I wondered “Is using a Rug Doctor worth it” too when I was researching them as I’d seen them in a number of supermarkets over time before Covid. Then they stopped allowing them to be hired out. Overall I’d say it was worth hiring out. You need to vacuum the carpets before you use the Rug Doctor so when you do and the water is utterly filthy you see how dirty an apparently clean carpet is.

Looking at the prices of Rug Doctor was where I started to see if hiring out a rug doctor was worth the money. They have prices pointed at 25 quid for a day or about 30 for two days. It’s worth shopping around though as Homebase for instance had a slightly different price to Timpsons the shoemaker (in Sainsburys) just next door.

The initial cost is quite appealing, but you can only use their detergent. If you’ve got a ‘normal-sized’ house all carpeted this will essentially double to cost of the Rug Doctor. We had to buy three litres. Again, shop around, this time Timpsons was a bit cheaper for the Rug Doctor detergent than Homebase by a couple of quid.

The instructions are quite clear for the question of How many times do you go over the carpet with Rug Doctor. It’s basically the once. So one run then you leave the carpet to dry and then can re-do. In reality, you’ll go over certain bits a number of times depending on the shape of the room. You should also hire out the toolset (which is designed for stairs) as the Rug Doctor won’t do edges very well. If you’re using the Rug Doctor toolset then you’ll invariably go over the same piece of carpet numerous times.

I had the question of Do Rug Doctors use hot water too. The user needs to heat the water before putting it into the Rug Doctor and the temperature will depend on the carpet being cleaned. The instructions suggested hot to the hand (not scaling) for most carpets but lukewarm for woollen carpets. It’s a bit hard to judge to be honest so an actual temperature range would be more useful.

As far as I can see you’re meant to keep off the carpet until it’s dry. But in reality, this took about 12 hours in the summer with all the windows open. Realistically you’re going to use the carpet at some point. You’ll also get soaking feet walking over the wet carpet and feel like you’re getting trench foot.

SOME OF THE DIVERSE BRANDS I’VE WORKED WITH