Maintaining Healthy, Beautiful Carpets

Carpet is everywhere, and probably mostly because it is comfortable yet easy to maintain.  Appearing luxurious or expensive, carpet is often the most economical choice for floor covering. Just like all textiles, though, the beauty and life of carpets depend on the care that is put into them.  Beautiful, long-life carpets require proper maintenance involving regular vacuuming and periodic deep cleaning.  Having clean carpets not only prolongs the life of the carpet fibers but is also better for you and your family’s health.

Regular, weekly vacuuming is essential to maintaining carpets in the home as it removes particulate soil that damages the carpet fibers.  Vacuuming maintains the surface appearance of carpet and keeps levels of soil in the pile to a minimum.  Cleaning the carpets with a vacuum should occur at least once every two weeks, perferably once each week and even daily in heavily soiled or trafficked areas.  It is important to use a well-maintained, good quality vacuum like the Miele Vacuums if you expect your carpets to last for years.

Vacuuming removes only particulate soil and surface dirt; therefore, other methods of carpet cleaning are periodically required.  Wet cleaning methods are much better for removing oils, greases and other forms of matter that cause deeper soiling in the carpet.   These methods can be accomplished by professional carpet cleaners or by homeowner’s with smaller, less powerful units that can be used more often that professional cleaning. The use of a RugDoctor Carpet Cleaner every three months will drastically increase the life of moderate quality carpet in any home.

There are other methods of wet and dry cleaning for your carpets beyond vacuuming and shampooing. Steam cleaning via hot water extraction is another wet method for removing soil from carpets.  Using a wet vacuum with steam capabilities like a Rotho vacuum injects hot water cleaning solution into the carpet and immediately extracts the solution and dissolved soil into the vacuums dirty water reservoir.  During this process the cleaning solution is showered onto the carpet through several several jets in the brush roller.  The rotary action of the brush whips the steamy solution through the carpet fibers with a rubbing action to remove deep down soils.  The soils become suspended in the wet cleaning solution and the vacuum removes it from the carpet.

Another dry cleaning method aside from vacuuming is to use an absorbent dry compound to remove oil-based soils from carpet.  A dry compound containing solvents and detergents is sprinkled onto the carpet and worked into the pile with either a machine or a brush if cleaning by hand.  After sitting in the carpet for about 30 minutes, the compound absorbs the soils which are then vacuumed away.

Hiring a professional to clean your carpets is a good choice for many homeowners, but beware of advertising or sales tactics promising carpet cleaning at unbelievably low prices.  Often these companies will bill you a much higher rate after doing a fairly poor job.  Look for a company listed with the carpet cleaning professional trade association or check out sites like Angie’s List before hiring a carpet cleaning contractor.

Carpet cleaning, though, can be done by homeowners without the need for professionals.  If you decide to clean your carpets yourself, here are some tips to consider before starting:

• First, know the exact type of carpet you own and the proper method of cleaning it.  This information can be obtained from the manufacturer if you do not already know it.  If you do not know who manufactured your carpet you can take a scrap piece of it to a carpet retailer and they should be able to tell you.  
• If you are steam cleaning or shampooing carpets, vacuum the entire area you plan to clean with a good working vacuum cleaner with its brushbar intact. You will want to remove all loose dirt before using a carpet steam cleaner.
• Pre-treat any special problem areas with the appropriate cleaning solutions.  Products like the Rug Doctor Hi-Traffic Pre-Treatment are perfect for this.  Whatever pre-treatment products you decide to use, make sure they are safe to use in conjunction with the steam machine you have chosen. 
• Avoid over-wetting your carpet.  Don’t go over heavily soiled spots more than two times, this is the purpose of pre-treating your carpet.  If additional cleaning is still needed after two passes over a soiled area, allow carpets to try before attempting to clean again. 
• Open windows and doors or turn on heat or air condition for faster drying.  Using floor level fans and dehumidifiers is also a great way to increase carpet drying time.  If you return furniture to the carpet before it has completely dried you may get stains in the carpet.  To avoid this, place aluminum foil under furniture legs if carpet is not completely dry.

Tell us about your carpets.  How do you maintain them?  Do you have special rules for the kids or pets in your household to protect the life of your carpets?  We want to hear about it, leave us a comment below!