Once you've inserted your coin into the cabinet of Nichibutsu's 1982 arcade game Wiping or its 1983 rerelease "Rug Rats" and pressed the Start Button, Cleaner will roll into view from the left side of the screen's bottom (leaving between one and four remaining lives behind him as he goes depending upon how the cabinet is set) as a hole opens up in the first room's bottom wall (and if you're playing the original version, the positions of the bonus items flash up); Cleaner will then roll up through the hole as it closes behind him and the four germs in the room (two Baddons, a Bilbola and a Bigimba) will start to move. As you direct Cleaner around the room, he will clean the tiles of its floor - and when you press the Bubble Button while a germ is running towards him, he will fire a soap bubble at it to stun it, allowing him to suck it up (Baddons are worth 400 points, while Bilbolas are worth 500, and Bigimbas 600). Also, when you direct Cleaner onto a rug (and one or more germs follow him onto it) you can move off its other side to make it roll up and squash them, and roll across the entire horizontal or vertical length of the room before rolling back to its original position and unrolling again (killing a single germ with a rug is worth 1500 points, but killing two, three or four is worth 3000, 6000 and 10000); however, you must never move back onto a rug after you have moved off it because it shall squash Cleaner as it rolls up. When only one germ remains on the stage, it will start flashing red and yellow as it heads for the nearest rug in the room - and if Cleaner manages to stun it and suck it up before it can do so it will be worth 3000 points instead of its normal value. Cleaner will also receive extra lives at 30000 and 70000 points by default in the original version (100000 and 200000 by default in the rereleased one).
When Cleaner uncovers a bonus item in the original version (Clocks, Pipes, Yen Bags and Rings for odd-numbered stages, and Teapots, Telephones, Bottles and Dollar Bags for even-numbered ones), he can collect it for extra points; however, if he is killed before he can do so, it shall disappear. If he can uncover and collect all four bonus items on the stage without being killed he shall turn magenta and receive a speed increase as all the remaining germs on the stage are immediately stunned - and he can then suck them up for twice their usual point values. But in the rereleased version there are only three types of bonus items on every stage (Dollar Bags from the original version, Diamonds and Gold Bars), and their positions remain visible for their entire duration; once Cleaner has collected all three (regardless of whether he was killed or not), a Crown will appear in the centre of the room to make him turn magenta and immediately stun all the remaining germs when collected, but again, if he is killed before he can do so, it shall disappear. The table below displays the amounts of germs present for each of the first ten stages (along with the minimum and maximum possible point values).
| Stage | Germs present | Minimum point value possible (exc. tiles) | Maximum point value possible (exc. tiles) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 Baddons, 1 Bilbola and 1 Bigimba | 1900 | 10000 |
| 2 | 2 Baddons, 2 Bilbolas and 1 Bigimba | 2400 | 11500 |
| 3 | 3 Baddons, 2 Bilbolas and 2 Bigimbas | 3400 | 16000 |
| 4 | 3 Baddons, 3 Bilbolas and 2 Bigimbas | 3900 | 20000 |
| 5 | 4 Baddons, 3 Bilbolas and 3 Bigimbas | 4900 | 23000 |
| 6 | 4 Baddons, 4 Bilbolas and 3 Bigimbas | 5400 | 26000 |
| 7 | 5 Baddons, 4 Bilbolas and 4 Bigimbas | 6400 | 31500 |
| 8 | 5 Baddons, 5 Bilbolas and 4 Bigimbas | 6900 | 33000 |
| 9 | 5 Baddons, 5 Bilbolas and 5 Bigimbas | 7500 | 36000 |
| 10 | 6 Baddons, 5 Bilbolas and 5 Bigimbas | 7900 | 40000 |
After the tenth stage, the amount of germs present will stay at six Baddons, five Bilbolas and five Bigimbas for the rest of the game; the score display will also "roll over" at 1000000 points (and the stage display shall do the same at the hundredth stage). Once Cleaner has lost his last life, the text "PLAYER 1/2 OVER" shall appear on the screen (depending on whether you were the first or second player), and if you have scored over 30000 points (100000 in the rereleased version), the game shall go into high-score mode - and once you enter your initials on the table, the game shall go back into attract mode.