Carpet Maintenance Tips
Carpet manufacturers recommend you have your carpet cleaned every 12-18 months to keep up with appearance and warranties. If your carpet receives a lot of traffic more frequent carpet cleaning may be needed. We are constantly asked what things can be done in between professional cleanings to keep the carpet in great shape.
Step 1
The easiest home maintenance action you can perform is vacuuming. Regular vacuuming will keep the carpet pile lifted to help from crushing and matting as well as remove dry soil particulate that is damaging to the carpet fibers. If you have a family of five we recommend you vacuum common areas at least every other day, if not every day. Bedrooms and less used areas can be vacuumed less frequently, but don’t forget to make a pass or two into your walk-in closets as well.
What vacuum is best ?
When purchasing a vacuum you want one that has a good beater bar, and has the ability to adjust its height based on the different pile heights. You want the beater bar to have some aggression to dig the fine particulate out, but you don’t want it to be digging too hard and damage the carpet. You will have to test different settings to find the happy medium. Some vacuums perform better than others, that is absolutely true, however the important thing to remember is to actually perform the vacuuming. For clients that have a budget using a less expensive vacuum more often will give similar results as a more expensive unit used less often. We recommend you don’t rely on a more powerful unit to vacuum less often because once the damage to the fiber is done, it cannot be reversed!
Dribbles, spots and spills OH MY!
Our most asked question is what to use when we have a dribble, spot, or spill. The answer is simple…
If you spill a liquid you want to BLOT BLOT BLOT, DO NOT RUB!
Using absorbent clean white terry towels soak up as much of the liquid as you possibly can. A lot of times this can actually solve the problem, and no cleaning solutions are needed.
For things such as pet urine, absorbing as much of the urine as possible is critical. When urine first comes out it is at a neutral pH, and as it dries it quickly turns alkaline. Once it turns alkaline it makes it harder to remove, and the smell tends to get stronger as well. After absorbing as much of it as possible spraying it moderately with a white vinegar solution(1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water) will help keep the urine closer to a neutral pH. Following the application of the solution, take a clean dry terry towel, and place something heavy on the spot. If the spot is wider, more terry towels may be needed. Placing something heavy on the spot will compress the carpet and pad, and allow the urine to wick into the towel. A lot of times this will also help prevent a spot from appearing after drying. Leave the compressed towel(s) on the area for several hours for best results. This can also be done for common spills and dribbles.
These spotting tips may not work 100%, but they will allow us to remove them easier with a higher rate of success when it comes time for professional cleaning. We do offer same day service for emergency spills. Things such as koolaid, and other liquids with dyes you should call us right away to treat as they will set quickly, and the chance of successful removal lessens.