Carpet Steam Cleaners - Any Reccomendations?

I'm in need of a steam cleaner for the carpet in our house.

Not hiring professionals - that would be a disaster.

It has to be under $200, the cheaper the better.

When I figured the cost of renting one, it's cheaper long run to just buy one. Not to mention I've called a dozen stores & no one rents them out anymore (and I'm in a rural area, so I've called just about every store ).

I searched on Amazon.com & read reviews on them there. Hoover seems to be the most popular brand, as opposed to the Dirt Devils.

Anyone have/had a steam cleaner they can reccomend?

I have a friend who got one of the Bissell pro heat models when her dog became quite ill. She said it worked great. I've got to get one of those myself one of these days.

I got this one, Nat.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5893627

Love it! It did a great job of getting nasty hairball stains out of my carpet and also helped my friend clean up after bunny toilet messes. Cleans easy, doesn't hold so much water that you can't carry it up and down the stairs like I have to. It does hold enough to do a small sized room without refilling, which is fine for me.

If you get it, I recommend filling it with really hot water - it says that it has "heated" cleaning but it doesn't heat water for you, it just has a heater aimed towards the floor, which seems kind of useless to me.

Suction is really great - my carpets are pretty dry within 30 minutes. When I got mine, it also came with a motorized hand tool and a dry floor attachment - not sure how standard those things are. I appear to have gotten a special deal on that. I also believe I found it a little cheaper in store than the listed price.

If you have any questions, just let me know!

I have a Bissell, not the pro heat kind, just a regular kind, but I really like it. Very easy to use, and I agree, put the hottest water you get out of your tap in it

not to steal Pam's link but I think this is mine http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=4597131

I had a $5 one, a Dirt Devil a friend of mom's picked up....until Izzy ate through the cord. So now the slow process to find a new one begins!

My mom just bought something called The Shark, I think. She said it's supposed to be really good. She was so excited to use it today...and then her power went all day, so we don't know if it works well.

I would consider the one mentioned above, but for about the same price, you COULD have professionals do the house very well. I would suggest Zerorez, a cleaning company that uses a process that leaves no residue behind on the carpet.

Zerorez

The problem with a carpet cleaner, and especially the rental units and the soap they use, is that they leave a residue behind, on purpose. In that residue are a number of chemicals, including phosphorescent brighteners.

We have this one and it's great:
http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?m...0900&ds=false#

Hoover lists it at $250 but I know we got it at Kohls for less (plus if you have a Kohls account, there are always coupons around)... it's great when the pets puke up something that had red food coloring in it and no amount of resolve cleaner takes it out haha

I have my mom's Bissell and I just shampooed the upstairs and couldn't believe how muddy brown the water was!! I don't a have a heater one but I have the temp turned up on the water heater so the water is pretty hot!!. After I empty the bottom part out a couple of times I don't use more shampoo but just water. The carpets aren't too wet-I try to do on a cooler less humid day and early in morning so the carpets can dry.

I've broken some parts on this Bissell and use duct tape but still works!!

Natalie, White Cat Lover, if you could see my not white anymore carpets, on which any white cat would be clearly visible, you would know not to ask me.