Is there a “Doctor” in the house? Pros and cons of the Pro X3 Will owning the “Doctor” make it less expensive and more convenient to clean your carpets? If you have pets, high traffic, dirty feet, kids who spill and perhaps those beige carpets that seem to be the norm today, you may be hiring a service to deep-clean now and then, renting something like this unit from your grocery store, or else you have an upright “steam” cleaner such as a . Since it’s a pain to lug home a rug cleaner, and since carpet cleaning services are not inexpensive, the Rug Doctor makes a case for owning a “pro” unit yourself and recouping the cost, probably on the second or third use (even the first, if you have many rooms to clean.)So, how does the Rug Doctor work, and is it worth it compared to uprights or continuing to hire someone? Here are the pros and cons.First off: what comes with this unit:The Mighty Pro X3 machine itselffold-down handle adjustable from 32.5″ to 35.5″An Upholstery/stair tool with a long hose (12′ hose)40-oz. bottle of Pet Formula Carpet Cleaner17-oz. Urine Eliminator spray2 large-capacity tanks: Cleaner tank holds 2.6 gal Waste water tank holds 3.1 galRoom size for one tankful of cleaner: 118 sq ft. (about a 10X12 room, but not including any edge cleaning.)Why is it called Pet Pack? Because the Pet Formula liquid detergent and the odor eliminator spray are included with the package. Otherwise, it’s the same Rug Doctor.Pros:How well does it clean? The unit really does clean well. The brushes use a vibrating, rather than rotating motion, and the path seems to be very well cleaned. We did a room used as an office, so the shoes had left marks on the carpet under the desk, and there were coffee spills. The carpet looks almost new. Compared to the same cleaning with the Steamvac, seemed deeper, cleaner and about the same amount of residual moisture, maybe a bit more (ie carpet is wet and needs to dry after cleaning.)Ease of useWhile in use, it’s slow and steady, and not very maneuverable. You are essentially “mowing the grass” and cleaning in strips. However, to do edges, you need to refit for the hose and hand tool and get on your hands and knees. This also lets you get around immovable furniture, so if you want to clean next to a desk or table, you have to employ the hand tool. Ditto for stairs. And here’s the bigger problem: the hose is 12′, which will get all the way up SOME staircases, but not all. If the hose doesn’t reach, you have to bring the unit upstairs (or downstairs) and the unit, unfilled, weighs 36 lbs. So if you cannot safely carry that up and down stairs, there is an issue.The hand tool does do stairs and does work on car and house upholstery.If you are doing multiple rooms or more than one 10X12 room or doing edges, you need to empty and refill the tanks, which is not a fun job and slows down the process.Pros:Does a great job, same unit as rented out in retail outletsBuilt to last, five year warrantyVibrating deep cleaningCost is similar to one full house cleaning done by a service company (in most of the US) so you can calculate if it’s worth it to you to do more frequent cleaning. If you need frequent, thorough cleaning, well worth it, in my opinion.More thorough than upright units (in my observation.)Cons:Heavy, hard to maneuver aroundNeed to use the hand tool for edges or for around furniture, stairs.Large rooms require refilling and emptying tanks.Summary:My carpets (light beige) looked almost new, but it was a slow job and the hand tool on the stairs isn’t fun. The unit has to be carried up and downstairs if you have a multi-level house. It’s bulky and not easy to move for someone like me (who is an older woman.) It isn’t easy to maneuver around furniture. However, it does replace a carpet service, if you are willing to do the work.

Weight of the machine and the recovery tank design make this unit a tough sell for me A good carpet cleaner is essential in my world. I have pets and if there is a cup of coffee around, someone inevitably spills it in my house. I’ve had a couple of cleaners, including a and a . I found the RugDoctor to be a middle-of-the road cleaner. While there are positive characteristics to this machine, I would recommend reading many positive and negative reviews and also renting a RugDoctor from a store like Big Lots before investing in this machine. If you don’t have a Big Lots near you, go to the Rug Doctor website where you can locate rental locations (others include Dollar General,U-Haul). At the end of the day, I prefer my over this one.Pros:READY OUT OF BOX: This product is pretty much ready right out of the box. The only thing the user has to do is fill the lower tank with water and solution and adjust the handle using a side lever that is found on the handle.TANK CAPACITY: Both the Hoover and the Bissell ProHeat 2x hold a gallon. The RugDoctor’s solution tank holds three times as much water. The recovery/dirty water tank holds 3.9 gallons. This allows you to process more rooms without running to the sink. However, this can also be a con. See below under “Emptying the Tank”.TWO TANKS: The Bissell ProHeat (and many other Bissell carpet cleaners) employ 2:1 in tanks, which is one of the most terrible design features I have ever seen in carpet cleaners. Emptying a 2:1 tank is messy. The RugDoctor, like the Hoover, has two tanks. One tank is devoted to clean water and another completely separate tank holds dirty water. In theory, the user should be able to avoid touching dirty water. This is not always the case with the RugDoctor. See con below under “Emptying the Tank”.CLEANING: For most people, this is probably the most important feature. The dirty water that this machine yielded was the brownest I have ever seen one of my carpet cleaners produce. I know it was picking up grime. The carpet did not have a dramatically different appearance though. I had some stains and it took more than a few swipes to lift them. For the record, the manual indicates that a heavily soiled area should not be gone over more than two times in order to avoid over-wetting the carpet.EASY TO ATTACH HAND TOOL: The hand tool is attached via the back of the machine. It is easy to disconnect the large vacuum hose and replace the hose that is for the hand tool.CLEANING SOLUTION GOES A LONG WAY: I’ve only used RugDoctor solutions thus far with this product. The RugDoctor solution is super concentrated and I was impressed with how little was needed for cleaning purposes (2 – 4 ounces of cleaner per gallon of clean water placed in the machine).Cons:WEIGHT: Carpet cleaners are heavy. Other than small single spot units, carpet cleaners require some level of heft. This machine is 39 pounds when out of the box. It is nearly twice the weight of the Hoover. It is hard to push and requires that the user angle the front of the machine slightly in the air in order to push it more easily. The size and weight will preclude the user from using it on carpeted steps unless the decision is made to use the hand tool on each individual step.HIGH TANK CAPACITY: The recovery tank, which holds the dirty water, is quite heavy when full. Remember this tank holds more dirty water than other cleaners. Due to weight, emptying the full recovery tank can be a messy and disgusting process. See below.EMPTYING THE TANK: When emptying the dirty water/recovery tank, I could not avoid getting dirty water on my shoes and hands. When full, it is a heavy unit to empty and there are no great places to hold the tank. Again, the recovery tank can hold 3.9 gallons. If you try to hold the handle of the recovery tank out of the way while draining the water, the dirty water gets on your hands. The dirty water streaks down the sides of the recovery tank. Unless you promptly clean the outside of the tank, the dark water stains the sides. I hated emptying this heavy, poorly designed tank.HEIGHT OF MACHINE: I am 66 inches tall. The machine, when the handle is fully upright is just under 37 inches tall. A user will have to lower the handle of the machine to push it about. Keeping the handle in the fully upright position just doesn’t work. For me, I need to lower the handle about two inches. This machine is a good height for me. If I were taller, I would have difficulty cleaning my whole house with this…