Cleaning wall to wall carpet by on your own

So, I've decided my wall to wall carpet is to gross to bear any longer but I don't want to spend the money on a service.  I've been looking up what to do on the internet but I'm confused as to the best method.  I also have cats so I want to make sure whatever I do won't irritate their little paws.  What methods have you found to be effective?

we rented a carpet cleaner from Petsmart--with the cleaning solution I think it was less than $40 altogether. Easy to do and totally worth it. We are going to make it a yearly thing now for all our rugs.

Is the service very expensive?

unicorn33 said:

Is the service very expensive?

Not too bad. I think we paid $300-$400 for our treatment over the summer, which included our finished basement and third floor (2 bedrooms, stairs and a hallway). This was the first time we had gotten it cleaned and the third floor was in rough shape, so I don't know if it will be less expensive next time. 

TarheelsInNj said:

unicorn33 said:

Is the service very expensive?

Not too bad. I think we paid $300-$400 for our treatment over the summer, which included our finished basement and third floor (2 bedrooms, stairs and a hallway). This was the first time we had gotten it cleaned and the third floor was in rough shape, so I don't know if it will be less expensive next time. 

Seems reasonable for the area done. (And I imagine doing carpeted stairs would be kind of a pain.)

We rented a unit from Home Depot.  I don't recall the cost (this was a few years ago) but I do recall it was very reasonable for our tight budget. The amount of nastiness that came up was unreal.

afa said:

we rented a carpet cleaner from Petsmart--with the cleaning solution I think it was less than $40 altogether. Easy to do and totally worth it. We are going to make it a yearly thing now for all our rugs.

I didn't know they had them! I will look into this, because I am a bit concerned about our cats, too, and want to clean the basement carpeting.