Flawless, fresh carpet has quite a striking impact on the aesthetics of your home. Nothing pulls the whole ambiance together so delightfully as inviting, fluffy carpet, with a beautifully clean, soft look. And who doesn’t enjoy feeling clean carpeting under the twos after a long day? Or playing with your children or the family pet on the soft carpet? We all love clean, pretty carpet, but getting clean and keeping it clean is a lot of work!
Fortunately, you can implement a number of strategies to keep your carpet clean without spending hours on end to get it done. Here, we will discuss the top tips for keeping the carpet clean. Our carpet cleaning tips list is meant to be both preventative as well as active, so you can minimize the dirtying in the first place and maximize cleaning opportunities when they come.
Prevention Carpet Cleaning Tips
Up Your Rug Game
It’s easy to think that your carpet is invincible. That is if you haven’t been a homeowner for very long. However, for those of us who have had carpeting for an extended period of time, you start to realize that you need to take good care of your carpet if you expected to last. So be proactive! One of the best ways to get ahead of carpet wear and tear is to use rugs and mats to protect that precious commodity.
As such, be sure to use outdoor welcome mats outside doors and entrances and another mat on the inside. This will give people ample opportunities to remove mud and third and other things before they go traversing on your carpet. It’s also a great idea to use decorative rugs for high traffic areas. Your carpet is one of the most visible indicators of cleanliness and quality in your home. To protect that valuable material with mats, rugs, chair mats, and even coasters under furniture legs to avoid unnecessary damage.
Keep Shoes Off the Carpet
Keep the carpet clean by establishing a no-shoe-on-carpet policy. No need to be super strict about it with guests in special circumstances, but having those in the household keep shoes off carpet will make the biggest impact to cut down on carpet wear.
So don’t track those staining debris onto your carpet! Avoid the grime and leave those shoes off the carpet. You’ll be amazed by the preventative efficacy of a no shoes on carpet rule. Plus, shoes have harder treads that wear carpet down, if anything, go for those comfy slippers instead, and keep your carpet springy and clean. Taking some time to be proactive in protecting carpet saves you money in the long run by helping carpet last and it saves you time in the short term by cutting down on vacuum and cleaning.
Be Ready for Spills
We all know spills happen regardless of household rules and proactive measures. Whether it looks like coffee, wine, soda, nail polish, poop, pee, or any other nasty grimy stain, if you can imagine it spilling on the carpet it probably will at some point. So it’s best to be prepared ahead of time for when spills happen. You can have an emergency kit for when this type of thing happens. Just keep helpful products like club soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, dishwasher detergent, and fresh rags to address spills in a pinch. But be careful to only use products or solutions that won’t damage your carpet in the process!
Maintenance Carpet Cleaning Tips
Vacuum Like You Care, Because You Should
Nothing is more important for fresh, clean carpet than regular, quality vacuuming. For carpet that lasts a long time in pristine condition, you will want to vacuum one to two times per week–and more often in high traffic areas or popular pet hang out spots. And here’s a pro tip: you should be covering your carpet 3-7 times when you vacuum! It may seem excessive, but multiple passes (from different angles) dislodges dirt leaving your carpet as fresh as can be.
It may not seem like a big deal to just vacuum with a partially filled collection bag, or to keep on rolling with the filter you had when your grandmother gave you her vacuum–but it is! Yes, collection bags should be emptied every time you vacuum. That’s because the suction and holding capacity efficiency of the vacuum drops as the collection bag fills. Plus, the filter quickly clogs with fine particle dust and debris as you use it. So be sure to clean and replace the vacuum filter or else you may just be spinning your vacuum’s wheels without really cleaning the carpet.
Odor and Cleanliness Carpet Cleaning Trick
For fresh smelling carpet, you can add a light sprinkling of baking powder before you vacuum. This will leave your carpet and home smelling great, and the vacuuming makes for a clean finish as well. Be sure to leave a few minutes interval in between dropping the baking soda before you vacuum it up. Not only will this keep odor out of the carpet but it will help your carpet look great too!
Deep Clean Every 6-12 Months
A quality, professional deep-clean is essential to keeping carpet clean, beautiful, and like-new. Nothing beats a the pro treatment as much as you may want to DIY this process. Indeed, the best way to get a good thorough cleanse is by hiring a trusted carpet cleaning company to professionally scrub, clean, and protect your carpet. This service is an investment in the value of your home. Your carpet will look better, remain undamaged longer, and stay fresh, clean, and hygienic. Plus, a professional clean will even improve the air quality of your home.
Clean Spills and Stains Quickly
Let your sleeping dogs lie, but not spills (But be sure to vacuum after those dogs are up again)! Whenever there’s an accident, make sure to blot, wash, and dry before the spill soaks and sets into the carpet. Indeed, the longer a spill sits the harder it is to get out. And remember: always blot instead of scrubbing. Scrubbing can actually work a stain deeper into the carpet. Plus, as amazing as carpet protection services are, they won’t prevent stains–really, they give you extra time to clean the stain out. So don’t wait, clean that stain straight away!
Attend to Spots Appropriately
Since carpet is made to be soft, fluffy, and cushioned, it can go awry when it is stained. That’s because carpet will absorb liquids and this can change the texture of the fibers if left untreated. Fortunately, there are several different methods for stain cleaning, each with positives and negatives. Dry powders are a good option for grease stains. Solvents work best with ink or oil stains.
On the other hand, other specific spills require specific solutions. For example, wine stains can be removed with club soda. For food stains, you can actually use shaving cream first, then vinegar and water solution. Keep this in mind as a great cleaning method to help keep your carpet looking new.
Take Advantage of Professional Protection
Allklean professional cleaning service offers added protection as part of the carpet cleaning process. We offer Scotchgard™ application, which gives your carpet an “invisible shield” so your carpet stays clean longer. Plus, when you vacuum the carpet after a Scotchgard™ cleaning, more dirt will swoop right into your machine. That’s because dirt and grime cannot cling to or embed into the carpet with this stain-resistant protectant.
Reliable Pro Carpet Cleaning Tips From Allklean
So when you’re ready to invest in quality to keep your carpet beautiful and lasting for years to come, Allklean is here to help. At Allklean, we offer upholstery, flooring cleaning, and carpet repair. Allklean has locations in both Washington and Idaho, including Port Falls, Coeur D’Alene, Hayden, Spokane, Spokane Valley, Green Acres, and Liberty Lake. We are your trusted local source for fantastic carpet cleaning and other services at low-cost rates. With over 600 five-star reviews across review platforms, you know you are getting excellent service. Give us a call, or book online today and keep that carpet like-new.
