Tips for Cleaning Carpets

Carpets are one of the most important features of your home. Carpets can make a subtle difference to your home looking clean and fresh, or dirty, tired and old.

A simple but highly effective tip to maintaining your carpets is to use doormats outside the entrances to your home and a door mat just inside the front door too so that family and friends can get used to wiping their feet before they enter the house and before they walk around the house.  It is also good practice to get into the habit of wearing slippers around the house rather than the shoes you have been wearing all day outdoors and encourage visitors to remove their shoes at the front door, as this will definately keep your carpets looking fresh. It is also a good idea to have a mat at any transition from a hard surface onto your carpets, as this will also save your carpets and keep them looking clean and fresh.

The most important piece of advice in looking after your carpets however, is vacuuming. Vacuuming should be carried out regularly and thoroughly, particularly on areas where your carpets receive heavy traffic. Wear and tear of carpets is always increased by the amount of soil that is trampled into it; oily soil being the worst offender.  Also if a spillage occurs, clean it up immediately, first sponge the area with a dry cloth or kitchen roll to dry up any liquid, then gently clean with a sponge with warm water and carpet detergent in a circular motion and then allow to dry.

Frequently vacuuming your carpets prevents the build up of soil, dirt and grime and thus giving you clean results each time. The longer you leave it to vacuum your carpets the less clean you will be able to get them. Slow and firm strokes with the vacuum will achieve more than hurrying, and you should aim to complete four passes of the backward and forward motion over the same area for a thorough clean of your carpets.

If the carpets have not been cleaned thoroughly for some time, it is likely that your vacuum cleaner will not be up to the job so it may be best to hire a professional machine that can get your carpets back up to standard. It is recommended to maintain a long life for your carpets, they should receive a deep clean every 12 - 18 months.