Cleaning your carpets is a job that seems endless, probably because it is. In order to keep your rugs and carpets in good condition, looking attractive, smelling great and feeling good under bare feet, it is important to routinely vacuum and clean them. Carpets can also be a breading ground for bacteria and microorganisms, providing yet another reason to know how to clean a carpet properly.
Homes that have a couple of children running around, a pet or two, and lots of visitors coming and going will need carpet cleaning more often. On the other hand, a home with just one or two people who don’t stir things up much or drop food or spill drinks on the flooring will not need to clean the carpet as often.
One of the first tips for how to clean a carpet and maintain it well is to try to minimize the “dirty traffic” that tends to bring a lot of dust, grime and debris into the carpeted area from outside. Area rugs and carpets can help to protect high-traffic areas and in some homes, it might be better to use vinyl or tile instead of carpeting, at least in some areas.
There is another thing to keep in mind if you are considering new carpets. The lighter the color of the rugs and carpets you install, the more frequently the carpets will need to be cleaned. This is true both in terms of regular vacuuming and how often the light colored carpeting will need steam cleaning or shampooing with special carpet cleaning equipment.
Another basic tip for cleaning a carpet is to vacuum at least once a week or more if you can see debris starting to collect. You should think of vacuuming as being the first line of defense for keeping carpets looking new and pristine for as long as possible. With frequent vacuuming you will help keep dust, crumbs, dirt and other debris from becoming ground into the fibers of the carpet as foot traffic passes over the area.
The vacuums that do the best job at cleaning carpets are those that have strong suction and that also have an agitator or brush roller. A machine that has a lot of suction can pull dirt from deep inside the fibers and the brush roller will help to make it easier to detach debris from the surface of the carpet where it can sometimes become entangled with the looser fibers at the top.
If you have a light colored carpeting or the carpets get a lot of traffic, then you should augment your vacuuming with steam cleaning or carpet shampooing every 3 to 4 months. Homes that have darker carpeting and light traffic should still have a deep carpet cleaning done at least once a year. For some people, the best tip for how to clean a carpet is to call a professional carpet cleaning service, which will save you work and give you the confidence that it was done right.
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last time you had your carpets professionally cleaned? If you’re like the average American household, it was probably some time in the last year – and you will probably wait at least another year to get them cleaned again. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends carpets in residential homes are cleaned every 6-12 months if 2 or fewer people live in the home who is non smokers. For larger families with both kids and pets, the EPA recommends a professional carpet cleaning every 3 months [U.S. EPA letter, January 1989].
Recommendations like this are based on the indoor air quality in homes. Dust, dander and a multitude of soils collect on carpet, which acts as filter as air circulates through vent systems in a home. For persons with allergies, asthma, and even pregnant women and the elderly, having clean carpets can make a big difference in their quality of life indoors.
Having your carpet cleaned every 3 months can be very expensive. A market check of professional carpet cleaning prices showed that among both national brand names and smaller local carpet cleaning companies, the average cost for a 3 room, two hallway carpets cleaning at about $125 after coupons and specials were applied. If a homeowner has a carpet cleaner visit 3 times a year, the total cost of carpet cleanings can really add up.
Some families are choosing the do-it-yourself route to cleaning their carpets. Depending on where you live, grocery stores are offering cleaning machines and a multitude of carpet cleaning solutions for purchase. This may be another good way to keep your carpets cleaned. The drawback is that homeowners must do all then tough work themselves – lugging the machine to their cars and moving their own furniture. There are also some inherent risks with do-it-yourself methods that include:
- Over saturation of the carpet. If too much water or solution is applied, the glue that holds carpet fibers together can separate and ruin carpet
- Misapplication of cleaners. The incorrect cleaning solution applied to certain stains can permanently bleach or discolor carpet.
One thing is clear, indoor air quality is affected by the frequency with which your home’s carpets are cleaned, so professional carpet cleaning companies are finding unique ways of providing less expensive cleanings. Some offer new and improved package pricing to their customers. Customers who combine carpet cleaning with other services like Oriental rug cleaning can sometimes save upwards of 60% off their total bill. This allows homeowners to save some money and gets both carpet cleaning and rug cleaning taken care of in one visit. Other carpet cleaning companies are selling professional-grade carpet cleaning sprays and solvents, so that customers wanting to take care of their carpets themselves can do so without some of the risks associated with over-the-counter products. Another unique approach by professional carpet cleaning companies is to offer a stain removal only service. Here, customers pay only for the stain removal and not an entire carpet cleaning. Kiwi Carpet Cleaning offers this with a One Year Carpet Cleaning Warranty, where entire rooms are cleaned at a low price throughout the year. While you might have to move furniture yourself and vacuum before the carpet cleaning technician arrives, the low price may offset any minor hassles.
With all the dust, dander, dirt and soot collecting on the surfaces in your home, it is important to remind yourself that what you collect on a dust towel is just a small fraction of what ends up in your carpet. Take inventory of how often your carpets are walked on in your home and make carpet cleaning decisions that help you and your family breathe easier this year.
Bucklin
