When it comes to carpet maintenance, there are several things you should know that will make your life easier, especially when it comes to cleaning.
What Should You Know About Effective Carpet Cleaning?
The most important thing when starting domestic carpet cleaning is to know what material your carpet is made of. Carpets made from natural materials, such as wool and silk, are very robust.
A carpet, made of wool, stores moisture and releases it again when the room air is dry. It also has a natural fat content, is elastic, durable and insensitive to dirt. Synthetic fibre carpets are even easier for maintenance.
Because of their insensitive material, carpet cleaning is relatively easy, and silk, which is often found in oriental carpets, is also breathable, tear-resistant and durable.
However, it does not tolerate moisture. Therefore, carpets made of silk should not be in areas where they could come into contact with moisture.
What is the First Principle of Keeping the Carpet Clean?
The carpet should be vacuumed regularly from day one. This removes loose dirt and sand that could otherwise sit between the knots and damage the fibres there. For vacuuming, you should always use a smooth vacuum nozzle and vacuum in all directions.
How Do I Get Stains Out of My Carpet?
It is of course best to treat stains immediately. Otherwise, you may need to use professional cleaning agents, which can damage the colour and fibres. Silk and especially wool mustn’t be treated with alkalis (bases) and strong acids.
This can cause change in the colour of the carpet. Basically, stains can be cleaned with a suitable stain remover or carpet shampoo if it is an agent that is suitable for natural fibres. A carpet cleaner is sufficient for synthetic fibre carpets.
If you don’t have that at hand, a stain usually goes out with mineral water. The air bubbles in the water loosen the tissue and dirt particles are removed.
When it comes to removing stains from your favourite carpet, you need to follow several basic principles about proper carpet cleaning. If you follow these rules, they will save you a lot of time and energy.
Soak up liquids with paper or clean cloth, lift off sticky or thickened items with a knife. Vacuum dry, loose dirt with the vacuum. Never rub stains, just dab. Otherwise, the carpet fibres become matted or twisted. Always treat contaminated areas from the outside edge to the inside.
Many stains can be removed with lukewarm water. Do not add detergents or washing-up liquid to the warm water – it promotes re-pollution. Repeatedly dab in from the edge and soak up the liquid and again – avoid rubbing.
If the stain resists removal with warm water, tackle it with a carpet cleaner. Follow the instructions for use on the package.
Dab the stained substance of the stain carefully with kitchen paper more often. Important: spread and enlarge the stain by rubbing. If dark rings or water rings remain after the stain treatment, the carpet is dirty overall and should be cleaned intensively.
The stain may not come out the first time. Repeat the procedure several times if necessary. Finally, rinse with water, dab it carefully with a cloth or paper towel. Let the carpet dry, then go over the stain again with the vacuum cleaner.
Stubborn stains and dirt residues disappear completely with solvent-based stain removers. However, be careful – these agents damage wool carpets. Do not pour the stain remover directly onto the carpet, but soak a cloth – otherwise the back coating of the carpet will dissolve.
If you cannot cope with the carpet stains on your own, you can always look for help from professional carpet cleaning companies.
There is a great number of providers of deep carpet cleaning services and once you find the right one for you, you can forget about the wasted hours of cleaning the carpet. Specialists best know how to cope with any problem, associated with carpet maintenance.
No matter whether they will use steam carpet cleaning or dry carpet cleaning procedures, the result would be better than you could achieve with home preparations.
Featured Image | Alex Plesovskich on Unsplash
