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Carpet
Cleaning DIY.com
Your Carpet
Cleaning Guide
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5 Carpet Cleaning Tips
You will never be able to have a carpet that is free of stains unless
it is in a locked room, which is highly unlikely. If you have children
or pets it can be even harder to keep your carpets free of spills and
soil but if you follow these five simple carpet cleaning tips, your
carpet can look good and smell fresh, year round.
Home Carpet Cleaning Tips #1 -
Always Remove Fresh Stains and Spills
No matter how you try to avoid it, your carpet will eventually receive
an accidental spill. The shock of seeing your beautiful white carpet
covered in grape juice or red wine can leave you frozen in time but if
you quickly try to clean up the mess when it happens, you can avoid
trying to maneuver your furniture to cover the hard to remove stain.
A great carpet stain cleaning tip is to pick up easy to remove food
items or utensils and then get a bowl or buck of cold, clean water.
Using a sheet of paper towel or a clean cloth, pat the area repeatedly,
to soak up the stain and to keep it from spreading. Grabbing a brush
and scrubbing will only cause damage to your rugs and carpets. You can
also apply a carpet cleaning solution if the plain water does not help
to remove the stain.
Carpet Stain Cleaning Tips #2 -
Clean Your Carpets Frequently
Applying a vacuum cleaner to your carpet on a regular schedule will go
a long way towards a cleaner and longer living carpet. It can be
tempting to skip a cleaning if the carpets do not look dirty but we
can’t always see how dirty a carpet is just by looking at it.
This is especially true for darker colored carpets.
Carpet Cleaning Tips #3 –
Avoid the Use of Harsh Chemical
Cleaners and Agents
Another great carpet stain cleaning tip is to avoid the use of harsh
chemicals unless they absolutely necessary. Start with a soft mixture
of water and dish soap but never apply detergent that is used to
launder clothing. Stains caused by pets, blood or food are stains that
are organic. They can usually be cleaned by any cleaner that is oxygen
based.
Special cleaners that treat spots should only be used as a last resort.
They require the use of gloves and a good ventilated area and they are
filled with chemicals that can be dangerous to humans and pets alike.
Home Carpet Cleaning Tips #4
– Test a Small Area First
When you begin using chemicals or even the soft solution of water and
soap, always test a small area that cannot easily be seen, such as the
underside of your carpet. This small test area will allow you to easily
see any discoloration and damage that may occur if you were to apply
the carpet cleaner to a larger area. Daub a clean white cloth on the
test area. This will allow you to easily check to see if the color will
transfer or bleed through.
Carpet Stain Cleaning Tips #5
– Clean the Carpet,
Don’t Soak It
When you are removing the spills from your carpet, it can be easy to
assume that more water or cleaning solution will mean a cleaner carpet,
but you should never soak your carpets. Too much water can cause mold
to grow and once breathed in, mold can cause a lot of damage.
Mildew can also show up on areas that were applied heavily with liquid.
As you soak up liquids, always remove a cloth that is too wet with a
dryer piece of cloth or paper towel.
Keep your carpet clean by cleaning stains, spills and soils immediately
after an accident occurs.
If you can get the area treated as soon as possible you can quickly
have a clean carpet that looks new and smells great. Don’t
allow stains to sit for a long time because they will be much harder to
remove once they dry and become hard.
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