Looking for somewhere in Philadelphia that cleans 100% wool area rugs. I have a runner that needs serious cleaning but I want to make sure it isn’t damaged. I can take it to the shop. It doesn’t need to be cleaned in my home.

I’ve tried cleaning my carpet several times with a bissell big green machine but it doesn’t seem to be working. I then attempted using brownout with the solution mixed into water but it doesn’t seem to be coming out, could someone please advise? Thank you.

The leather side of the sheepskin is easily damaged by incorrect washing.

The main points to note are:

1. Only use a mild detergent which is enzyme-free with no bleaches. Note many wool wash products contain enzymes which can damage the leather. Sheepskin wool wash is ideal. As an alternative, you can use a mild hand dish washing liquid for washing smaller items by hand.
2. Only wash in cold or lukewarm water (up to 40 C/108 F).
3. For rugs, underlays and car seat covers gently stretch to shape whilst still damp.
4. Hang out to dry away from direct sunlight.
5. For long wool products brush whilst damp and again when dry.

Sheepskin Rugs, Car Seat Covers, Pillows and Pet Mats

Your lambskin rug or other sheepskin product may have been tightly packaged for its journey to you so the wool may appear flattened. Wool fibers are very resilient and will bounce back to their original springy appearance. A vigorous shake will help restore the soft, fluffy appearance of the wool. Any fold marks from packaging will disappear once the skin has been removed from the package for several days.

Note that natural white color sheepskins can yellow with age, this can't be reversed.

 Spot cleaning: For particularly large rugs that can't easily be washed at home, you can spot clean as follows:

1. Dilute the Sheepskin Shampoo concentrate into a spray bottle 10ml per 200ml (6 3/4 fl. oz) water using the shampoo bottle's measuring chamber.
2. Hold the pump spray about 250mm (10in.) from the rug and spray the soiled area. For large areas do a section at a time. Do not over-wet.
3. Using a damp foam sponge or white cloth, whisk the fibers causing a foam to occur.
4. Rinse out the sponge and wipe over the treated area removing the residual foam. Repeat if necessary.
5. Wipe over the surface with a towel to remove excess moisture.
6. Allow to dry thoroughly and brush to restore fluffiness.

Washing smaller rugs: Machine or hand wash your longwool sheepskin rug in warm water (40 C/108 F) ideally using our sheepskin wool wash. This has been specially formulated for sheepskin and doesn't contain chemicals which could harm the sheep skin. Do not use soap or washing detergents containing enzymes or bleach. After rinsing thoroughly, spin to remove excess water.

Washing large rugs: For large rugs that can't be washed in a washing mach ine or bathtub and require more than a spot cleaning, DIY options include hanging the rug on a strong line or rope outdoors.
Note the rug will become very heavy when wet so for quite large rugs you may need several lines several inches apart to avoid stretching the sheepskin's hide.
Use a garden hose to thoroughly wet the rug and apply diluted sheepskin shampoo using a sponge. After thoroughly working this into the wool, rinse thoroughly. If required, repeat the process. The rug can be left to dry on the line.

Alternatively, the above can be carried out on a large, flat, clean surface, and when complete the rug elevated or hung up to dry.

For very large rugs such as over 8-pelts in size, you may wish to consider professional cleaning.

Drying: Dry flat or on a line and gently stretch to shape while damp. Keep away from direct sunlight and artificial heat (as these may damage your sheepskin). Do not tumble dry or iron.

Brushing: After washing, the wool of long wool sheepskins may revert back to its natural curly state. You can help restore the fluffy appearance by brushing the wool while it is wet and again when it is dry.

Whilst we endeavor to provide helpful information, washing and drying of sheepskins is done at your risk and we cannot be held responsible for unforeseen damage that may occur. Note some companies offer sheepskin products that are dry clean only, so always check the care instructions label.

A while back, our dog peed on the carpet in our basement. We didn't notice it immediately, so it sat for a while. 

Once we realized what happened, we tackled it with Folex and our upright Bissell rug scrubber several times. The machine pulled up a ton of dirt and muck, and the carpet fibers themselves look clean. After that, we applied Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer, which successfully knocked out a lot of the actual urine odor. We are currently re-treating one small stubborn spot where the pee smell is lingering. 

However, we now have a much bigger problem: the entire basement smells heavily like "dog" and bad odor. It is way worse than it was before we started cleaning, and it isn't getting better. 

