Carpets are wonderful for absorbing noise and enhancing your home’s aesthetic, but they’re also great at absorbing dust, allergens, pollen, and anything else that gets tracked across them. Whether you have carpets in your home or business, your carpets need to be on your spring cleaning checklist. Carpets need to be deep cleaned a few times a year and spot cleaned regularly. Here’s how to keep your carpets clean this spring.
Have Your Carpets Deep Cleaned
If you haven’t done it lately, you need to get your carpets professionally cleaned. Fibrous carpets and foamy carpet pads play host to a plethora of germs and bacteria that can trigger allergic reactions and can make you sick. Over time, they can also become stained and can get worn and smell poorly. A really good carpet cleaning service (beyond spot cleaning and vacuuming) can revitalize your carpets, help you maintain their warranty, and eliminate settled-in allergens.
Take Your Shoes Off
Preserve your carpets by keeping outdoor dirt and grime away from them. Have guests and family members take their shoes off when entering the home. Taking shoes off will keep some of the pollen and allergens as well as moisture and bacteria from making its way to your carpet. The result will be a need to deep clean fewer times per year and fewer stains on your home’s carpet.
Use an Entry Mat for Cleaning Shoes
If you own a business, while you can’t have your clients or employees shed their shoes, you can put a really sturdy rubber welcome mat in front of the entry way and at the entry way to encourage guests to dust off their shoes and boots before walking onto the carpet. This won’t completely eliminate the trekking of pollen and other foreign agents into your business, but it will be a huge help.
Vacuum Your Carpets Regularly
Because carpets get lots of action, they need to be vacuumed regularly. You’ll want to vacuum once or twice a day if you own a business depending on the volume of traffic. At home, vacuuming once per day or every couple of days is usually sufficient.
Vacuuming your carpets on the regular this spring will keep all of that dirt and those pesky allergens you unintentionally track indoors off as much as possible. This will also improve your air quality as carpet dust, when stirred, gets into the air ducts, which in turn gets into your lungs (and that’s definitely something to sneeze at).
Spot Clean Your Carpet Right Away
When you notice a stain or a spot on your carpet, clean the spot right away. Rapidly eliminating stains and spots will keep your carpet looking and smelling fresher longer. Just get a carpet cleaner spray that fits your needs (ex: if you have pets or colored carpets), moisten a rag or scrub brush, and get the spot out of the carpet.
If the spot is still wet, it can sometimes be better to dry-blot the spot first and then clean it with spray. Some spots, such as red wine and spaghetti sauce and coffee, need more thoughtful handling. Adding moisture right away may only spread the stain and lead to a permanent or more complicated problem.
Consequently, this is why it’s often advised to avoid eating and drinking over the carpet as well as to avoid wearing shoes on carpets. The less carpets are exposed to foreign agents and elements, the better.
That said, with preventative measures, regular cleaning, spot cleaning for stains, and a professional cleaning early in the season, you can keep your carpets so fresh and so clean, clean this spring.
Clean carpets are good for your health. Clean carpets last longer and they smell better. Start your spring with professionally cleaned carpets (called us at Advanced Cleaning if you’re in the Algood, TN area and want amazing carpets!) and keep them fresh and clean with regular vacuuming and spot maintenance. You really can have it all!