Thanks everybody for all of your tips and experiences, they are really helpful - i think i'll definitely hire one very soon.

Excellent.I'm orf to hire one tomorrow.

apples5 - yes very good. Not as good as a professional carpet cleaner but still good for a freshen up. We had one to get the general muck and grubby smell out of the carpet in DSs play room. It was a cream carpet and came up a treat as did the hallway.

Best clear the room of furniture if possible or have someone to move it around for you while you clean. Using one is technically easy (i.e not complicated) but not something that can be rushed and his fairly hard work.

Put pieces of bacofoil under chair legs, table legs, etc to avoid stains leaching back into the damp carpet. Shold be able to walk on it if heating is on full and window left wide open after a few hours. Dries much faster if window is open as air circulates.

well answered dreaming!
Things like sofas we put back on, and moved them every coupleof hours.
Flat bottomed things like bookcases we left off

Yes they are good- but don't bother using their detergent, which is around £10 a bottle. Washing liquid or powder works just as well.

ok to leave on damp bit for a few minutes but you will get an indentation if you aren't careful. better to put in another room if you can. put an icecube on any indentations and they come out though. plus you wouldn't want to put things back onto damp carpet as it might not dry properly. does that make sense? i don't bother moving armchair or sofas or table in dining room - just do around them. have also used on very dirty dralon sofa and came up really well

Was wondering exactly the same as you apple5

jasper so is it fine to move a piece of furniture back on to the damp part that has just been done, in order to do other bit (furniture has been on)or do you have to clear out each room one at a time and wait til it dries? sorry i'm an amateur

yes we did move all furniture

Watching with interest