Have your carpets gotten so that you're embarrassed to have anyone over? The carpets in almost every home take a beating with foot traffic, children, and household drips and spills. Even if you spot clean when an accident happens, dirt and debris still get worked down into carpet fibers where your vacuum doesn't have the power to remove them. They make the carpet look dingy and dirty, they cause excessive wear on carpet fibers, and they can begin to give off an unpleasant odor. The easiest way to take care of the problem is to hire a service to come in and clean them for you. However, if the cost of professional help doesn't fit into your budget, you can always rent a carpet cleaner and do the job yourself.

When most people think of carpet cleaner rental, they think of the Rug Doctor, because that company has been offering home cleaning equipment for decades now, and most of us grew up either seeing it or helping Mom haul it home to use. In fact, the company still offers machines in over 33,000 outlets around the country. Since its beginnings, however, many other companies have seen carpet cleaning to be a lucrative field and have started renting equipment of their own. Some of these companies include Home Depot, U-Haul, and Lowe's.

The thing is that when you rent a carpet cleaning machine, it doesn't really matter what brand of machine you rent. All of them work basically the same way, and while some equipment may provide slightly better suction than others, it's actually the type of detergent you use that is going to make the biggest difference. Of course, it never hurts to look the machine over prior to renting it to make sure that it appears to be in good shape and that the brushes are clean and fresh looking. Nothing is more annoying than to haul a heavy machine all the way home only to find out that it doesn't work.

Although renting a machine, taking it home, moving furniture, and cleaning the carpets is a really big job, it's one that anyone can do. Regular home carpet cleaning with a rented unit will keep your carpets clean and fresh, make them last years longer, and save you a bundle of money in the long run.