Despite all your efforts to keep your new carpet clean, it will inevitably become soiled. Without a doubt,
professional carpet cleaning provides the best cleaning result, but you cannot always afford a $300-$400
carpet cleaning bill to keep your carpet in tip-top shape. The average carpet is cleaned
far too infrequently and as a result, the average carpet lifecycle is significantly shortened.
While the average carpet life is about 5-7 years, this period can be extended
with regular carpet cleaning.
Carpet cleaning frequency - Today's synthetic detergents are engineered to rinse more easily than the true soaps of the past. However, cleaning with some synthetic detergents can cause rapid soiling, if proper
cleaning solutions are not used. Carpet
cleaning should occur before the appearance of soil to reduce permanent fiber damage. Regular
carpet cleaning and proper carpet care can extend the life of your carpet. Carpet should be cleaned a minimum of every 12 to 18 months, but some areas of the home may require more frequent cleaning.
Carpet cleaning and topical treatments - Under normal circumstances,
carpet cleaning will not destroy soil and
stain resist treatments,
like
Stainmaster® or
Wear Dated®; however, foot traffic can damage some
soil resist treatments
like Teflon®
or Scotchgard®. It is not necessary to reapply these treatments after every carpet cleaning, if regular
carpet cleaning is performed. Occasional (every two to three years) reapplication of these treatments can enhance the beauty of your carpet.
Do-it-yourself carpet cleaning-Do-it-yourself
carpet cleaning and frequent vacuum cleaning between professional carpet cleaning can extend the life of your carpet. In
cleaning carpet yourself, always follow directions carefully for dilution ratios of the cleaning solution to reduce soiling and avoid over wetting the carpet to discourage microbial growth and odor. Precautions should be taken to ensure complete drying within twenty-four (24) hours. High humidity conditions may require the use of the home heating and air conditioning system, air movers (fans), or additional drying strokes with the cleaning equipment.
Carpet cleaning is typically performed far too infrequently.
Carpet is
the 3rd most expensive investment you will make for your new home, yet it
receives far less care than other household items. Carpet is subjected to
substantial abuse from foot traffic and performs exceptionally well, but it is
not a maintenance-free item.
Carpet also acts a buffer in
protecting other flooring surfaces deep within your home. As you walk on
carpet, soil is released from the soles of your shoes and is captured within the
carpet pile. This soil accumulates within
7-feet of the entrance of your home. This area should receive careful
attention when vacuuming. Have you ever seen a Hardwood Welcome Mat?
Carpet is used as entry mats because it traps soil. Understanding this
characteristic will lower the maintenance requirements of carpet.
By concentrating the majority of your carpet cleaning efforts on these areas
employing preventive carpet care strategies,
you can limit the spread of soil to more manageable areas and reduce the amount
of care required for your new carpet.
Carpet cleaning begins outside the home. If your primary entrance area
is an attached garage, consider placing scrap carpet from your
carpet installation alongside your
vehicle. The carpet runner should be
long enough to take 3-5 steps before entering the home. More than 80% of
the soil can be trapped using these runners, thus preventing soil from entering
your home. Clean these runners frequently or simply throw them away and
replace them with a new rug.
If your primary entrance is your front door, consider covering the steps and
landing with an Astro Turf or grass carpet. These rugs can be
cleaned with a water hose.
Entry areas, inside the home, should be cleaned regularly. If you keep
these areas clean, carpet cleaning frequency for the rest of your home can be
extended.
The first step in carpet cleaning is dry soil removal (vacuuming). Dry
soil will not dissolve (insoluble - like sand) with wet cleaning. It only
can be removing through vacuuming. Thorough vacuuming prior to wet
cleaning (wet cleaning is the best carpet cleaning method) will remove as much dry soil as possible and allow
carpet cleaning detergents to work more
effectively. Often in heavy soiling situations, detergents can be
overwhelmed. Detergents attach electrically to soil particles. The
other end of the detergent molecule attaches electrically to water molecules.
Too much soil will exhaust all detergent molecules and provide inconsistent
carpet cleaning results. Similarly, adding a heavier concentration of
detergent will overwhelm water molecules. Excessive use of detergents will
create a situation where there are not enough water molecules and detergent will
be left behind to attract soil particles (rapid resoiling).
Using a proper balance (amounts), each detergent molecule will attach to soil
particles on one end and water molecules on the other end. When the water
is extracted, the soil and detergent will be removed from your carpet.
It is generally better to clean heavily soiled areas twice, rather than
attempting a restorative cleaning, in which carpet is left wetter with more
detergents. Professional carpet cleaners typically perform restorative
cleaning each time they clean, because most consumers do not clean carpet often
enough. Carpet appearance level
deteriorates quickly when restorative carpet cleaning is employed.
For more carpet cleaning information, visit the pages found to the left.
Click on the links below to learn more about carpet.
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