I researched this about 10 years ago when I got married and moved into a house full of wall-to-wall carpet that we didn't yet want to replace. After reading all the arguments/hype for/against "dry" versus steam cleaning, I decided that steam extraction was the way to go. Also, I found that just as important is the quality of service of the technicians. If you want to understand how to pay someone to do a good job, just try doing it yourself with a rented or borrowed home carpet steam cleaner (Rug Doctor, Hoover, Bisssell, etc.). If an area is really dirty, you'll have to go over it slowly and repeatedly to get it clean. Dryness depends a lot on how much time the operator spends sucking out the rinse water.

I found an excellent, local independent in an ad in a local home magazine. I used 4 independent companies over the years, all with the same type of equipment, but one did a superior job because their technicians were so thorough. They also moved and replaced all the furniture, with plastic underneath. I gave them a big tip.

I make it a point to schedule cleaning on the warmest, driest day possible. On cold rainy days, the carpet is just not going to dry, even if they extracted as thoroughly as possible. Also, we have a commercial blower, and running that in the room speeds drying ENORMOUSLY.

Recently, a company that did some flood restoration for us has been sending me mail piece about their new "residue-free" carpet cleaning. If I were still getting carpets cleaned, I'd look into that. (However, I'm now about to replace most carpet with wood and cork flooring.)

Oh, one more thing. If you have pets, and examine your carpet at night in the dark with a blacklight, well, first of all, you'll be ready to get rid of your pets no matter how much you love them! Really, you'll see accidents you never knew happened. Each spot you can see on the carpet is like the top of a pyramid that has soaked into the padding below in a much larger area. If I were keeping my carpet, I'd pretreat all these areas with oxygen bleach and enzyme cleaner, pulling the carpet up from the tack strips to get at the padding. Then I'd have the cleaners finish up with their process. You can have them restretch the carpet to the tack strips if you don't want to do it yourself. Or, at the very least, mark the accident areas you find with the blacklight so they can at least treat them with their pet stain formula.

I have great success with a dry product called "Host". Sprinkle it on, use the machine to brush it in, leave it on for a few hours, then vacuum. Smells nice, too.
It's also great for spot cleaning or small space like stairs. I just sprinkle it on and use a hand scrub brush instead of renting the machine. Works very well that way, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: HOST dry carpet cleaning

I've used Chemdry and been pleased with them, but I know they have the "magic reappearing" stains. Carpets look and smell clean immediately after, then take several days to fully dry, especially in humid weather. And within a month you'll start seeing dark spots reappearing, like "magic" ha-ha. So I don't "love" Chem Dry. I have 2 pets plus a messy husband to clean up after. I use Resolve Deep Clean on occasion, and it does a pretty good job. It's a powder you sprinkle on, then rub in with a brush, then vacuum. Just my experiences.

When we bought our 'new' (to us) home, I had the carpets professionally cleaned. I used an independent gal, who had the system where the hoses went out to her truck. She did a good job. But the price was high--think it was $375. Mind you, that was for a good-sized living room, two bedrooms and a fully carpeted basement.

Next time around? I bought a carpet steamer. It cost less than HALF what I paid her. There are no-scent, no-dye cleaners you can get for the steamer. I used HALF the amount of cleaner recommended (which I almost always do with any kind of cleaner--manufacturers always tell you to use too much, just to sell more product). My rugs were actually cleaner, and stayed cleaner longer than when the pro did them, and it's not that much work. An added benefit is that if you do them yourself, you can split the cleaning up, so you can still walk around at least part of the house, while the other part is drying.

Don't think I'd ever go back to having an expensive pro job now that I have the steamer--I can do a better job, and a minute fraction of the cost, and I sort of enjoy doing it.

I have a friend who works for a company that puts products and services to the test. I always find his stories and information facinating to say the least. Last Christmas I got on the the subject about carpet cleaning and he told me the horor stories about the different companies some of you listed. However, the one that he and his company recommeded was chemdry. Why? This is a franchise that has a natural solution that is truly natural. Also, each chemdry has to be trained every year and their techs are fully trained. My buddy was very pleased with their equipment and process. Now, I understand that you could have some bad seeds in the mix, however I can tell you from my experience with chemdry have been very good. Not sure what jsfox was talking about the buffer thing, but our chemdry did an extraction with a neat looking machine. My wife was even amazed at how the dirty water was being extracted through a clear tube. All of my spots that were removed are gone and did not reappear. Even my wifes coffee spot. I guess I am now a loyal chemdry customer. I am not cutting on any other service or anyone in this forum, but all I can say is do your research. Hope this helps you all!

