Tips For Cleaning Your Carpet
Keeping your carpet clean can be a never ending task, especially if you have children, but if you stay on top of it then you can avoid permanent stains and having to pay for regular expensive steam cleaning. Carpet is generally not included in your home insurance, rather it is something that your contents insurance will cover.
Keeping your carpet clean and looking after it properly will help it to last longer. Care should be taken when moving into a new house as furniture can be dragged across carpet or may have picked up dirt on the bottom of it when in the removalists truck, which can then end up on your carpet.
Remove stains immediately
If you spill something on your carpet it is a good idea to try to remove the stain immediately. There are great products available at supermarkets that can remove spot stains, but make sure that you don’t rub the stain too hard because you can damage the fibres of the carpet. Where possible make sure that you always use the mildest cleaning products that you can. With more stubborn stains look to more natural remedies before you hit it with the hard stuff as sometimes this can cause the colour to be removed from that section of your carpet.
Vacuum regularly
By simply vacuuming your carpet regularly you can vastly improve the look of it but also help prolong the life of your carpet. Any dirt should be removed quickly so that it doesn’t become a permanent mark on your carpet. Clean out your vacuum after each time you use it so it is all ready to go next time. A vacuum that is full of dirt, fluff and other rubbish will not have as much power and won’t suck as well.
Steam clean
It is a good idea to have your carpet steam cleaned at least every six months. Spills are unavoidable, especially if you have children, and even if you don’t wear your shoes in the house there will still be a significant of dirt walked into your carpet. You don’t necessarily have to have the whole house steam cleaned, just do the main rooms where you have a lot of traffic.
Test products first
It is important that before you use any cleaning products on your carpet that you test them first. Do a patch test in a corner or somewhere that is not visual. Test the product on a small amount of carpet and wait to see the result. If it fades the colour of your carpet then do not use it. Also make sure that you follow the exact directions when using the product.
Choose the right carpet
The best thing you can do is choose the right carpet to suit not only your taste but also your lifestyle. If you have children then it is not a wise idea to choose a plush white carpet which will surely be destroyed in the first five minutes. If you have children or entertain a lot then a more hard wearing carpet is a better idea, and get one in a colour that does not show the marks or dirt quite as easily. If you have older children or live on your own or with your partner then you don’t have to be quite as picky and can go for something that you like over something that is practical.
