Ultimate Carpet Cleaning Guide for Every Homeowner
Do you wish to give your home a fresh and inspiring feel, this New Year? Are you on the lookout for ways to ensure a welcoming environment in your home? If so, seeking professional carpet cleaning services is necessary to maintain good hygiene standards and ensure inviting ambience. Clean carpeting creates a great impression and enhances the appeal of your interiors.
Grubby carpets have an opposite effect, creating an unhygienic and cluttered impression. Whilst carpets age from the moment they are laid, you can maintain their appearance with a few key steps. Carpeting is often the breeding ground for microorganisms like mould, mildew, dust mites and other pollutants. Maintaining the clean and fresh appearance of your carpeting is essential to creating a hygienic and clutter-free impression
Vacuum Your Carpets Regularly
Do you know that whenever you walk on a rug, you transfer particles of dust and dirt onto the carpet fibres? This debris quickly degrades your carpet fibres and makes them look grubby with time. In case you have kids or pets in your home, vacuuming thoroughly on a regular basis is important. And, even if you live alone, vacuuming a few times every week is important. This will make a difference in the appeal and life of your carpet a few years down the line.
Remove Your Shoes
The quickest way your carpet will age prematurely is to walk over them with your shoes on. Also, it causes soiling. Outdoor footwear traps dirt in the treads and deposits it onto your carpet. This dirt will act as an abrasive agent to the carpet fibres. Not only does this cause them to wear out, but also lose their original quality.
Hire Professional Cleaners
Specialist carpet cleaning will preserve the attractive look of your carpets and ensure they last many years to come. Clean carpets tend to last for numerous years longer than if they are neglected. While vacuuming can remove some of the debris from the fibres, expert cleaning can clean deep down into the base. Also, it can remove stains even before they become permanent stains.
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
What You Need to Know
The beauty and life of your carpet depend on the care it receives. Proper cleaning will keep it looking great for its full lifetime, help improve your indoor air quality, and keep your carpet warranties intact.
Cleaning your carpet properly is easier than you think. All it takes is a little knowledge about how to select the right carpet cleaning products and the right way to clean your carpet. The Seal of Approval Program helps you easily identify effective carpet cleaning solutions, equipment, and service providers that clean carpet right the first time, without the fear of faster resoiling, stains reappearing, or damage to your carpet or the environment.
Steps for Proper Carpet Care
Carpet cleaning is all about developing a routine. If you get into a good routine and keep it up, you will see great results. Products that rate highly on Seal of Approval (SOA) program are your assurance that you will clean correctly the first time (more on the SOA program below).
Here are four simple steps to keep your carpet clean and looking great:
Vacuum regularly and more frequently in high traffic areas, and everywhere according to a vacuuming schedule, using a Seal of Approval-certified vacuum.
Clean spots and spills quickly with products that do not damage the carpet or cause it to resoil quicker. SOA-certified solutions to clean effectively and maintain the life of carpet.
Professionally deep clean your carpets every 12 to 18 months to remove embedded dirt and grime. SOA-certified cleaners are recommended and sometimes required by the manufacturer.
Stop dirt at the door by using mats outside and in, taking your shoes off when you enter the house and changing your air filters to reduce airborne dust particles.
Basic Rug Care
Rugs deserve the same care as wall-to-wall carpet and, in some cases, require special attention.
Washing rugs — If your rug is small and the label says “machine washable,” shake the rug outside first and then put it in the washing machine at the recommended temperature. Use warm water (90 to 105 degrees) and a mild detergent. Tumble your rug dry on the lowest heat setting.
Beating larger rugs — If your larger rug is easy to pick up, shake it outside first; then put it over a clothesline and beat it. Next, take the rug inside and vacuum it. Many carpet cleaning professionals have rug cleaning expertise as well, but, if the label says dry clean only, your best bet may be to roll it up and take it to a dry cleaner. Save time by calling first to see if the cleaner does rug cleaning — many do not.
Vacuuming area rugs — Area rugs with fringe require special technique. Use gentle suction and start from the center of the carpet, vacuuming toward the fringe, and being careful not to catch the strands in the beater bar. Lift the carpet edge to vacuum beneath the fringe.
