Tips for Cleaning Carpets

Do you have any hard surface floors in your house? Does it every amaze you how much dirt, pet hairs and rubbish you sweep up every day? Well, what do you think is at the bottom of your carpeted areas?

Carpet is designed to hide dirt and all types of soil and present to you a clean and comfortable surface at all times. Even a filthy carpet can look and feel clean. But hidden by the fibres can be pet hairs, dry skin and soil that creates a warm and moist environment that is perfect for micro-organisms like dust mite and certain fungal varieties. Fleas will often live and breed in carpet also.

Even thorough vacuuming will not shift all of the in-ground soil, organism and foreign matter. In fact carpet wears out mostly because of the fibre being cut but the soil that is in the carpet.

This is why you should have your carpet professionally cleaned every 6 - 8 months. Professional cleaning will dislodge the foreign matter from the carpet fibres as well as sanitise and deodorise your carpet.

Depending on the method used, the soil will be removed by washing the carpet and using powerful vacuums to extract the soil. Dry cleaning methods also use strong vacuums to remove the soil, but rather than using hot water, use specialised chemicals to convert the various soil types into crystals that can be easily vacuumed away.

Managing Spills and Stains

The type of stain or spill will depend on the best method to deal with the problem. However there are three basic rules to managing spill and stains:

1. Act Immediately
2. Never add moisture to moisture

   If the spill is wet, then use whatever absorbent materials are readily available to immediately dry up the spill. Good examples of absorbent materials are Paper Towel, Toilet Paper or Tissue, Common household Salt, or Bi-Carb of Soda. Cover the entire area with liberal amounts of absorbent material and remove as much moisture as possible. Then place a towel or clean absorbent materials on the spill area. Place some light weight on the towel (eg a book) and forget about it for a day. If you have a residual stain, go to the next step.

3. Don't rub at a stain

   Vacuum the area thoroughly, always work from the outside, do not over wet and never rub. Dab at the stain, working from the outside and pushing toward the middle. The reason for this is to avoid spreading the stain and avoid piling the carpet fibres.

4. If you wet it, go back to point 2.

If the stain is still there, tell your professional cleaner what action you have taken. Your cleaner will have a range of specialised chemicals that can remove most stains.

A word of warning. If the wrong chemical is used the stain could be permanently set. Following these simple steps will ensure that stain should be able to be removed by your professional cleaner.