Help me, doctor!

Rug Doctor, that is. I finally came out of my denial and realized that 1. My carpets are NOT going to clean themselves and 2. I am NEVER going to call Stanley Steamer no matter how many coupons I hoard! So yesterday I FINALLY rented a Rug Doctor.

I first went to Kroger. I should have just turned around and left the moment I saw a packed parking lot, four bouncy castle things and Mickey Mouse waving from the entrance, but I was determined to clean my carpet, dagnabit! I hiked 15 miles into the store and nearly bumped into Snow White. I went to the service desk but despite the OPEN sign nobody was there. I waited a few minutes but nobody came. They were probably wandering around the store in a Tigger costume. I scouted around the front of the store and didn't see any Rug Doctor machines anyway, so I left and went home.

I called Menard's to see if they rented carpet cleaning machines. After spending five minutes navigating their automated store directory I talked to a very helpful young man who told me they did NOT rent floor cleaners but he DID list off EVERYTHING Menard's does rent thankyouverymuch! (Ok, maybe I'll SAND my floors rather than shampoo them???)Hmmmmmm... How about the Rug Dr website? Yes, much better! I spent MUCH less time finding out I needed to go to Home Depot. So I went to Home Depot and rented the machine. I also bought the cleaning solution and two bottles of stain remover.

The step-by-step instructions were simple enough and soon I was doctoring my living room rug. My goal was to clean the living room Sunday night, let it dry and then do it again on Monday along with the rest of the house. The floor seemed so wet after I finished I went back to the website for help. Huh. Turns out they have an entire section dedicated to berber (sp?) carpets and how difficult they are to clean and how you CAN'T go over them more than one time or overwetting will occur and old stains trapped in the padding will wick up and the carpet will stink and blah blah blah. Crap! I went over the worst spots about six times and the rest of the floor at least two to three times. Now I learn that I probably released "forgotten stains" and that my carpet may actually look and smell worse than before I started! Soooo, I went back over the carpet for about a half hour using only the suction and then got out a second fan. This morning it's not TOO wet- just a tiny bit damp. I'm honestly considering NOT cleaning the rest of the berber because ONE PASS isn't going to help!!! (Kaylin's room is getting a scrubbing, though!)

I guess it's time for new carpet. I hate to do it while the kids are still so young but I imagine they're not going to get any cleaner as they age. Ugh. I will NEVER buy berber again!!!!!!!