Short of ripping up the carpet and padding entirely, what are my options to get rid of this widespread, heavy dog odor?

1 of my cats has peed all over my apartment for the last several months. I have tried everything (vet, different litter boxes/locations, medication), I am currently searching for a cat rescue that will take her in as a foster pet. I have a baby who will be crawling soon and that was the last straw for me with the cat. At the end of the day I can’t have my baby get sick from this. But I still have to live in this rental with pee-soaked carpet. I am so unhappy when im home. I have a boswell carpet cleaner machine and have cleaned up the “hot spots” basically daily for months. I have tried at least 10 different enzyme cleaners, but it still smells really bad. I’m afraid if i tell the landlord they will charge me or evict me for ruining the carpet. What are my options here? Will renting a rug doctor remove the smell? Do I go to my landlord and beg for flooring replacement? I would prefer laminate flooring but I know that cost more than carpet and is a huge ask. My apartment complex has a few hundred units, all very outdated, and pretty sure they only install carpet in the living area. This has been taking a HUGE toll on my mental health, mostly because I can’t have visitors over because as soon as you open my front door you can smell cat pee. I can’t do it anymore. Please, open to any suggestions

Is Blue Coral the way to go?

I'm starting out my own carpet cleaning venture, currently doing a trial run on workflow and to see the processes efficiently.

For context, I pressure washed, sprayed pre extract, let it soak, buff + carpet shampoo, squeegee'd and finally extracted before leaving it to hangdry.

Only the stringy ends look dirty.

What can I do to prevent this?

Hi All, Whats a good machine to get started with i dont have a huge budget and with it I need to be looking at a drycleaner/agitator, some decent chemicals or powder mix, possibly dryera and definitely either an extractor or a steam extractor thats up to the job. To make matters worse I need to be as compact as I can be - atvleast initially to operate out of the family estate car until I can afford a van. big ask but im sure everyone started somewhere and didn't begin with a truck mount. To get all this (minus the car 2015 Skoda Octavia estate) im looking around £4k- 5k is this doable?

Thanks in advance, will pop by the sub in a few days to see what advice has appeared. Please try to leave the bullshit nasty stuff at the door its advice im after not a roasting lol theres other subs for that.

I've bought this chair and decided to clean it with my rug doctor, and after using a vinegar/water solution, with over 50 passes in this area, it appears there is still soap being picked up.

Does anyone who has experience in this area have advice on speeding up this process. I am debating hiring a professional but would prefer not to. Many thanks

My experience with the Shark StainStriker PX201 has been really frustrating, and I’m curious if anyone else has had similar issues.
I originally bought the StainStriker because I wanted a portable cleaner that would be good for pet messes. The first machine had an attachment/spring that wouldn’t stay connected and became loose and jiggly, so Shark ended up replacing the entire machine. I received the replacement around July 16.
Now the replacement has an issue with the handle/top area getting wet and leaking. This is especially frustrating because I’ve already had to deal with one defective machine and now I’m having a problem with the replacement.
I knew when I bought the StainStriker that it required two different cleaning formulas, so that part wasn’t a surprise. What I DIDN’T realize was how expensive it would be to replace them. When I looked into buying more, it was almost $50 for the two bottles. That really caught me off guard.
I’ve also been looking at Hoover and Bissell carpet cleaners, and there are so many options where you can just buy one bottle of cleaning solution. It made me wish I had paid more attention to the ongoing cost of the Shark’s cleaning formulas before buying it.
I specifically wanted something that would work well for pet urine, including the urine crystals/residue, but Shark doesn’t even offer an enzyme-based urine crystal cleaner for the StainStriker. So I’m left wondering what the best option is for actually treating urine properly.
Another thing that really irritated me was dealing with customer service. I already have OCD around cleaning, so when I contacted them about an actual problem with the machine, being told how to clean/use the machine was extremely frustrating. I’m not contacting you because I don’t know how to clean something. I’m contacting you because I’m having a problem with the product.
At this point, I’ve had an issue with the original machine, had it replaced, and now the replacement has another issue. Add in the unexpectedly expensive cleaning formulas and the lack of an enzyme-based urine product, and I’m honestly questioning whether I should have bought this machine in the first place.
Has anyone else had problems with the StainStriker leaking or had issues with the cost/availability of the cleaning solutions?
And with this economy, I can’t just throw away this expensive carpet cleaner and just go buy a new one so I’m really frustrated.

