How to Clean Your Carpet

Carpet is one of those elements that can make or break your home. If properly maintained and cared for, your carpet will remain soft and add a little something extra to your home.  However, when your carpet becomes stained, soiled or damaged, they can instantly make any room in the home look slightly dingy and drab.

To help you keep your floors looking new and feeling soft, we have outlined five carpet cleaning tips that every homeowner should be aware of.

1. Use a Spot Treatment Solution

As the owner of a home or apartment with carpet, you know that one of the most annoying things to deal with is large stains on the carpet.  Even when you’re careful, it’s nearly inevitable that you’ll have to deal with large spills and stains at some point. This is especially true if you have small kids or pets. Accidents happen. Which is why it’s essential that you know how to clean the carpet the moment that a spill occurs.

If you’ve tried to scrub out the stains with soap and water but you were unable to lift them from the ground, it may be time to use a spot treatment solution. There’s plenty of carpet cleaners readily available at the store. However, if you’re looking for a natural way to clean carpet, try using a few of the following household items.

Shaving Cream:

If you’re going to use the shaving cream approach, simply squirt a small amount right on the surface of the stain. You’ll need to leave it sitting on the stain for 15-30 minutes before gently scrubbing and blotting with a small brush.  Before you start, dip your brush in warm water so that it is just slightly damp. Gently start moving the brush back and forth. As you do this, you’ll see the stain start to lift away.

Vinegar & Baking Soda (or Club Soda):

Vinegar is an ingredient that has been used in households to help clean for decades. Combining vinegar with either baking soda or club soda and squirting the solution on top of a stain can help to completely remove it. Similar to the shaving cream, you should leave the solution on the floor for at least 15-30 minutes to give it time to soak in. You may need to apply the solution and scrub more than once to remove everything, but these natural techniques often work well.

2. Steam Clean Your Carpets

After you’ve eliminated the stains, it is time to give your carpets a thorough steam cleaning. There are a lot of good brands of steam vacuum cleaners on the market. If you don’t want to buy one, you may be able to rent one from a local hardware or home improvement store. Although a traditional vacuum works well and should be used regularly to remove debris from damaging your carpet, a steam cleaning once every couple of weeks helps to lift a lot of the dirt that you aren’t even able to physically see.

Before you begin the carpet cleaning process, you need to add a solution into the steam cleaner. Although various department stores and online shops sell these products, it’s possible to make your own with a few different ingredients, including:

• 3 cups hot water
• 1 cup dawn dish detergent
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup of your favorite fabric softener

Combine each of these ingredients into a large container before pouring the cleanser into the compartment of your steam cleaner. Once you’ve poured the liquid into the canister, simply turn the steam cleaner on and start working it up and down on the floor. It won’t take long for you to see how clean those carpets can get from such a simple task.

3. Utilize Your Vacuum & Attachments

A vacuum cleaner might just be the most powerful tool in your carpet cleaning tool belt. Are you making the common mistake of vacuuming a bit too quickly or not often enough? Dust, hair particles and lots of dirt can accumulate on the carpet in a matter of days.

It’s a good idea to vacuum once a week, but you may need to do it twice weekly if you have pets that tend to shed. Instead of doing a quick run back and forth, make use of the attachments that originally came with your vacuum.

Some of the best vacuum attachments to use include:

• Extension
• Flexible crevice attachment
• Dust brush

The flexible crevice attachment allows you to reach into those difficult corners with ease. You can use the dust brush to get rid of layers of dust lingering around on your furniture or baseboards. The extension tool is an added bonus that allows you to reach some challenging spots underneath the furniture, especially if you do not want to move your furniture around every single time you vacuum.

4. Remove Odors With a Spray Treatment

Even though you love your pets, you know that they tend to leave a bit of an odor behind, especially when they spend time resting and walking on the floor throughout the day. If you don’t take care of this odor, it’s going to continue getting stronger each day and become rather difficult to eliminate.

Luckily, there is a simple way to remove the scent of your pets while keeping your carpeted floors smelling good, especially if you act sooner rather than later. Make your own do-it-yourself spray treatment with the following ingredients:

• 4 oz baking soda
• 2 oz water
• 2 oz white vinegar
• 2 oz Listerine mouthwash
• 12 drops essential oil of your choice

Add each of the ingredients into a 12 oz spray bottle and shake it a few times to mix them together. Spray it around on the floors as often as you would like for a natural and effective odor eliminator that is completely safe to use around your pets.

5. Invest in Door Mats & Area Rugs

There are many proactive methods that you can use to help protect your carpet from getting dirty in the first place.  By investing in and implementing a few of the preventative methods below, you’ll be able to stop most of the dirt or debris from ever getting on the main carpeting in your home.

Door Mats:

Leave a door mat out on your front and back porches. This gives everyone who enters your home an opportunity to wipe off their shoes before they even enter your home and step onto the carpet.

Area Rugs & Hallway Runners:

There are many types of rugs that can help protect your carpet. Consider using an area rug in the rooms that you commonly hang out in, as well as hallway runners in high-traffic areas of your home. By strategically utilizing these extra rugs, you can add a barrier that protects your main carpeting from getting dirty or damaged.

No Shoes on Carpet Policy?

In addition to the above options, you may also want to consider enacting a policy that everyone must remove their shoes before walking through your home. This one act alone may be the best way to protect the flooring in your home, as well as prevent damage and reduce the frequency that you need to clean.

If you were looking for an updated carpet cleaning regimen, following these five steps is the right way to do it. As long as you get into a routine, your floors should continue to look their best and add a personal touch to each room.