Increase Rug Doctor Cleaning Effectiveness By Utilizing Pre-Spray's

Disclaimer: There are many things to consider when it is time to clean a carpet with the Rug Doctor. Having the proper information will greatly aid in getting the desired results from using the Rug Doctor to clean your carpets. It is important to read the instructions that came with your machine, and familiarize yourself with the controls and adjustments ( I have other articles which explain proper handle adjustment etc) to get prepared properly before undertaking the cleaning job at hand. I will address proper pre-vacuuming in an upcoming article, but at this time I want to focus on the chemicals used to clean, and their best employment. In all instances, carpet cleaning chemicals should be used with careful consideration to the instructions printed on the label, the proper dilution ratio when applicable, and after testing in an inconspicuous place (such as a closet carpet) for color fastness to ensure the chemical used won't harm the carpet or ruin it's appearance. Keep in mind that carpet material can vary, so a chemical used safely on a contractor grade synthetic carpet, may ruin a wool rug. Use great care as damage can be expensive and most often irreversible. That out of the way I will get to the real point of this article.

Rug Doctor carpet extractors, utilize a clean water reservoir for hot water and cleaning solution which is applied to carpet when the red button on the top handle is pressed. This mixture is sprayed onto the carpet through the nozzles and scrubbed by the brush system (also activated when pressing the red button), and then vacuumed up by the front nozzle.

It is important to emphasize from the beginning that the only detergents that should be used in the solution tank, are Rug Doctor brand extractor shampoo's and detergents, as they are the only recommended cleaning agents that are guaranteed safe for the pump and injectors (protecting your 5 year warranty), and will be more than sufficient in most cases (at the recommended dilution ratios printed on the containers).

These approved cleaning agents are formulated specifically to work safely in the Rug Doctor, and not cause premature wear, and are safe for use on the carpet types recommended on the instructions printed on the bottle (which give proper dilution and other information). It is important to heed the warnings and use these solutions as instructed.


(Rug Doctor Oxy-Steam Carpet Cleaner...CRI Platinum Level rated when combined in solution tank as directed with Rug Doctor extractors)

But under special circumstances, such as when exceptionally dirty carpets are encountered, the effectiveness of the detergents can often be increased by upping the mix ratio of detergent to water, or with other products which act as heavy grease cutters or specialty spotters (pet stains for instance) which are not Rug Doctor products.

The problem with simply adding more detergent (or some specialty chemical) is that this is not very good for the pump and injectors on the Rug Doctor (early pump failure and/or plugged injectors for example).

Also, there may be instances when you have a spill or what have you, and you don't have any approved detergents on hand.

Is It Worth Saving An Old Carpet With A Rug Doctor?

(video showing a carpet that has been damaged by long term neglect being cleaned)


Is it worth the time and effort required to clean a carpet that has been neglected for so long that much of the damage is irreversible?

This video shows a carpet that was neglected for years. The resident has friends over much of the time, and they drink alcohol and smoke heavily. They're nice people, but drinks get spilled, and cigarette ash falls still burning onto the carpet, and is ignored at the time (and often for several days).

Every once in awhile, someone will vacuum up the worst of it and the party continues. Common situation right?

Well, now this resident needs to get the carpet looking nice or she'll possibly be faced with the very expensive proposition of being financially responsible for replacing it.

So, in this case, the time and effort required to try and clean this carpet is definitely preferable to the expense of replacement.

Why Do People Complain That The Rug Doctor Leaves Their Carpets Wet?

I wanted to tackle a common negative complaint about Rug Doctor extractors; which is that they don't pick up enough of the water they put down.

This is such a wide spread issue, that I wanted to mention this as one of my helpful setup tips for using the Rug Doctor.

Lets use my brother for an example here.

My brother Jay is 6'3" tall.

The Rug Doctor handle can be adjusted for different heights of operator with a lever. So you'd assume the topmost setting would be the best for a tall person right? Wrong.

Rug Doctor...Real Review's...Real Video's

Do a search on the internet for Rug Doctor and what do you find? Hundreds of results right? But how many of those results lead you to real and valid information about Rug Doctor machines from actual users of the product? Not that many actually.

Most of the results lead you to pages put up by people who only want to sell the products (and that's okay to a point), but really have no actual hands on experience with using Rug Doctor, or maybe used one for an hour or so and wrote a quick review.

It's true that I also sell Rug Doctor on this blog. But although I market the product as a item to make a little money on, I also use the Rug Doctor a lot. I mean a whole lot.

