Carpet cleaning

Carpets can get really nasty. And they aren't that easy to keep *really* clean. As Peanut is rolling like a champ, and working hard at sitting, I decided it was time to clean the carpet in preparation for his crawling. I figure if he's got his face in the carpet, I'd like it to be clean.

Friends of ours have a Bissell steam cleaner. Their son has crazy allergies, so it makes sense for them to own such a machine. I borrowed it, and have loved it. I so want a steam cleaner now... but if I'm going to clean the carpets twice a year, or so, is it worth buying one? Still thinking on that one.

Anyhoo, it was easy, and I was able to do a room a day. I started on the guest bed room, then did the hallway and nursery the next day. I got the living room on Saturday, as Hubby was around to hold Peanut if needed. Today, I got the master bedroom.

So, in prep for cleaning the carpets I vacuumed. I went ahead and vacuumed all the other rooms as well, just to start a new habit of vacuuming weekly. Oh, my goodness. Normally, our vacuum dust bin is quite full after I vacuum the house. And its usually a dark grey/black color. Lots of carpet fuzz, cat hair, Mommy hair and dirt. Today, however, after vacuuming the guest bedroom, nursery, hallway and living room, I had a small ball of carpet fuzz, cat hair and a bit of dirt/dust. And it was carpet colored. I know my carpets are cleaner than they've been since we moved in. Then I vacuumed the master bedroom (pre-cleaning vacuum). Yuck. I emptied more from the bin from just that room than I did from the rest of the house. WOW! I'm looking forward to vacuuming after the carpet is dry just to see how little I pick up.

As for the steam cleaner... its a Bissell  Proheat 2x. I like that the soap container is separate from the water container, and the cleaner is easy to use. I don't like how small the clean water container is and that it is open to the dirty water container. The clean water is contained in a bladder inside the dirty water container, and there isn't a way to close off the clean water bladder. I'm somewhat certain that the clean water was a little soapy at one point. After reading reviews on Amazon, I did pick out a different one, that should I chose to get one, that's the one I'd want. Its a Hoover, and has great reviews.

The cleaner did pull up a fair bit of fuzz, as does the vacuum cleaner. I suspect if I cleaned the carpet too much, it'd be thread bare sooner than otherwise. But I know dirt is just hard on the threads and causes them to break sooner than otherwise. So, I'm guessing a cleaning twice a year for living room, and once a year for bedrooms would be enough.

Those who clean their carpets regularly, how often to do clean them?