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.



One of the most critical settings you need to understand in order to effectively use the Rug Doctor is the handle height adjustment.

If you use the highest setting on the handle, most likely you'll find the Rug Doctor tips back as you pull it (think about a moving dolly, you pull back and the tongue comes off the ground, despite the amount of weight on the tongue at the time. This is basic leverage in practical application).

With the Rug Doctor handle set too high, the mechanical advantage that would be ideal for moving a heavy object, causes the unwanted effect of lifting the front of the Rug Doctor off of the carpet.

The problem with this is that the Rug Doctor has a suction port at the very front leading edge of the machine, so despite the power of the vacuum, the mechanical advantage of the handle at the highest setting will lift the front off the carpet, making proper liquid pick up impossible.

The Rug Doctor will not pick up water from the carpet if proper adhesion is not achieved. The power of the vacuum is more than sufficient to remove most of the water applied (true 100% efficiency is not achievable by even the most expensive equipment in use today...hence the development of low moisture solutions avoiding hot water extraction completely).

Proper adjustment of the handle will use mechanical advantage to improve suction from the front of the machine. In my brothers case lowering the handle just one or two notches from the top achieves the perfect balance.

When properly set, the slight leverage achieved when pulling back the machine as a pass is made will act to push the front end down, while not being overly difficult to pull.

When lowered too far, the effect is to feel the wheels being lifted off the carpet, and too much pressure applied to the front edge of the machine. This will not hurt the vacuum performance, but will greatly add to the effort required to use the machine.

For those who have a Rug Doctor, this principle can be easily tested by watching the front lower edge of the suction nozzle when someone else is using the machine. If the handle is set too high, the front end will be seen coming off the carpet, which destroys suction.

If set too low, the wheels will be seen to be of little use when the rear of the machine is lifted by the operator when pulling backwards.

Once you understand the principle, you will find that proper adjustment can be easily achieved and that carpets will be much dryer than before. Most of our carpets are dry within an couple of hours, even though we often make far more wet passes than recommended by Rug Doctor.

In certain conditions, extra suction only passes should be performed to remove even more moisture from the carpet, though these should be done quickly before water settles into the lower matting and possibly even the pad below the matting. In high humidity, colder temperatures, etc the drying time will be adversely affected, so use care when cleaning on damp days.

These settings are critical to master before one starts to clean really dirty carpets as in rental properties etc. Due to the need to go over stains far more than recommended, and do drying passes in between wet passes to control the dampness, adjustments which may be minor in typical use, are of utmost importance to being able to perform well under harsh conditions.

Due to the common belief that tall people should use the highest setting available, or shorter persons the lowest setting, this problem is wide spread. But rest assured a little time used to adjust the handle properly will pay off in less time being frustrated later.

Another principle that should be mentioned is that sometimes damp carpet is less willing to give up the moisture in it than wet carpet.

For example, when cleaning up a spill from a leaking hot water tank, which we have done from time to time the curious effect of adding water by using fresh water from the machine (pushing the button) will greatly aid pick up of the standing water. This is a phenomenon that I can't provide a reasonable explanation for, but merely put out there as an observation. I believe that the suction is somehow aided by the increase in volume when adding water to a damp area as this somehow strengthens the vacuum effect, but I don't really know why it does it. But it does.

I guess that experimentation with the Rug Doctor has led to all sorts of interesting results, as we've found the machines capable of much more than you would think they are able to achieve. They truly are a wonder.

If you buy or rent a Rug Doctor, you should know that they are very capable machines, able to tackle the toughest cleaning jobs, and with gained experience and technique will out do much more expensive equipment, rivaling truck mounts and high end portables...but again this is achieved with experience.

Think how well you could use a truck mount if it was dropped off at your house, having never used one. So as with any quality equipment it must be learned before the best results can be expected.