Carpet cleaners: How to buy and hire
Hiring a carpet cleaner
Cost
For a one-off clean, hiring a carpet cleaner is your cheapest option
For less than a fifth of the price of a Best Buy, you can hire a carpet washer. So for a one-off clean, hiring and doing the work yourself is the cheapest option.
Where to hire from
Most DIY stores and many dry cleaners stock Rug Doctor and other carpet cleaners. You can pick one up for about £20 a night (make sure that you take two forms of ID). Four litres of detergent cost about £15 – this will be more than enough for a three-bedroom house.
Professional carpet cleaning
For £70-£100 you can get two average-sized rooms cleaned by a professional. Check out Which? Local to find a carpet-cleaning company in your area.
Buying a carpet cleaner
High street and online
You’ll find carpet cleaners in large high-street electrical retailers, department stores and supermarkets – particularly on their websites.
For the price of a new Rug Doctor – £449 – you could hire one 22 times
They don’t sell as many units as vacuum cleaners, for example, so you might not find them in smaller shops.
Buying accessories
We’ve tested machines from three manufacturers, Bissell, Vax and Numatic – their websites are useful for buying spare parts, accessories and extra cleaning solutions.
Buying rental machines
If you’re blown away with the performance of the Rug Doctor, they are available to buy direct from the manufacturer but this will set you back £449 – for that price you could hire one a staggering 22 times.