Home Depot Carpet Cleaner Rental Rates and Total Cost
A Home Depot carpet cleaner rental costs about $28 for four hours or $40 for a day, going by the Rug Doctor rates Home Depot listed for Atlanta-area stores in 2025.
A week runs $160, the price of four days. Expect a $50 refundable deposit on a credit card, plus the cleaning solution you buy for it.
Rates vary by store. With one bottle of solution and damage protection, a one-day job works out to about $69 before the deposit comes back.
Rug Doctor Rental Rates at Home Depot
Home Depot rents Rug Doctor upright carpet cleaners. Its rental pricing service returned these rates for five Atlanta-area stores on August 13, 2025, and the Internet Archive saved the response.
| Rental period | Rate |
|---|---|
| 4 hours | $28 |
| 1 day | $40 |
| 1 week | $160 |
| 4 weeks | $480 |
| Refundable deposit | $50 |
The pattern matches Home Depot’s other rentals. Four hours costs 70% of a day, a week costs four days, and four weeks cost three weeks. The tool rental price breakdown shows the same math across mixers, pressure washers and tillers, and how far apart nearby stores can be.
Home Depot’s listing for the rental says each one comes with an upholstery hand tool for stairs, furniture and car seats. It describes a wide-track machine with larger tanks that cleans most rooms in as little as 20 minutes, available from over 1,200 Home Depot rental locations.
Rug Doctor’s own locator lists Home Depot stores among its rental locations too. In Atlanta, the Home Depot on Ponce De Leon carries Rug Doctor’s Traditional Carpet Cleaner and Traditional Upholstery Tool.
How Home Depot Compares With Rug Doctor’s Usual Pricing
At grocery stores, pet stores and other hardware stores, Rug Doctor’s standard price is $39.99 for 24 hours or $49.99 for 48 hours. The upholstery tool adds $5.99.
Home Depot’s day rate lands within a penny of that, and its listing includes the upholstery tool that costs $5.99 extra elsewhere. Home Depot also offers a 4-hour rate and a weekly rate. The catch is that the two Atlanta Home Depots in Rug Doctor’s locator don’t list the 48-hour option that nearby Publix, Kroger, PetSmart and Lowe’s stores do.
That changes the math for a two-day job. By Home Depot’s rate structure, two days cost $80, against $49.99 for a 48-hour rental where Rug Doctor offers one. For a big weekend project, the grocery store down the street can be the cheaper rental.
One-Day Rental Total With Solution
The rate is only part of the bill. Damage protection is optional and adds 15% of the rental, sales tax applies, and the solution is a separate purchase.
Those totals are worked out, not quoted. They use the Atlanta rates, Rug Doctor’s $17.99 list price for a 48-ounce bottle of Pet solution, and an 8% tax rate like the one on a Home Depot estimate from Illinois, where tax applied to the rental but not to the protection charge.
Without protection, a day comes to $62.63. I’d skip it on a carpet cleaner. It’s hard to damage one in a living room, and Home Depot says the 15% charge isn’t insurance anyway.
How Much Cleaning Solution You Need
Rug Doctor’s manual for its Mighty Pro and Wide Track machines calls for 1/4 to 1/2 cup of carpet cleaner per gallon of hot tap water. The Wide Track, the type Home Depot’s listing describes, holds 3.7 gallons.
Worked out, one 48-ounce bottle fills that tank about three to six times, depending on how strong you mix it. For a room or two, one bottle is plenty, and Rug Doctor itself suggests saving the rest for next time.
Use only Rug Doctor cleaning products in the machine.
The manual is blunt about it. Other products risk damage to internal parts that can lead to fire or electric shock, and bleach and dye are ruled out entirely. Pre-treat heavy stains first, and add Anti-Foam whenever you clean upholstery.
Rental Rules and Return Fees
Home Depot’s tool rental FAQ sets the basics. The deposit goes on a credit card, debit and gift cards aren’t accepted at pickup, and most states require a government photo ID. Debit does work for the rental fees when you bring the machine back.
Home Depot’s rental agreement adds a cleaning charge for dirty equipment, and a late return keeps accruing rental fees until the machine comes back.
Rug Doctor posts its own fees for its rental program, with a $40 refundable deposit that may be required, a $40 cleaning fee for a dirty machine and a $40 late fee.
Before you return the machine, Rug Doctor’s checklist says to do four things.
- Empty and rinse both tanks.
- Pull hair and debris out of the brush area.
- Wipe the dirt off the bottom of the machine.
- Rinse and wipe the upholstery tool if you used it.
Then take it back to the same store you rented it from.
Carpets and Fabrics to Skip
The manual lists surfaces where a water extraction cleaner can do damage. Keep the machine and its cleaners away from these.
- Silk or wool oriental rugs, hand-loomed wool rugs and braided rugs
- Sisal and jute carpets
- Hardwood or laminate floors, including overspray
- Upholstery coded S or X, plus silk, velour, leather and memory foam
Test a hidden spot first. Wet it with a little cleaner, wait one to two minutes and blot with a white paper towel. If color comes off, switch to cool water and test again before going further. Some stains need a professional, as the manual itself says.
Safety Rules From the Manual
Rug Doctor’s safety instructions are short and worth following to the letter.
- Plug into a properly grounded outlet. The manual doesn’t recommend extension cords.
- Use it indoors only, and unplug it whenever you step away.
- Wear rubber-soled shoes and take extra care on stairs.
- Don’t clean over floor electrical outlets.
- Don’t use it on a flooded basement. It has no automatic overflow shutoff.
Drying Time and Holiday Timing
Rug Doctor’s UK site puts drying at about two to four hours after a Rug Doctor clean, depending on ventilation and temperature. The manual says the machine recovers 70% to 80% of the water it puts down.
To speed it up, open doors and windows, point fans down at the carpet, and run the heat in cold weather or the air conditioning in humid weather. Keep aluminum foil under furniture legs until the carpet is completely dry.
Plan around the holidays. Home Depot stores close on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, so a pre-holiday deep clean means renting by Wednesday. The Thanksgiving week hours cover the days around it.
For a move-out clean spread over several days, the $160 weekly rate costs the same as four single days. If you’re packing at the same time, Home Depot’s moving box sizes and prices are worth checking before you head to the store.
Buying a Carpet Cleaner Instead
Buying pays off only if you deep clean often. Rug Doctor sells the Mighty Pro X3 for $597.99 and the TruDeep for $499.99 on its own site.
At $40 a day, the Mighty Pro X3 costs as much as about 15 rentals and the TruDeep about 12 and a half. At one or two deep cleans a year, renting stays cheaper for at least six years.
I’d rent for the deep clean and buy a small spot cleaner for accidents in between. Rug Doctor’s Pet Portable Spot Cleaner lists at $189.99, less than five one-day rentals, and a Rug Doctor rental location is rarely far away when the whole floor needs it.
