When cleaning carpets, it is crucial to keep in mind the right products to use. All carpets require proper care and maintenance. We recommend regular cleaning on a weekly basis, and following a major spillage or stains – seek immediate professional carpet rescue to save your carpets. When dirt accumulates in your home, it would make an impact on your indoor air quality. This is due to the dust and bacteria being stirred up into the air as it passes through the carpet fibers. Long term exposure could even cause breathing problems such as asthma and allergies, especially in the elderly and children. Vacuuming will be a huge help to remove dust from carpets; however, it will not remove bacteria, germs, dirt, impurities, and stains completely, thus exacerbating the health concern over time. Here are top ten carpet cleaning tips that you may want to consider.
Vacuum Height/Pressure
Most vacuums are set at a middle height for use on hardwood and carpet floorings. When the vacuum height is set too low, your carpet fibers might get caught up, causing damage to both the carpet surface and the vacuum’s roller brush/drive belts. On the other if it’s set too high you won’t be able to pick up dirt and clean properly. Finding the ideal height is a simple matter: raise the stationary vacuum to the highest setting and lower it slowly until you feel the vacuum is trying to tug itself forward.
Once you have found your ideal height, vacuum your carpets from inner to outer areas so any surface dirt is completely removed. On soiled or high traffic areas, make multiple slow passes and quicker passes on the rest. For hardwood floors, quick passes will be enough. This tip will help you clean more effectively and efficiently than running multiple passes over your carpets.
“Professional” Spot Clean Equipment or Commercial Grade Equipment
Do you hire a carpet cleaning with true blue professional equipment or add the “professional” equipment sitting on Amazon to your cart? There isn’t really a comparison here. With a company you are guaranteed great results since the pro equipment they use needs to be fast yet powerful, otherwise they lose money on every job performed. On each run, the professional equipment dispenses cleaning solution evenly on carpets, getting deep into all stained and soiled areas. Within seconds, the machine’s strong suction removes the dirty water and leaves the carpets dryer than any tool you buy online.
Note: most customers prefer hot water extraction as the primary cleaning method also known as steam cleaning. There is a misunderstanding that “steam” is involved. In fact, the steam you see is a result of using a hot water detergent solution with high pressure. When done correctly, hot water extraction can clean deeply into your carpet fibers and doesn’t leave behind any soap residue.
DIY Steam-cleaning Machines
This could indeed be the most affordable option. If you understand how to use carpet cleaning machines and take the proper time to clean the carpet carefully and have free time to spare, you might spend just $50-100 on your entire home. These machines have reasonably strong jets and suction and some even have a heating element to keep water hot. Do online research for the best one. So far the ones we’ve tested have taken 4-5 times longer to clean carpets and almost triple the time needed to dry compared to a professional grade carpet cleaning machine. Results may vary.
Go Easy on the Carpet Shampooer
Go easy on the carpet cleaning detergents when you’re doing a DIY cleanup because any soap residue left behind causes your carpet to turn into a dirt magnet. Start by vacuuming well prior to carpet cleaning and clearing all furniture in the area. Pre-spray any spots and use only the recommended amounts of cleaning solution. Lesser is always recommended.
Go Easy on the Water
DIY machines can put a lot of moisture into the carpet and don’t have enough suction to pull it out. Make one pass with soap and water then another pass with clean water. Often, carpet cleaners may do another “dry-run” to remove as much moisture as possible. Any more moisture and you’ll be dealing with mold soon enough.
Tackle Stains Immediately
If your carpet is with some stains, clean them the right way. You can use a spoon or dull knife and carefully scrape the food in the middle of the spill. Then put in the towel, and treat the stain. Greasy spills are also very difficult to remove from the carpet. There is a catch if used correctly a few drops of grease-cutting dish soap such as dawn into a cup of water. Gently mix the solution to dissolve then pour into a spray bottle and soak the greasy stain. Repeat it multiple time and bolt it up with white clot paper.
Some caked on dirt is difficult to take off e.g. candle wax that has dripped onto the carpet. This can be removed by placing a warm cloth and iron over it on low setting until the wax melts. You may still need to scrape off with a knife. If you live with pets and they leave stains behind, try an organic cleaner such as ECO-88 or ZorbX, spray and rub stains away. In cases of candy soak with sponge mixed with mild soap, then dry with a warm towel or paper towel.
Vacuum Regularly
The bare minimum for carpet maintenance. Regular vacuuming removes dirt and dust in the carpet before it settles deeper into the fibers, and leave you with fresh clean floorings to walk on.
Declutter Before Your Appointment
Your carpet cleaner will be thankful for your help clearing up the carpets prior to his or her arrival. When we arrive, we start setting up the tubes, wand, hand tools while the water is warming up in the machine. When your carpets are already cleared of clutter or pre-vacuumed, our carpet cleaner can get right pre-spraying any tough stains or your carpet’s conditions. When it isn’t clear, our priorities will instead be looking for clutter or small items that may damage the machine during the carpet cleaning service. Or as an alternative, hire a house cleaning company to tidy, clean and declutter prior to your carpet cleaning service. For CleanMyTribe, we offer a house cleaning service first and our carpet cleaner would arrive shortly after to finish up.
Precautions
Take your shoes off or wipe it down before entering your home. Your shoes might have germs or other bacteria that can attach itself onto the carpet fibers. Your shoes bring in all kinds of nasties you don’t want in your bedroom.
Why Hire a Professional Carpet cleaner
Hiring a professional carpet cleaning company provides you a guaranteed solution to your carpet woes. Professional carpet cleaners bring with them years of expertise cleaning all kinds of carpets in various states of disarray. It may seem easy to clean carpets but it takes plenty of time and effort to clean it properly. The experts have the equipment and know-how to best use it for your home. A trained staff knows how to clean your carpet thoroughly in the time frame you require.
Our Take on Carpet Cleaning
Carpet cleaning is essential for your families’ health and well-being, hence do keep the tips above in mind when you have to choose between hiring the pros or doing it yourself. There is nothing wrong in cleaning your carpets yourself and saving a bunch of money, but a professional team may achieve results you can’t find in a DIY setup. In due time, hiring a company is saving you money through extending the longevity of your carpets – earning you a couple years before you need to replace them.
From a health standpoint this is a crapshoot. Clean carpets do eliminate many indoor air quality health issues. Especially if someone in your family suffers from breathing or allergy issues, you want to be hiring a professional company every 6 months.
Give us a try, our carpet cleaning services will be improving the ambience of your home/office and are beneficial for health of you and your loved ones.
