DIY tips for carpet maintenance and cleaning

A beautiful house has neat and clean carpets. Essential detail for the style of each room, the carpets give personality to the room and create the pleasant feeling of home. Maintaining them may seem complicated and tiring, but if you follow our advice and pay regular attention to carpets, they will always look good with very little effort. The dirt in the carpet breaks the threads and damages its structure, so it loses its shine and becomes opaque. Periodic cleaning maintains carpets better than chemical cleaning treatments or washing them.

Carpet maintenance

Proper maintenance of carpets is important both for their beauty and to have clean air in the house. A lot of dust and all kinds of impurities accumulate on the floors and carpets. Periodic cleaning, at least once a week, with a powerful, competitive vacuum cleaner, will have the effect of always clean carpets and pleasant air in the house.

This can be the simplest strategy to have carpets and floors always clean: 

  1. Regular and thorough vacuuming, especially in areas with heavy traffic, prolongs the life of carpets and prevents the accumulation of impurities, lint, hair and dust. A cleaning proper vacuuming means at least five or six passes with end carpet. Vacuuming must be done in several ways. Vacuum cleaners equipped with HEPA filters ensure the removal of all fine particles (such as allergens and dust). Clean the vacuum cleaner bag often, because this increases its efficiency and protects the appliance. Clean periodically and under carpets, as far as possible, or at least at their edges.
  2. Steam cleaning is a very simple and extremely efficient method of maintenance. If you can vacuum it whenever needed and at least once a week, steam cleaning is recommended once a year or whenever necessary. Steam cleaning removes bacteria, dust mites and odours.
  3. Foot mats at the front door are a great way to protect carpets throughout the house. These are really useful if they are cleaned as often as possible.
  4. The floors must also be cleaned periodically, depending on the material from which they are made, and their wet cleaning (with the appropriate solutions, with steam or simply with a mop vacuum cleaner) protects the carpets.
  5. For good carpet maintenance, always use only the right substances (never bleach, because it will damage the colours) and protect them (with curtains or blinds) from the direct action of the sun for long periods of time.

A few extra tips and tricks are useful and will make regular carpet maintenance even more efficient:A vacuum diy carpet cleaning.

  • Insists in the areas where they sit and move, and the aspiration of these places must be done crosswise, from several directions, especially if the carpets are thick and/or raised;
  • Put a teaspoon of baking soda in the vacuum cleaner bag, so that the unpleasant odours disappear when you vacuum;
  • Always clean the vacuum cleaner bag before using it. It is ideal to clean it and wash it, if possible, after each use;
  • Spray the carpets with a solution consisting of one part white vinegar and two parts water, using a spray container, before weekly vacuuming; thus, the carpets will be cleaned better.

Carpet cleaning

Most carpet manufacturers recommend cleaning them with steam or with systems that use high-temperature water. As for cleaning products, they must be appropriate to the type of fiber from which the carpet is made. Synthetic fibres are the most practical and can be easily cleaned. For natural fibres, whether linen, jute, wool or silk, special soap or shampoo should be used for carpets, which do not contain chemicals that can attack the fibres. 

Here are some tips if you choose to clean carpets at home: 

  1. Deep cleaning of carpets must be done before they become very dirty, otherwise, it will be very difficult. The frequency with which it is necessary to do this depends on the traffic in the house (take into account pets), but also on the type of carpets. The thick ones, made of natural fibres, must be cleaned more often, the carpets and synthetic carpets less often, precisely because their periodic maintenance is efficient. 
  2. Vacuum the carpet well before and after cleaning: before cleaning, it must be vacuumed to remove as much of the impurities as possible, and after cleaning with water, steam or various solutions, to collect the rest of the impurities removed by cleaning and to lift the threads. of fabric. Wet & dry vacuum cleaners are ideal for this operation, which can be used on dry or wet surfaces, just as efficiently.
  3. For resistant stains, there are solutions depending on the type of stains and their age. You can use commercial carpet cleaning solutions, based on foam, or solvents or solutions that you have in the house anyway. Clean the place where there is a stain, but also around it, so as not to leave a “bright eye” on the carpet, as visible as the stain. 
  4. Always use a cloth or sponge and never pour the carpet cleaning solution directly on the stain.
  5. Dishwashing detergent is also very good for carpets. Mix a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid with a cup of hot water. Use food and grease stains immediately. Use a sponge dipped in the solution, rub the stain well and then wipe the place by dabbing and/or vacuuming.  
  6. Use solvent oil or a nail polish remover that does not contain acetone. It is very good for paint stains, oil or for those of resistant and old grease.
  7. Mix a cup of white vinegar with two cups of water and spray it on the carpet. Leave on for at least an hour, and then vacuum. The water evaporates, and by aspiration, all impurities are removed. The operation is done on the carpet very well vacuumed before. The solution gives intensity to the colours in the carpet and a clean look.
  8. For a dirty carpet, combine one part dishwashing detergent and three parts water. Put the solution in a sprayer with a foaming system. Spray the foam formed on the carpet in a layer as uniform as possible and leave it to act for a few hours. Vacuum the carpet again (it must be vacuumed very well before). Repeat the operation, if necessary. The carpet will come to life and clean spectacularly. For very dirty carpets, add a tablespoon of ammonia powder to the solution.  
  9. Some carpets, even if they are not very dirty, smell bad. Get rid of this smell of baking soda. Sprinkle baking soda powder on the carpet as evenly as possible. Let it work for 30-60 minutes, and then vacuum the carpet well.

Maintenance of new carpetsDIY carpet cleaning with a vacuum.

A new carpet radically improves the air in the house, but it needs special attention. There is a misconception that a new carpet should not be vacuumed until it is well trampled. A new carpet can be vacuumed without damaging it, after 7-10 days from the moment it was placed on the floor. The amount of yarn extracted from the carpet in the first few weeks of use is higher, but it will not affect in any way its appearance or performance. Moreover, regular cleaning of the new carpet is the best way to maintain it.

Use sentry mats, which save the new carpet. It is a good idea to protect the new carpet with an intermediate carpet, which will collect dirt and be easy to shake and clean. 

Clean as soon as it gets dirty. Abandoned stains are difficult to remove, so it is very important to remove them immediately. Solid residues can be removed with a knife, and greasy residues are treated with degreasing solutions, placed on an absorbent cloth, only by dabbing. The liquids are cleaned with a clean absorbent cloth, also by dabbing. The trace is removed with shampoo or dishwashing detergent or with special products for cleaning carpets. If you feel like the situation is not in your hands and want to get professional carpet repair experts then you must hire a carpet cleaning company instead of doing it by yourself.

Well-maintained carpets give a neat look to the whole house, so it’s worth paying attention to them at least once a week. In addition, a house where carpets are properly vacuumed is a healthy, allergen-free and dust-free home.

Rahul Saklani
Rahul Saklani
Rahul Saklani was born in 1995 in India, Chandigarh. Growing up, he was fascinated with reading, and this interest led to some early exposure to writing since he was drawn to stories related to mythology. Later, Mr. Rahul, who now works as Marketing head at Digital leap marketing solutions.
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