While frequent carpet cleaning by a local professional is necessary, knowing some carpet cleaning tips to help care and maintain your carpets can go a long way. The proper maintenance of your carpet will extend its life and help preserve its looks. Additionally, clean carpets contribute to a healthy indoor environment.
Useful Carpet Cleaning Tips
- Stain-resistant does not mean stain-proof. Be sure to act immediately to prevent spots and spills from causing permanent damage.
- Your furniture collects everyday dirt and soil just like your carpet. For convenience, have both professionally cleaned at the same time.
- Vacuum frequently and thoroughly. Most of the wear of carpeting is caused by dirt. Oily soils attract more oily soil and frequent vacuuming will reduce soil buildup.
- Get at stains quickly, 99% of all stains can be removed by one cleaning agent or another if they are cleaned in the first few days. The longer a stain chemically reacts with the carpet the harder it will be to remove it.
- Test carpet before scrubbing, extracting or spotting. All carpets are different. Some carpets are very sensitive to acid type cleaners and will lose their color quickly. Other carpet dyes are sensitive to harsh alkalis.
- Do not overuse detergents, shampoos or spotters. Too much detergent will result in residual left in the carpet that even thorough vacuuming may not remove.
- Extract residual if possible. Rotary scrubbing will clean the carpet fibers the best by encapsulating dirt and detergent residue, which powders off the carpet. Periodic extraction will flush out this dirt and other organisms deep in the carpet.
- Never “coat” a dirty or spotty carpet. After scrubbing or extracting a dirty carpet, if you are not satisfied with the results, do not apply a coat of carpet protector as this will result in “gluing in the dirt” making it harder to remove it the next time. Either re-scrub or extract the carpet or leave the carpet until the next cleaning cycle before you coat.