I'm hoping someone in this thread will respond to my question about WASHING hand-knotted wool rugs -- not 'fine' or 'antique', just modern-day 'orientals'. Is there an 'off season' for sending these out? What's a good price for about 500 sq ft total? (Maybe just what's normal per sq ft and I'll add in the pickup and delivery that's normal here.)

ChemDry. In my first house, we had them clean the carpets (I had met the owner through the office where I worked, when he cleaned our carpets there.). Then, we had them clean our carpets -- great job, dried quickly, no spots left. We had a flooding issue from our air conditioning unit sometime later -- called ChemDry -- the owner came out with an antimicrobial solution, blowers, pulled up the carpet, got everything dry, then came back and tacked down the carpet after X amount of time later to put everything back in order (it's been 10 yrs, so I forget the exact order of things). I was always pleased with their service.

Have never used any of the "steam cleaner" companies, so I can't comment on them. I do have an Oreck carpet cleaner for cleaning up smaller messes, and it works ok, but not as well as professional cleaning, obviously.

I am a diehard Chem Dry Fan and have used them for over 30 years. Prior to Chem Dry, I used a variety of the large pro cleaning companies and DIY rental machines & their cleaning solutions. I gave Chem Dry a try when my first baby started crawling all over our fully w2w carpeted home. I just didn't want the baby having constant close skin contact and breathing in detergent and chemical residue. I was completely sold after the first Chem Dry cleaning: cleaner, brighter, fresher and no dirt attracting residue. The carpet stayed clean longer and tough spots were gone. They were soft and nice! Compared to other carpet cleaning, the results were immediately visible. Wish only that they had a "loyal customer" program ;)

I have all wool 8 by 10 carpets and don't what to use? I'm pretty sure steam/hot water s out.

I just had Chem Dry and they just used a buffer which seemed to mash down the carpet. Where they taking a shortcut? I thought they where suppose to use suction to remove the liquid and dirt and lift the carpet fibers. I have a steam cleaner and can say that my own work is as good as what they just left me with.

I don't use Chem Dry. Years ago they used carbonated water and a rotating pad that had thick cloth on it to clean. I wasn't impressed. One professional came with a machine that used three small arms that rotated as the cleaning solution and rinse water sprayed out from them. That made sure it got deep into the fibers and was then vacuumed out. Got stains out of a thick light carpet that were left behind when I hired a steam type of cleaner. Funny thing was: the steamer guy told me the gray areas were wear patterns. The wear left when the second guy was finished.

I've worked in this industry for over 20 years, having owned and built my own business and now I work at training people. I am one of a relatively small group who believe carpet cleaners should be qualified. We are cleaning thousands of dollars worth of carpet and home furnishings. Electricians and plumbers don't deal with property worth as much as what a textile floor cleaner does yet they must have a full certificate and serve an apprenticeship.

The Carpet and Rug institute recommends technicians certified with the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification). Most of the Standards boards world wide will only recommend Hot Water Extraction HWE as a full restoration style of cleaning.

I think Chem-Dry were losing market share due to this and in more recent years added HWE (They had been using it on carpeted stairs for years). To continue their "Dry" branding they promote their patented Carbonated cleaning method. I have had many discussions with Chem-Dry technicians over the years and they all sprout the glories of their unique system but I've never seen results from them results to go with it.

In the end it always comes down to the operator. You need someone who cares enough to pay attention to detail and who wants to be trained in all aspects of their craft = Fibre technology, suitable chemistry for those fibres, stain removal, water damage restoration etc. etc. This often comes from an owner operator of a small business who truly wants to impress you and so do the best possible job. For me it was seeing colleagues who didn't care and wanting to rise above that and restore rather than destroy carpets. May I suggest next time you need your carpet cleaned that you try the IICRC for a recommended cleaner and compare the difference? I'm not suggesting you will get a bad job from Chem-Dry, I am only suggesting you check their qualifications and look for the very best option. http://www.iicrc.org/

All the best

I worked for a Chem Dry franchise for a while and I'll let you in on a few things. Number one, they use a fear tactic to get you to buy more. Number two, they are not green. I bought brand new shoes and in a day of using their pet urine removal treatment - the top layer of my shoe deteriorated. Number three, they are money hungry. I had many jobs that were three rooms and $1000+. I ran my own business and I was lucky to bring that in in a day.

