7 Tips for Keeping Carpets Clean at Home

7 Tips for Keeping Carpets Clean at Home Carpets go through a lot of wear and tear on a daily basis. People walk all over them. You spill food and drinks on them. Children play on them with a complete disregard for keeping them clean.

How do you keep your carpet looking new and pristine?

Photo by Alvimann at Morguefile.com

1. Do what you can to keep the carpet from getting dirty.

Don’t walk around the house with dirty or muddy shoes. Make it a habit to remove your shoes before entering the house. If you want your guests to do the same, make sure that you offer them clean house slippers to use in the house.

2. Deal with stains right away.

When you spill something on your carpet, do not wait for a more opportune time to deal with the stains. Remove the stain right away. The stain may set and become more difficult to remove.

Blot out stains with white kitchen or paper towels.

Do not rub; rubbing tends to set stains.

Use neutral-colored paper towels or a white towel; you can cause further damage if the carpet absorbs dye from a colored towel.

Continue to blot out the stains until the area is almost dry. Dry out the area completely by vacuum. Bacteria and mold tend to form on damp surfaces.

3. Make sure that you vacuum your carpet on a regular basis.

You can keep a carpet made from natural wool clean with vacuuming. The wax coating protects the carpet by keeping the grime on the surface. Use a vacuum with suction to clean the more delicate loop carpets. On the other hand, you can clean the more sturdy pile carpets with a beater bar.

Expert cleaners suggest sprinkling a small amount of baking soda on the carpet before vacuuming. Baking soda helps to absorb odors and keeps your carpet from smelling.

Not that vacuuming will not replace the need to steam clean or deep clean your carpets (point no. 6).

4. Use specific techniques for removing stains when applicable.

Club soda works best on red wine and coffee stains. Salt removes wine and mud.

Cornstarch is good for removing grease. The iron-and-transfer technique is effective on candle wax.

5. Use a DIY deodorizer.

Some people are partial to using deodorizers on their carpets. Store-bought deodorizers often contain a lot of chemicals. If you want your carpet to smell clean and fresh, use a home-made deodorizer. You can simply add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to baking soda. Use the internet to look for simple recipes for deodorizers.

Rug Doctor Portable Deep Cleaner

6. Steam Clean or Deep Clean your carpets regularly.

Regular steam-cleaning is one of the best methods for keeping a carpet looking new and fresh. Steam cleaning does not necessarily mean the use of hot steam, but rather using hot water to wash your carpets. This can be accomplished through home carpet cleaner machines. These machines are used for deep cleaning your carpets.

Some people prefer to let the professionals do their steam cleaning (point no. 7 below) every year. Even if you do that, you can use a spot cleaner machine to take care of stains as and when they occur throughout the year.

You may find this a bit time consuming, considering that you may have to move the furniture around to give the carpet a thorough cleaning. However, the time and effort will be worth it.

It is important to avoid using extreme heat to clean your carpet. You may just bake the stains onto the carpet.

7. Call professional cleaners to deep-clean your carpet every year or two.

Look for a company that uses green cleaning techniques and cleaning products. In case of a really bad spill, get help from the professionals immediately.

Your newly installed wool carpet looks beautiful and pristine. Make it look that way by following the above-mentioned simple, easy-to-do tips.