Product Review: Carpet Express

About a month ago the carpet in my office had become so gross I couldn't stand to be in there.  Our sweet and "innocent" dog Lilly decided to make it her master bathroom.  Have you ever tried to get dog pee smell out of carpet?  It is not easy.  My husband decided we should shampoo it or just rip it out and replace it.  (It was horrible.  Ewww..I'm having flashbacks.)  

We decided to try the shampoo route.  I called up our local Home Depot and rented this sweet machine called Carpet Express (at left) for only $25/day (or $15/hr if you think you can get this done in an hour).  It's so simple to use!  You just add the proper amount of shampoo (the nice man at HD will tell you) and fill the reserve up with hot tap water.  It's a shampoo/scrub/vacumn all in one easy step.   

Now that it has been about a month since I used the machine I am starting to see a couple spots returning.  However, I am pretty sure they are my fault.  I scrubbed this rug with so many different products that there is a build up or residue from the other cleaners.  In the places I never tried cleaning before they look brand new!

Rating:

User friendly- 4 Stars (some parts are a little wonky if you don't get them in just right and you can only go in straight lines)

Cost- 5 Stars (way cheaper than hiring a professional)

Smell- 4.5 Stars (the shampoo you have to use smells like baby shampoo to me)

Overall rating: 4.5 Stars!

Tub Help!

I have a confession to make. I loathe scrubbing the bathtub! I'll let it go for a couple of weeks (nasty, I know)!!

See, we live in an apartment and have a plastic (?) garden tub that is textured. For a woman who is 5'2" this is not a good combination for a couple of reasons:

1) I cannot reach into the tub very well because my arms are so short. (Stop laughing)

2) You really have to apply some pressure in order to really clean the grime out of the textured dimples of the tub. While those little dimples have saved me from slipping they are still the thorn in my side.

My solution? Dish Scrub Brushes and soft scrub!

I use the lemon Soft Scrub and I just squeeze it all over my dry tub and rub it in a little bit, just to spread it out, then I let it soak while I clean the sink.

I don't know if the "soaking" thing really works but I do it every time. Anyway...once I'm done with the sink I come back and turn on the shower to get make sure all of the Soft Scrub gets wet then I used my handy little scrubber brush and get to work. It only takes a few moments and a little elbow grease but even the residue leftover from a mechanic husband will come up with this technique! Trust me, I know from experience!

Use the Soft Scrub with Bleach for the really tough stuff!