Carpet Cleaning Tips
- Carpets need to be vacuumed once a week and more often in areas of heavy traffic. Frequent vacuuming prolongs the life of your carpet by preventing a buildup of gritty particles that can cut carpet fibers. Every few weeks, take a little extra time and use your crevice tool for cleaning around baseboards and radiators and in other hard-to-reach places.
- To vacuum wall-to-wall carpeting, divide the floor into quadrants and vacuum an entire quadrant before moving on to the next.
- Take your time when you vacuum a carpet, especially a plush carpet in which dirt is sure to be deeply embedded. One pass with a high-powered upright is not enough. Go over each section of carpeting several times, and work slowly to allow the suction to remove all the ground-in dust and dirt.
- Pay special attention to the areas where people sit and move their feet. Vacuum these areas of heavy traffic with a crisscross pattern of overlapping strokes.
- Soil retardants can be applied to new carpets or to newly cleaned carpets. Follow manufacturers' advice. Apply soil retardants only with professional equipment using the recommended application techniques.
- Add baking soda to the bag in your vacuum to fight odors.
Cleaning Carpet Spots and Spills
Here's Rule No. 1 regarding spots and spills on your carpeting: Clean them immediately. If you catch the spill when it's fresh, you've got a good chance of removing it totally. Consider these tips, too:- Carefully blot or scrape the entire area before applying any cleaning solution. Remove as much of the spill as possible.
- Before using the heavens best solution, test your carpet in an inconspicuous area to make sure the cleaner won't damage or discolor it. Test any old cleaning agents that you keep on hand before you have to use them to make sure they will not harm your carpet,many of then do cause damage.
- Do not rub the spill -- that might spread the problem to a larger area.
- Refer to the cleaning chart attached to this site for particular stains.(link to stain removal page)
- When you apply spot cleaner, work from the outside of the stain toward the inside to avoid spreading the stain. After applying a cleaning solution, blot up all the moisture.
- A clean white bath towel is unsurpassed for drying carpet and brushing the nap back up to a standing position.
- If you feel that there is still too much moisture after blotting the carpet, place a 3/4-inch-thick stack of white towels over the spot and weigh them down with a heavy object.