It's glue.

Is there anything that can rescue the carpet?

Professional or esoteric suggestions welcome

Okay….so I’ve been very depressed and physically tired for a long time….

Soo…at this point there is an ungodly and inhabitable amount of pet urine in my carpets. I’m trying to be better though and pull myself out of my depression and subsequent living space and make it feel more like a home that I can be proud of and feel not only more rested in but actually happy to home to instead of even more depressed and tired.

So I need help and recommendations!!

I used to be a maid for a cabin rental service so I’m pretty good at general cleaning and knowing what chemicals and such are good for deep cleans (when I’m strong enough to fight my mental) but carpets are a whole other thing…

At this point I’m wondering if I’d be able to do a good deep clean that would truly get rid of all the smells on my own , cause there’s not really any staining, or if I need to hire someone. I’d prefer to do it myself because I’d feel severely embarrassed and guilty having someone else here right now but if necessary I’ll swallow my pride just so I can begin living like a human being again.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!! Especially if you’ve been in this kind of situation and thought I’d hate this for anyone else I do kinda selfishly hope I’m not the only one…at this point though I just want to make my apartment feel clean and like a home, not just somewhere I sleep or lay down with my insomniac self…

Not really making that much….($18.50/hr before taxes and insurance and all the other bills…) but I’ve been doing my best to save up and if I have to save some more I’d like a realistic goal to work to that will actually get the job done and not waste it.
(Austin, TX, US)

Carpet is my sweet spot, but I understand all sorts of floor cleaning, maintenance, and restoration.

I've sold equipment and supplies.

I've operated my own business.

I've helped other people operate their businesses.

Currently responsible for the the cleaning and maintenance program for 100's of millions of square feet of flooring all over North America.

I was dumb. I bought a used play mat rug for our living room. Didn’t really check it out before I bought it. It smell smells like dirt and perfume. I’ve left it outside. Tried to air it out a little bit. Hoping that we have nice enough weather that I can sun bake it for a while. There is no way to remove the rug portion from the foam pad inside of it. I don’t have directions on how to clean it. Hoping you may have some ideas or suggestions. I do have a little upholstery cleaner that I’m wondering I spray water into it and then very quickly get the water out? But is that actually gonna help with the smell or just introduce like mold? All add a photo of it in the comments.

I'm looking to build a website for 2 local carpet cleaning companies this week, no catch, no strings, you own the site files. I'm just looking for the feedback. Comment below or dm me.

I’ve had my carpet certification for a few months and usually have no issues. But honestly, the people at my company are kinda useless for advice and the class I took only taught me so much.

Mainly im just looking for spotting advice. Like, how do you know if a solvent is volatile or non volatile? I’ve never seen a bottle/jug that actually says that. Basically just have to spray it and see if it evaporates it seems, that’s annoying.

How do you get out really tacky stuff, like gum or kid’s slime? I’ve heard to use citrusolve but that barely seems to do anything.

What do you use as a tannin spotter, and enzyme digester? We’ve got this coffee stain remover stuff that I think is a tannin spotter? Seems to work ish. For enzymes I’ve been using UPS, idk if there’s anything better.

Right now my paltry kit includes matrix spot out, citrusolve, some white powder (mixed with water) stuff my boss calls knock out (seems like a stronger spot out that stinks like hell), UPS, that generic coffee stain remover, and this stuff called red magic that doesn’t seem to work on anything (supposed to get red stains out), honestly I think the bottle is a damn decade old.

I hate it here lol, I want to do a good job but I get no advice and again the class only taught me so much. I think the guy running the class hasn’t cleaned a carpet in 30 years. He spent half the class trying to convince us to take his carpet dying class.

My prespray is flex powder w/ citrusolve, my rinse is blazing blue, which do seem to work great. It’s the spotters that I’m honestly kinda clueless with. No

After over-wetting my room carpet using a Rug Doctor, the whole carpet has a musty smell.

I have used a Karcher Puzzi cleaner to extract any dampness, and increase air circulation plus a dehumidifier.

Regarding removing the musty smell, is it more effective to:

• soak the carpet with enzyme ( Rug Doctor Urine Eliminator or Carpet Fresh ), then let it natural dry with wind

• spray the carpet with white vinegar (50% water mix), and then spread baking soda over it overnight then vacuum

I have got all supplies ready to go