Bart Griffin asked:


e biggest part of a well kept home is fresh, clean carpets. After a professional carpet cleaning visit your carpets are sure to look brand new. But what about between carpet cleaning visits? Follow these tips and you will be sure to have fresh, clean carpets all the time!

- The first and best form of carpet cleaning is always prevention. Taking proper care and maintaining your carpet will save you money from having to buy expensive cleaning products.

- Most stains are removed best by blotting. Never rub carelessly at a carpet stain, this may only cause it to smear and become permanent. Also, doing this will weaken the fiber causing your carpet to wear out quicker.

Stains that are not treated correctly or quickly often reappeat at the surface of your carpets. You may have thought you’ve cleaned the stain, but soon after you’ll see the same making its way to the surface of your rug. To prevent this, cover the stain with a thick cloth and weigh down with something heavy overnight, allowing the cloth to absorb the stain, then, clean as usual.

- Always let blotted stains air dry naturally. Never use an iron or a hair dryer to dry a carpet stain, this will only seal the stain permanently on your rug.

- Make sure to professionally deep clean the carpet often. Steam cleaners designed for rental use, if not used properly, can cause mold and mildew. Also, rental machines are not nearly as effective as commercial grade equipment used by most professional carpet cleaners. A thorough cleaning will be needed at the very least every six months.

- For mold and mildew, you can go in for a non-chlorine bleach or lemon juice and salt solution for colored fabrics. Just slightly brush the area with a solution of hydrogen peroxide (one part of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide to five parts of water), provided you are sure that the solution doesn’t harm the fabric of the carpet.

To maintain a clean carpet, watch for spills and take care of them immediatly. Just using water on the spill often works well. And, if that doesn’t work, expand your search. You will find several products on the market that can help you to get rid of spills quickly. These products range in uses and can be helpful when you match them with the type of spill that has occurred. You can also use a mixture of water and vinegar to help you keep the stains out. Taking immediate action can help to prevent spills from becoming stains, leaving you with a clean carpet.

- A clean carpet is one that is taken care of. Vacuum 4-5 times per week for regular and high traffic areas. Take the time to vacuum often enough and make sure to do it correctly. That means going over the floor in several directions to allow the vacuum to pick up all the debris it can. A high quality vacuum is the best choice. Make sure to use it correctly as you are directed by the manufacturer. Also, make sure to keep the bags or containers empty and filters clean as well.

It is best to use the mildest cleaning products available on your carpets. Use only harsher ones with stubborn stains and certain spillages. Mild carpet shampoos are still always the best solution.

- When using a cleaning product, the trick is “read the label and follow the manufacturer’s instruction” if not sure check the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

- The best tip of all tips: Shoes track most of the soil onto carpets. The proper use of an entrance mat can significantly reduce the amount of soild that is tracked on the carpet surface. When using entrance mats there are two very important considerations for making them as effective as possible. The first is the mat must be long enough length should be between 6 to 12 feet long, with 10 to 12 feet long being the best. There also needs to be mats placed outside the building. These will remove the larger particles of soil. The second is they must be cleaned on a regular basis before they reach the point of total saturation. When a mat reaches this point it can no longer hold the soils and they end up spilling onto the floors it is protecting. Monitoring areas outside the building and well positioned entrance mats are ways we can prevent most of the soils from entering the house or building. No matter how efficient your protective maintenance is, a certain amount of soil will get in.



Winne

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


When you are all set to clean the carpet, the first step is to gather the equipments for the same. We need to select equipment which are suited to a particular type of carpet cleaning you prefer to do. You must see that the equipment and supplies should be suitable for the carpet fabric.

For ‘carpet cleaning’, which means surface cleaning, use a vacuum cleaner. The easiest and simplest way of cleaning is vacuuming. Four types are in use. These are the ‘upright,’ the ‘canister,’ the ‘handheld’ and ’spotters’. The ‘canister’ and the ‘upright’ differ mainly in design and not in function. Many People choose the ‘upright’ process as it is more convenient to handle. ‘Handheld’ ones are handy in some locations. The use of the equipment depends on the place and area too. ‘Spotters’ are perfect for removing spots and stains. They are extreme effective when you use it immediately after spitting or stain occurs.

Shampooing is recommended for ‘deep cleaning’ of carpet. The carpet is cleant using three different methods.This is the style of using shampoo for cleaning. There are a number of carpet shampoos found in the market. However, a mild shampoo is normally the safest bet because it harms neither the carpet nor the person using it. It is intelligent to vacuum carpets after shampooing. In fact, they need it. The same things should be done in to ‘dry powder method’. Prefer a mild solvent that removes the dirt and vacuuming must be done. It will give a nice result.

Two types of machines are used for steam cleaning. In this type of carpet cleaning equipment, the self-made is a vacuum cleaner, and the steam which does not vacuum. A vacuum cleaner is suggested to use after cleaning.

Bonnet pad use for carpet cleaning is quite trendy. For this, your ‘bonnet pad’ has to be flexible so that it revolves tremendously at super speed. The equipment required includes few things. Those are a solution that cleans and the machine that cleans the bonnet, which is revolved on a carpet surface at high speed. A vacuum cleaner use is suggested by carpet cleaning experts even after ‘bonnet cleaning’.

The selection of the equipment that cleans the carpet depends on the area of carpet and the strength of the stain. Different equipments are needed for different conditions. Home steam cleaners are perfect to clean small spots. The older the stain, the harder the job. For DIY cleaning carpet, you need white paper towels to bolt the strain. Spray bottle will also help you. Choose right carpet cleaning equipment and make your job easier.

Accessories of carpet cleaning play crucial role in carpet cleaning equipment. These contain a variety of dust bags, brushes, cords and handles of different lengths.



Bab

Helen Adam asked:


I asked a question of how to get the musty smell out of fabric furniture that you can’t shampoo, and someone told me to use dried carpet cleaning granules. Does anyone know where you can purchase it?

Cheryl