My dog also sheds a huge amount of hair. Like Cooper, Moxie sleeps in the same spots so I put her a bed in those spots. She loves to sleep in her various beds. It’s amazing the difference it makes in keeping my rugs and carpets clean.
I wish Cooper would sleep on a dog bed. 🙁 We’ve bought him several, and he sleeps on them for about two weeks, and then stops and won’t go back. I finally decided to stop trying, and stop buying dog beds, and just let him sleep where he wants to sleep. He prefers the sitting room carpet in cooler weather, and the hallway bathroom floor in hotter months.
Chemical based fragrances like Fabreeze are highly toxic to people and pets. This includes candles and air freshener. We use essential oils when we clean. We have a lovely fragrance that’s all natural and nontoxic.
Yes, I concur. These chemical-laden products are dangerous for everyone, but especially for someone like Matt, who’s dealing with a serious auto-immune condition. Exposure to the chemicals in these “cleaners” is the last thing you want for good health and good indoor air quality, especially ones that, like Fabreeze contain high amounts of VOC’s: They tax the immune system and can actually trigger, over time, auto-immunity issues! At this point, there are plenty of excellent alternatives available, Biokleen being one such brand. I’ve used their Carpet & Rug Shampoo with good results. For the safety of the human, feline, and canine members of your household, as well as the environment (those chemicals don’t magically disappear when they’re dumped down the drain), you might want to switch to cleaning products that are much better for all involved.
Deep cleaning and trips to the local dump…. My joys in life 😊
Awww. Hopefully someday you will get a picture of Cooper and Felicity resting together.
They don’t really spend time together. Felicity would love to be friends with Cooper, but Cooper either completely ignores Felicity, or he tries to play much too rough with her (generally when she’s not in the mood to play).
Ok ok… Do you have rug pads under your rugs? I do not and have worried about getting them cleaned on site and it ruining my floor. I have to know how your floors look under while they’re wet!
I do have those plastic/rubber carpet pads underneath. I don’t think the carpet gets wet enough to go through to the floor, but I took pictures of the floor this morning to show that they’re perfectly fine. I’ll try to add them soon.
Re: trimming Cooper’s nails. On a pet-grooming Utube channel I’ve seen “happy hoodies” put on pets’ heads to calm them when groomed. I wonder if a happy hoodie would help in your dog’s case. Here it is (I am NOT affiliated): https://girlwiththedogs.com/shop/p/happy-hoodies
That is a GREAT YouTube channel out of Canada! Love watching big floofy dogs get groomed, so relaxing.
I seem to have the same question as several other people. I have been taking my rugs outside to clean so my hardwood floors wouldn’t be harmed by the carpet shampooer. Will they really be okay? It would certainly be easier to clean them where they are than having to move them.
I can’t make guarantees, but I can only share my own personal experience. My floors are perfectly fine. I took pictures to show y’all, and I’ll try to add them soon.
I started cleaning my rugs with a pressure washer after you showed this method a few years ago — do you still like that method? Cleans just as well but takes too long to dry maybe?
How about the portable Bissell — any experience? Would like to avoid buying the huge upright for just one use, whereas I can use the portable for the car interior too.
Love when you post on your recommendations!
I think that’s a great way to clean them in the summer months! When it’s colder outside, I wouldn’t want to mess with water outside, and they would take forever to dry. I don’t have any experience with the little Bissell.