On average, households tend to replace their carpets every seven years, but carpeting your home is an expensive job and causes massive upheaval. You can avoid, or at least put off, the expense of buying a new carpet by simply giving your existing one some TLC (tender loving care). You may be looking to move house in the new year and want to get it looking clean and smart, or you may wish to bring life back into your carpet to make it look new again. Follow the simple steps in this guide to bring life back into your tired carpets.
Stop it getting dirty in the first place
Bringing dirt into your home from outside on your shoes is a sure-fire way to a tired-out carpet. The dirt not only discolours your carpet, the grit and dirt particles damage the fibres, wearing it out. As a result, areas of high footfall always seem duller and flatter than areas that see little footfall, or none at all. There is no way to get damaged areas back to their original best so start off with good habits and leave your shoes at the door. Prevention is much more effective than a cure.
Vacuum as regularly as possible
Vacuum as regularly as you can. That may mean vacuuming high footfall areas three to five times per week! But keeping on top of dirt, dust and crumbs will mean your carpet will stay looking its best for longer. Make sure your vacuum is up to the job too. Brushes should be tight and rollers should be free of lint, fibres and hair (it’s common for rollers to get clogged up which reduces the effectiveness of the vacuum). If you have a dust mite allergy, regular vacuuming is also incredibly important. Use a high filtration vacuum cleaner and treat with dust mite killing cleaning solutions.
Tackle stains as soon as they occur
Make sure you deal with stains immediately when they happen. If you leave them to dry, they may be there indefinitely as the stain will permeate the individual fibres. Make sure you read the carpet warranty to identify the right cleaning solutions for your carpet type. The last thing you want to do is damage your carpet further by using harmful cleaning products. If you don’t know how to find this information, contact the manufacturer or your local carpet retailer who should be able to help. The advice in our recent article on how to remove stains from upholstery is equally applicable to carpets. In this article, you can find how to tackle stains when they occur and how to deal with stubborn, dried on stains. If you want to avoid using chemical-based cleaning solutions, white vinegar and water is a tried and tested natural stain removing solution.
Intensively clean your carpet
Carpets require an intensive clean, every 18 months. You can opt to employ a professional carpet cleaning company or hire a carpet shampooing machine. If you opt for the latter ‘do it yourself’ option, here’s how to use one.
• Fill your shampooer with water and shampoo according to the directions on your particular machine.
• Beginning in the farthest inside corner, shampoo the carpet in straight, even lines. Work toward the door so that you do not have to step on the damp carpet to get out of the room.
• Allow the carpet to dry completely.
Carpets do not last forever, and you will need to replace them at some point. But by maintaining your carpet through a regular cleaning regime, it will look new for much longer!
Top Tip! Get yourself a carpet rake
A carpet rake is a simple handy tool to bring some body back into your carpet. It's particularly good for tackling areas that have become flat and worn by regular footfall. The rake has dozens of fine combs to lift each carpet fibre. They can be bought online or in most high street DIY or homeware stores.
Written by Mike Pye
