Carpets add a finishing touch to any household. They revive the interior by adding color, mood and texture and contribute to the ambience by adding warmth and comfort. However, they are also a pain to clean, making you procrastinate until the eleventh hour and then some, until the caked-on grime becomes embarrassingly obvious.
While carpeting has its definite pros compared to bare flooring, its major drawback is cleaning. Unlike carpets, bare flooring options like wood or tile can be swept, mopped or vacuumed in less time.
With time, your favorite carpet will pick up dirt and grime. How quickly and badly it becomes dirty depends on your family makeup and the general foot traffic. A couple or a small family with grown children is likely to make less mess than a family with exuberant kids and uncontrollable toddlers. The chances of food spills and mud tracked in on dirty shoes become more likely in the latter case. Pet owners have additional problems like pet hair, dander or occasional ‘accidents’ on their carpets.
Depending on the above factors, your carpet may need regular maintenance cleaning anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week. Similarly, deep cleaning can be undertaken once every 6 to 18 months depending on the need. Calling in professionals is usually very expensive. With some effort, you can achieve remarkable results without ruining your budget.
Cleaning carpets can be made a lot less hectic with a little planning beforehand. Clearing the clutter off the carpeting and dusting first are some basic measures. Depending on the cleaning method you use, you also need to determine how long the room will be off limits after cleaning and make contingency plans.
Here are three methods of basic carpet cleaning, any of which can be used depending on your need.
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Vacuuming is an easy, fast and hassle-free method for cleaning a carpet. Depending on the general foot traffic, the area that you reside in, family members and pets, you may need to vacuum your carpets once to several times a week.
Carpeting in busier areas like the living room and hallways may need more frequent vacuuming. Comparatively, bedrooms of adults may be vacuumed once a week. If you use diatomaceous earth for bug control in your house, it’s best to use a vacuum cleaner HEPA filter.
If regular vacuuming doesn’t seem to be making a dent in the state of your carpet, you may need to steam clean it. Contrary to what the term suggests, steam cleaners don’t use steam to clean the carpet.
The mechanism involves spraying hot detergent water on the carpet, which helps loosen the caked-on dirt and the dust and grime settled deep into the carpet. The dirty water is then sucked back up by the machine. The steam produced due to the hot water effectively disinfects the carpet as well.
While the bulk of the moisture is sucked back up by the machine, the carpet will still need time to dry completely. Steam cleaning should be done when the room can be left untouched for 6 to 12 hours after cleaning, as a damp carpet can get dirty in double time.
Purchasing a steam cleaning unit is not necessary. Many hardware or grocery stores rent them out. But if your house requires regular heavy-duty cleaning, purchasing a steam cleaner may benefit you in the long run.
For especially dirty carpets, you can opt for a heavy cleanup. While there are specially formulated cleaners available in the market, using a homemade detergent solution for heavy-duty carpet cleaning is an easy and cost-efficient option.
Generic liquid dish soap can clean your carpet and easily take out most stains and odors without causing any harm. It will also cut through most of the grease and grime.
Things you’ll need:
After you’re done brushing the carpet, you’ll need to lift the liquid dish soap out of the carpet.
Now you need to let the carpet dry. You can use a wet vacuum to remove excess moisture from the carpet and help it dry faster. Improve the ventilation of the area and make use of fans, air conditioners and dehumidifiers to speed up the drying process.
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