Caring for Oriental, Turkish, or Persian rugs — Clean imported rugs according to your carpet manufacturer’s specifications or bring in a professional cleaning service. Be gentle with fringe. For heirloom-type rugs, you need to hire a professional.
Carpet Cleaning Instructions
Whether you are having a big party or it’s just time for a thorough house cleaning, these carpet cleaning instructions will provide you with the knowledge to get the job done right.
Carpet Cleaning Instructions
When cleaning your carpet, follow these carpet cleaning instructions to make sure stains are removed as well as leaving your flooring feeling clean and fresh.
Vacuum
Vacuuming is the first step in cleaning your carpets. You want to remove as much loose dry dirt as possible so that it will not be set into the carpet while cleaning. Vacuum the carpet from several directions (horizontally and vertically) to fluff up the carpet fibers and remove the most debris.
Inspect For Stains
Crawl or walk around the entire carpeted area looking for stains. Determine what type of stains you find or what caused the stain and use the cleaning method best for that type of stain.
Treat the Stains
It is best to treat stains as quickly as possible after they occur, to prevent the stain from setting into the carpet fibers. If the stain occurred sometime in the past, you should still try to remove it. Different types of stains require different treatments.
Taking Care of Your Carpet
Cleaning your carpet is easier than you think. All is takes is the right vacuum, cleaning products, and a little know-how. Here are a few tips on removing common stains the right way:
Always treat the affected area immediately. The longer the spill sits there, the harder it’ll be to remove the stain.
For a food spill, gently remove as much solid material as you can with a spoon, or a dull knife. Add water and blot, using detergent sparingly if needed. Then, using the highest suction function, vacuum back and forth, adding more water to the stain as you go until completely clean.
If you need a spot removal solvent, use a product approved by The Carpet and Rug Institute of America. Apply several drops to a clean white cloth and blot the carpet in an inconspicuous area. If you notice a change in the carpet color, consult a professional carpet cleaner.
If stains remain after cleaning, moisten tufts in the stained area with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let stand for one hour. Blot and repeat until completely clean.
Keeping Your Carpet Beautiful
Follow these simple tips to keep your carpet’s color and texture looking fresh.
Vacuum your carpet regularly to prevent soil from embedding itself in the pile.
Depending on the type of carpet you have, you’ll want to use a vacuum with a rotating brush, a beater bar, or suction only.
Keeping traffic and other use factors in mind, consider professional cleaning every 12 to 18 months.
Use scissors to clip sprouts and snags. Don’t pull on them—you might damage the carpet.
If your carpet is burned, simply remove the tops of the dark, burnt fibers with curved fingernail scissors. If the burn is extensive, you may need to patch or replace it.
Remove heavy furniture dents by stroking the dented area with the edge of a coin. You can also use a hair dryer or a steam iron, but be very careful not to touch the carpet with the iron.
For extensive water damage, consult professional cleaners to dry your carpet from the front and back.
Tips for Soft Carpet
Adjustable Height — Use the highest setting where appropriate.
Efficient Airflow — Avoid vacuums with very concentrated or sealed suction.
Large Wheels — A vacuum with large wheels is easier to move across soft carpeting.
How to Clean Carpet Like a Pro for Floors that Look Like New
Carpet has many merits and advantages as a flooring material, but spills can leave stains and daily traffic takes its toll. Learn how to clean carpet with methods for vacuuming, deep cleaning, and stain removal that will help your carpets look better and last longer.
Carpets warm a home by adding color, pattern, and texture. However, keeping your carpets looking fresh requires a different cleaning method than an area rug or hardwood floors, for example.
Frequent vacuuming provides the first line of defense against dirt and grit that damages carpet fibers, but carpets also need regular cleaning to keep them looking their best. Plan to deep clean your carpet every 12 to 18 months (or more often in high-traffic areas). If you have light-colored carpet or kids or pets, consider a deep clean two or three times a year.
Refer to the carpet manufacturer’s guidelines before cleaning your carpets. Then use our instructions below for the best carpet cleaning tips. We’ll show you how to clean carpet with various methods such as water extraction, dry extraction, rental carpet cleaners, and more.
How to Test for Colorfastness
Before you begin cleaning carpets, the first step is to test its colorfastness. Colorfast carpet will not bleed, fade, or change when you are cleaning it or removing stains. The colorfastness will help you decide the best carpet cleaning method, products, or machines to use.