I have recently had workmen tromping through my house doing some fix-it stuff, and my light beige carpeting was pretty dirty. This Hoover carpet cleaner is pretty easy to assemble and, since I own a smaller Hoover carpet cleaner, I had no problem at all figuring out how to use it. The dual water tanks hold about a gallon each, so, depending upon how dirty your carpet is and how large your rooms are, you can get a lot of cleaning done before emptying and refilling. The best thing about this particular unit is the agitator brush rollers, which I set on "high" to get the dirt out. This cleaner works admirably and has a wide cleaning profile to get your carpets cleaned fast. My carpets were left nice and clean and the nap, which had been crushed down, seems a bit higher. This is a large, heavy cleaner, so if you are older or don't have much strength, you might have a problem with it. Storage is another consideration. I don't know if it does a "commercial" job on carpets (it only partially removed old, ground-in stains) but it cleans nicely and leaves carpets fresh.