I have been using Rug Doctor products to professionally clean rental properties heavily for some time now. I know the in and outs of using one at this level (daily use under harsh conditions) and have seen whether or not Rug Doctor machines can do the job at the level my customers demand. They can.

Key Features Of The Rug Doctor Versus Competitors

(Video clip demonstrating cleaning effectively along edges of walls...no gap)

I want to point out some of the truly great features Rug Doctor machines all share that competitors lack.

First, the brush design on the Rug Doctor allows the full width of the machine to be utilized when cleaning.

On competitors machines, a belt is used to power a brush roll. What this means is that one side of the machine lacks brushing action in the narrow gap required to run its belt drive system. Since Rug Doctor is the only one on the market with the full-width brush and its unique back and forth drive motor, it doesn't have the gap a belt drive would require.

When a belt driven brush roll is used along walls there is a gap on one side, sometimes of more than an inch which may get sprayed with water and solution, and vacuumed up by the machine, but that narrow area will NOT be agitated with the brush. This leaves much of the carpet in hallways and along walls of rooms where no scrubbing of the carpet can be accomplished...at least not with the machine.

By contrast, Rug Doctor's unique action allows the brush to be full width, eliminating any gaps along the sides of the machine, offering the only true edge to edge cleaning of any self contained carpet extractor.

Check out the design of most of the competitors machines and you'll see that the area where the belt rides is a spot where no agitation at all is possible. Then look at the Rug Doctor again and see the difference.

The second key benefit to Rug Doctor's brush design. It is both gentle on the carpet fibers, and also completely able to get at both the front and back of the fiber in one pass. Because it is not overly aggressive like some brush rolls can be, it won't tend to cause the fibers to unravel or cause the "blooming" effect that overly aggressive brushing can easily cause when those other machines are pushed and pulled back and forth during operation.

This means that the Rug Doctor takes better care of your carpets than other designs which may clean the carpet, but will shorten the life span of the fibers due to the aggressive nature of the one direction brush roll (which is very aggressive when those machines are pushed and pulled back and forth during use).

Remember, in many cases the Rug Doctor will do in one backward pass what other brands require both a forward and backward pass to achieve.

While the "cleaning in both the forward and backward direction" concept may sound good at first, it is actually saying that duplicating the one backward pass of the Rug Doctor is not enough with the competitors design, they require you to push the machine all the way forward and then pull it all the way back to consider yourself to have made a pass.

This is partially because the spinning brush roll on their design doesn't fully clean both sides of the fiber in one direction. To duplicate the one pass cleaning of the Rug Doctor actually takes two passes with the competitor...one forward pass and one backward pass.  That's TWO passes, not one! That's two times more work and time, and remember the brush roll design is harder on the carpet fibers as well.

To sum up, Rug Doctor makes a time tested and proven carpet extractor that was on the market years ahead of it's primary competitor in the market. The design has changed little since the self contained implementation was introduced because it was effective right out of the gate.

Consider the rental market that Rug Doctor has been a long term participant in. Those years of experience with harsh treatment from rental use have made the design of the current Mighty Pro, Mighty Pro Wide Track, and Mighty Pro X-3 to be the best on the market.

The materials used in the construction of all the Mighty Pro models is of durable plastic, not the brittle plastics you see on most of the competitors designs. And replacement parts if needed are readily available from Rug Doctor. Will the other brands be backed up by their manufacturers years from now when a repair part is needed?

Use my link below and check out the Rug Doctor models and deals. But also look at the replacement parts and accessories. You will see that the Rug Doctor is a well made and backed up machine. Sure, it's a little more expensive in some cases than the lower end machines out there (but for the equipment it really compares to, it's a unbelievable bargain), but the quality and durability means that your investment in a machine to clean your carpets, or maybe even the carpets of your relatives, friends, and neighbors, will come back to you in the future by avoiding repair bills and replacement costs associated with less well made brands.

CRI Platinum Rating...What Is That?

Rug Doctor is given a Platinum Level rating with the Carpet and Rug Institute. They also have a Gold Level rating. Of course the Platinum Level is the highest level a carpet extractor (or other type of carpet cleaning equipment or system can achieve), but what does that mean?

I have placed a link to the page on the CRI site which shows ratings of several brands of carpet cleaning equipment. It also shows details with each brand of equipment how they achieved that rating.

Some of the equipment you would think should do really well on carpet cleaning test didn't perform all that well, while other surprise entrees did much better than you'd expect.