Household Carpet Cleaning Tips: Keep Your Carpet Fresh and Clean

Carpet cleaning is one of the things that should be on every homeowner’s priority list. It leaves the carpet looking clean, new, and fresh. It will also prolong its life and add value to your home if it’s well maintained. Leaving your carpet for a long period of time without cleaning it will attract allergens, dirt, grime and all other kinds of nasty stuff you don’t want in your home. And your home might develop an odor. So, how can you keep your carpets looking new?

Below are some simple yet effective carpet cleaning tips that you can easily implement in your home.

Buy a Vacuum Cleaner That Supports the Needs of Your Home

Getting the right vacuum cleaner for your house will go a long way in ensuring that the carpet remains clean. If you have pets, you need to buy one that can handle pet hair and other pet issues.

If you have young children at home, then a vacuum that is more powerful will be right for you. For example if your kids end up tracking dirt inside you will need a powerful vacuum to suck up all the dirt from the carpet. A powerful handheld vacuum cleaner will be appropriate if you only have a small section to clean, such as stairs, landings and small bedrooms. Think of a carpet wand if you need a smaller vacuum. If you need a bigger vacuum to look after an entire family it’s well worth the investment.

A quality vacuum cleaner should not be skimped when it comes to your carpets. Without it, your carpet will not be as clean as it should be. Overall, a quality vacuum will pay for itself as cheaper models don’t tend to clean carpet very well. The more dirt, sand and grime that stays in your carpet is not a good thing. That time that will come around when you have to replace your carpet will show up sooner. And replacing carpets is an expensive exercise you want to avoid for as long as possible.

Cleaning the carpet is a process that needs a lot of care. It can seem tiresome, but it is a small price to pay for the many years that the carpet will serve you. With the tips above, you can start your cleaning regimen, ensuring that your carpet is cleaned and looking fresh. You will love the benefits a clean carpet brings to your home.

What benefits? Well, waking up in the morning and seeing a lovely, fresh and clean carpet. Mentally this is a very refreshing felling opposed to a dirty carpet. And when you have guest around you will be inviting them into a lovely and clean home. Not to mention you will keep dirt and germs at back. Plus allergens won’t be around to trigger allergies.

Do Not Rub Stains

Growing up, we were told that once anything spills, we should grab a towel and rub it ASAP.

And, doing so made us believe that we were doing the right thing, but when it comes to carpets, that’s not the right way to go about it. If you rub stains, the stain soaks into the carpet fibers. The more you rub the worse you will make a stain. And this can lead to the premature breakdown of carpet.

Instead of rubbing anything that spills on your carpet, you should blot the area. Blotting will put some pressure on the stain to soak up the liquid and remove it. Dab the stains with a clean towel or sponge.

It is always advisable to start blotting from the outside of the stain, towards the middle. This will help the stain to stay smaller and not spread. If you dab the middle of the stain the outside of the stain will continue to grow in size.

Any spills should be taken care of immediately to prevent them from spreading. For most spills, you will only need to use water as a cleaning solution. For stubborn stains you may add some vinegar to the water, or use club soda to help with stain removal. Club soda is perfect for beer and wine stains.

If the stain is very stubborn then it’s time to buy a stain removal spray. Generally you can buy these from the supermarket or a general store. Follow the directions on the bottle or spray to ensure it’s applied properly. The tips above will help remove part of the stain if it’s very stubborn. Then the proper stain removal solution will finish the job.

Once the stain is gone, dab the stained areas with some warm water and then wait for the carpet to dry. Finally, vacuum the area to lift up the carpet fibers back to their original position.

Pay Extra Attention to High Traffic Areas.

In every home, some areas are used more than others.

Some examples of high traffic areas in the house include; the entrance of the home. The stairs if you have a two story house or townhouse. The entrance to each bedroom and so on. These areas often get more foot traffic than the other areas in your home. These areas need to be vacuumed more often and monitored since they tend to get dirty faster than the rest.

It’s not very hard to keep your carpets clean. Just implement a 2×15 system. Twice per week spend 15 minutes vacuuming the carpets. This way you get a bit of exercise while getting your carpets clean. Plus, it’s a quick 15 minutes so it won’t even fell like you’re cleaning.

Clean your Carpet Professionally Every Six to Twelve Months

It is advisable to clean your carpets professionally every six to twelve months by a carpet cleaning company. This ensures that the grime, dirt, soil and other nasty stuff hiding in the fibers is removed. This period of time is not as short as you may see it; it a perfect amount of time between cleanings. Your carpet is exposed to a lot of foot traffic and will get very dirty. If you are budgeting then stretching it out to a yearly clean is also fine.

Think about how much dirt and dust accumulates in the home during summer, or the nasty grime that gets that get through the door during autumn, the dirty ice and snow that gets onto the floors during winter if you’re living in a colder part of the country and the pollen that gets into the house during the spring season and sticks to the carpet.

With everything that comes with the changing seasons it’s a great idea to consider professional deep steam cleaning every six to twelve months to take care of all the dirt and grime that accumulates.

Using steam cleaning will work wonders for your carpet. It will remove all the oil and grease deposits, dirt, grime and soil. And get the carpet cleaner than it was before. This process will involve using a cleaning solution under pressure that is injected into the carpet using jet nozzles that shoot out piping hot water. The machine then extracts the solution along with all the debris and dirt that has accumulated over time. It’s best to avoid DIY rental carpet cleaners from the store though. A professional carpet cleaning company is ideal for this type of cleaning to ensure your carpet gets the best clean possible. View more