Despite the preponderance of other attractive flooring solutions that make our living spaces look and feel good, we are still in love with the good old rug. Carpets bring warmth and softness to our living spaces, and depending on the choice; they can even add a touch of luxury.
However, it is not all smooth-sailing when it comes to carpet installations. The downside with carpets is that they will trap dirt and dust pretty fast. Carpets can also be precursors for foul odour in your interior spaces. Suppose you fail to take timely carpet maintenance. In that case, they can form breeding grounds for bacteria, mould and various other microscopic allergens that can transform an otherwise well-maintained home into an unhealthy environment for the occupants.
Regular carpet cleaning helps you prevent all of this while keeping your carpet in tip-top shape. Central to this is proper carpet cleaning. Buying cleaning products or hiring a professional cleaner might be easy. Still, the hard part is doing the cleaning right and using a carpet cleaning method that will work for you and help keep your carpet clean, fresh and in the best shape over its lifetime. Carpet Cleaner Cairns explains the top carpet cleaning secrets that the professionals don’t want you to know.
Frequent vacuuming is your carpet’s best friend
Vacuuming is probably the most underrated carpet cleaning and maintenance technique. Doing it frequently keeps your carpet clean for a longer duration of time which saves you the cost of having to call on a professional carpet cleaner regularly. Some dirt serves as ‘magnets’ for more dirt so the less on your carpets, the better for your overall carpet cleaning regimen. A good culprit is an oily dirt which will attract more dirt on your carpets and spread rather quickly.
Vacuuming should not just be focused on the carpet. It is also advisable to vacuum areas adjacent to the mat, including the entrances and high-traffic areas. Your feet will pick the dirt from these areas and transfer it to the soft fabrics of the carpet that readily hold onto the dirt. Ensure you clean the edges of the room as well as beneath your furniture as these areas can hide lots of dirt and dust that eventually find their way onto your carpets.
It is also advisable to master the right vacuuming technique that will maximize every cleaning action. Vacuuming your rooms and carpets is a cumbersome chore, so you better do it right whenever you master the energy and will to do it. You will have tremendous success when you vacuum with slow passes than doing it fast. Slow passes are especially crucial in the high-traffic areas that accumulate lots of dust and dirt.
You can manage most of the small stains yourself
Your professional carpet cleaner won’t tell you this, but you can handle most of the small or spot carpet stains yourself. You have to ensure that you do it promptly and with the right cleaning materials and techniques. Some of the ‘must-have’ cleaning materials that are essential to the optimal cleaning and maintenance of your carpets include the following:
- Club soda: Best for handling wine and beer spillages
- White vinegar: You can mix vinegar with water for juice and soda stains
- Dishwashing liquid: Ordinary dishwashing liquid can work on several stains when mixed with warm water to form a friendly cleaning solution.
- Wet wipes: Wet wipes are hyper-efficient in quickly blotting out spot stains on the carpets.
Always blot and never rub your stains
Rubbing and scrubbing stains immediately is a sure-fire way of ensuring that it not only spreads over a large surface area but also embeds itself more in-depth into the carpet fibres. Rubbing adds permanence to the stain. The best spot stain treatment merely is blotting it out.
When a stain spills on your carpet, start by blotting out gradually using an absorbent paper towel, sponge or napkin. Do this many times, gently applying pressure in each blotting action. It takes as much stain as possible out of the carpet rather than pushing it deep into the carpet fibres. When blotting out the stain, start from its outer edges and gradually make your way to the centre.
Treat all stains immediately
Your professional carpet cleaner probably won’t tell you this. Still, you have a perfect shot at eliminating carpet stains when you treat them immediately. Granted, you can’t always be there when the spillage or staining happens. Still, when it happens on your watch, it is recommended to treat the stain immediately. This allows you to get the stain out before it percolates deep into the carpet’s fibres. Unless you are familiar with professional carpet cleaning techniques and materials, avoid using powerful detergents or chemicals. If the stain is stubborn, you can promptly contact a professional carpet cleaning service. You can try using vinegar, club soda wet wipes, hydrogen peroxide or the simple dishwashing liquid depending on the type of stain to clean out the stain immediately.
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Hydrogen peroxide can remove your blood stains
Bloodstains on carpets aren’t as common as wine, beer, juice, dirt or food stains. If you cut yourself and blood spread or spatters on your carpets, you can remove these unsightly stains with hydrogen peroxide. If the bloodstain is still fresh, you can try removing it by blotting it out with an absorbent paper towel or napkins. If the blood has dried out, try loosening it using water and a mild detergent. Using a butter knife, you can gently scrape off the dried blood stains off the carpet fibres. After scraping them off, you can use hydrogen peroxide to clear off the rest of the blood residues. Hydrogen peroxide will fizz and then foam when it comes into contact with the bloodstains, eliminating the stain in the process.
Use area rugs in high traffic areas
The high traffic areas on your carpets will suffer a higher degree of wear and dirt than the low traffic areas. Because they take in a lot of dirt, they are also generally harder to clean. They will accumulate a lot of dirt from the high foot traffic that will necessitate a higher cleaning frequency. One way of preserving your carpet is by using area rugs in the place where your carpet is particularly taking a good beating. These can include the following:
- The spot where your kitchen meets your living room
- The hallways
- The spot where your bathroom meets the joint area or the hallway
- Backyard doors
The best way to relieve pressure off the high-traffic areas is by using area rugs. Beyond the functional aspect of protecting your carpets, these rugs can also be a decorative item. You can choose different styles, shapes and patterns to add some style and charm to your house interiors.These are some of the best carpet cleaning secrets that your professional carpet cleaner won’t tell you about. However, it would be best if you mainly used these for small localized stains. An experienced and well-trained carpet cleaner better use powerful carpet cleaning detergents, chemicals and equipment.
