Save on carpet cleaning

Want to save on getting your carpets cleaned?  Here are some ideas:

• Clean thoroughly first!  Carpet cleaners will often charge extra for rooms that are very cluttered.  Clean up your clutter and get everything except the large pieces of furniture off the carpet.  And if you can move furniture to another room, even better.
• Rent a carpet cleaning machine and do it yourself.  They still have these at my grocery store - check yours to see if a rental is available.  Or call rental equipment companies to see if they have one that you can get inexpensively.
• Look into purchasing your own equipment if you think you'll use it many times - say, you have a messy pet or hold a lot of parties.  Check eBay and Amazon.com, as well as other home products stores.
• If you go with a company, look in your local paper for coupons.  I know that COIT Cleaners often advertise in my paper's coupon inserts.
• Contact many local companies to get estimates.  Be sure to use the Internet - if you're in Durham, North Carolina, search on "carpet cleaners durham nc". Be sure that all the estimates cover the same services so that you can compare them.

(Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Clean Home NC.  Please see my disclosure policy for more information.)