Recently I hired innovative Chem-Dry from Hopewell, Illinois to clean carpet in my basement. Two men came into the home with UV lights to show me areas where my dogs had urinated. They assured me that their PURT would remove these pet stains from the carpet. I own a UV light and see all the stains that they assured would be gone are still there. I'm $500 poorer but I've learned a valuable lesson! Never use Chem-Dry!! Find a locally owned carpet cleaning company to clean your rugs as Chem-Dry uses unscrupulous tactics to get you to use their service. The only thing they're innovative at, is separating you from lots of money!! Never again!!

Dry cleaning dries faster. Hot water extraction is better in every other category and is the method recommended by MOST carpet manufacturers. READ your carpet warranty as dry cleaning may void it...Bonnets and buffers damage carpet fibers. They may be OK for low profile commercial carpets. Hot Water Extaction, mine anyways, uses 1/2 gallon of detergent in 120 gallons of water(that's a 1/2% solution-stubborn stains may require the more concentrated spot cleaner/pre-spray). The claim that the remaining residue attracts dirt is erroneous. Ultimately, the quality of the job depends on the skills/integrity of the operator, and how well he/she maintains their equipment. Do it right, be patient, and Hot Water Extract. Note: "Steam Cleaners" utilize water at 200 degrees which is dangerous and distorts carpet fibers. Hot Water Extraction works from approx 150-170...

I fell for the Chem-Dry pitch in Southern CA. They said they would be able to clean my white sofa and love seat in a cotton fabric. When they came to the house, I showed them the fiber content tag on the sofa again just to be sure they could do it. They assured me they could. Well..the next day after the cushions, and sofa and love seat frames appeared to be dry, I was appalled to find horrible brown rust type stains all over my sofa and loveseat and all of the cushions! I called them and was assured by the clerk answering the phone as well as the technician that this was a "common" happening and that they could come and get the stains out that were caused by their process. Today they came and worked on them for about 3 hours and none of the stains came out. They said they had to consult with their "higher-ups" to see what could be done. They now have taken all the cushions with them and tell me they are being sent a "special product" from "home office" to remove the stains but that it will take at least a week!! I have no faith that these rusty brown stains can be removed. I'll now be out about $4,000. to replace both sofa and loveseat. I'm truly frustrated and sick about Chem-Dry. Never, ever again. Additionally, I had them clean my carpet and they beat it down so badly that the fibers are totally flat and they hadn't been before. They also wore a few places in the carpet almost down to the backing. The fact is they've got a marketing ploy with all of their seeming "chemical no-how." The reality is they aren't what they say at all.

I had ChemDry to my house this morning in Skillman, NJ. They have come several times in the past and have the exact measurements of the 2 rooms where I needed to have the carpet cleaned. I was quoted a price on the phone. She indicated this was their per room pricing. Since one of the rooms is large, she counted it as 2 rooms so quoted me a price for 3 rooms. I was fine with that even though the price was $240 and did not include the protectant. The technicial came and fiddled around on his calculator as my daughter and I moved all the furniture. He quoted me a new price over $300 again telling me because the room was oversized. I told him they had the measurements of the rooms when they quoted me the pricing - how could there possibly be a different price? Then he got out his measuring tape and started to measure. I told him look, your company had the measurements, we discussed it on the phone and I received a quote based on those measurements. How can you possibly have a different price? The rooms are the same size as they were the last several times you came out to clean them. He didn't know but stood by his new improved pricing so I told him it was the $240 for the service we agreed on or he could leave. He left. Be care of the bait and switch with ChemDry. This isn't the first time it has happened!

Some here mentioned that the operator has a lot to do with it. I couldn't agree more. But I'm also going to add cost which ties in with what the operator is capable of. I recently saw a carpet cleaner ad on Long Island, NY for $110 for 4 rooms and no minimum. Unless they were lucky enough to get multiple people scheduled in the same neighborhood, that company probably needs to figure in at least a half hour drive time. Then add in the setup and pickup. What is that total so far? An hour? And that doesn't include cleaning time. He'd be lucky if he could get 4 rooms done in an hour. So now we have $110 for 2 hours of work (assuming the operator is working as fast as possible). Now figure in gas, insurance, marketing, accounting, taxes. Do you think that operator/company is going to take time making sure it is done right? Heck no. He's going to want to get out of there as quickly and cut as many corners as possible.

And my point here is you're not comparing apples to apples if you just want to know which method is best. It really depends on who you have doing the job. I actually learned this the hard way. I actually now look for the company that might be on the high side in price because they know what it takes to do the job right. I also prefer steam clean over chem dry. Done right I don't think there is any comparison.