If you need a fast, simple overview of how to hire a Rug Doctor machine, this quick guide walks you through everything you need to know — from finding a rental location to returning the machine after your clean.

1. Find your nearest rental location

Rug Doctor machines are available in thousands of UK supermarkets and retail stores. Most households are within a short drive of a rental point (87% of UK population is within a 10-minute drive). Use the online locator to find your closest store.

2. Choose your hire duration

You can hire a machine for 24 or 48 hours.

• 48‑hour hire gives you more time for whole‑home deep cleans.

• 24‑hour hire is ideal for smaller homes or single‑room refreshes.

3. Pick up your machine

If you choose the self-service option, head to Rug Doctor’s rental stand in‑store at your chosen outlet. You’ll be provided with a locker number and code. Remember to take the welcome pack located on the inside of the locker door. 

Once your locker code has been accepted, remove your Rug Doctor machine and make sure its number matches the one you were issued. If you’ve hired the ‘Hand Tool’ as part of your rental, take this from the locker (located on shelf above Rug Doctor machine), and remember to close the door when you are finished.

4. Add the right cleaning solutions

For best results, pair your machine with Rug Doctor’s specialist detergents and pre-treatment trigger sprays. We have a range of options formulated to remove stubborn stains, pet mess, odours, deep‑down dirt, as well as those specifically designed to tackle fabric and upholstery.

• For general cleaning, choose Rug Doctor Carpet Detergent.
• For homes with pets, choose Pet Formula.
• For stubborn stains, add a pre‑treatment spray.

You can buy these in‑store, just pick the right chemicals and head to the in-store checkout, or purchase in advance online.

5. Removing Furniture & Ventilating Room

To make sure you clean every inch of your carpet, you’ll need to remove any potential obstacles.

Furniture such as coffee tables, sofas, chairs and bookcases can block the path of your machine. These areas are important to remember as they often cause a build-up of dirt, grime, and allergens.

6. Vacuuming

For a more effective Rug Doctor clean, use a vacuum cleaner to remove the surface dust and dirt from your carpets.

Removing this surface dust will allow your Rug Doctor to attack the dirt and grime lurking deep within your carpet’s pile.

7. Pre-treatment

Rug Doctor has a range of cleaning products to pre-treat any problem areas on your carpet. Treat the busier areas of your home, such as doorways and stairs, with Rug Doctor’s High Traffic Cleaner, Spot and Stain Remover or Heavy Stain Remover.

8. Preparing to clean

Firstly, you’ll need to remove the white recovery tank located on the front of the machine. To remove the tank simply unclip the black wire retaining handle. Fill a bucket with nine litres of hot tap water. Do not use boiling water or water hot enough to burn or scald the skin.

See detergent label for correct dilution ratios. Rug Doctor Carpet Detergent requires 150ml of solution directly into the red bottom base tank of your machine. For Wide Track machines, use 225ml of Rug Doctor detergent. Top up the red base tank with the hot water until it reaches roughly halfway up the mesh filter.

Replace the white recovery tank. Make sure you secure the tank using the black retaining wire fitting. Push the white rocker switch, located on the top of the machine, over to ‘carpet’ cleaning.

9. Starting your carpet cleaning

Adjust your machine’s handle to a comfortable height using the handle release lever. Make sure you plug your machine into a plug socket and press the vacuum switch to the on position.

Tilt the machine back slightly, so that the brush is not touching the carpet. Test the machine’s spray applicator by pressing the red spray button located on the machine’s handle. The machine will ONLY spray the cleaning formula when pressed. 

Once you see the cleaning solution, lower the machine back towards the carpet and begin walking backwards slowly. Continue walking backwards, remembering to hold the red spray button all the time.

Before reaching the end of the carpet, release the red spray button. This avoids over-wetting the last section of the carpet, as you prepare to turn around for the next pass. Position your machine so that it slightly overlaps with the previous run, and continue cleaning.

Rug Doctor recommend only one pass over any particular area, with a maximum of two passes for heavily soiled or baked-in stains; more than this risks over saturating your carpets.

The near translucent white recovery tank makes it easy to see when it’s full of dirty water. To empty the white recovery tank, simply pull back the retaining black wire to remove the container and dispose of extracted water..

10. Afterwards

When you’ve finished cleaning, ensure the room is well ventilated for a quicker drying time, having the heating on (but not turned all the way up!) can also help speed up drying times.