Expert Tips on Carpet Cleaning

by: Jane Selleca

In fact it begins before the cleaning, when we start to think about keeping down the amount of cleaning. No doubt you have noticed that in schools, factories and offices any carpeted area will have a removable rug at the entrance. The purpose of this is obvious - the dirt accumulates on this rug. It is usually more hard wearing than the carpet, can be easily removed for serious cleaning and drying, and it is cheaper to replace than the carpet. Just keep an eye out and check out the state of any carpet in a high use area that hasn't been protected by a rug - what a mess!

Now your home is unlikely to have the traffic of an office or a school (thousands of pairs of feet an hour at busy times), but the lesson still applies - you could have kids with their dirty shoes or whatever. Combined with a "no outdoor shoes in the house" rule, the rug can make the carpet cleaning a whole lot easier.

There is no way to stop dust and other particles falling onto the carpet, so some vacuuming will be needed. In the world of work daily vacuuming is needed in most areas - at home many areas only need to be done once or twice a week. But again we can learn from the professionals - they will classify the carpeted areas into high and low traffic areas. If you think about it, most people who wander around your house will tread on the same part of the carpet - they walk in a straight line down the middle of the hallway, for example. So the middle is a high traffic area that might need doing every day or two. On the high traffic areas you might want to pass the machine back and forth about five or six times, whereas the low traffic areas will only need three passes every few days.

Experts in cleaning know the value of catching little spills as soon as possible. If you deal with a spillage immediately there is less chance that the carpet will show the damage. The trick here is to have some general spot cleaner to hand. It is very important that you read the instructions and understand how to use it BEFORE you have the panic of a spill to deal with - read the instructions when you buy the product. Again this is a tip from the professionals who are aware that these products contain chemicals that you should not inhale - knowing how to use them prevents you using too much.

Sometimes you will want to clean the carpet more thoroughly. You can buy or hire carpet shampoo machines that can work really very well. These devices work best when you follow the manufacturer guidelines very closely - do not put more cleaner in thinking it will do a better job because it will not. Following these tips will help keep your home spick and span and increase the life of your
carpets.