How to Clean Carpets
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Carpets have always been an essential part of a modern household or an official setup. Their beautiful colors and marvelous textures add a touch of coziness to any interior.
As carpets are generally used as a covering for floors they are more likely to gather dust, dirt and grit. To maintain their luster and beauty carpets are required to be cleaned often. Regular vacuuming plays an important role in keeping them clean and maintained. Apart from that, depending on the quality, color and usage of a particular carpet it is necessary to schedule their thorough cleaning after a span of every few months such as a shampoo or a steam clean.
Various kinds of carpets are available in the market; they differ on the basis of both style and the materials used to make them. We should know the type of carpet in our use because it would make it easy to adopt an appropriate cleaning methodology.
Precautions – Prevention is better than cure:
So once you have decided to give an overhaul to your carpets and rugs you need to take some measures before proceeding. Either you will be cleaning it yourself or getting the services of a professional cleaner, you should make sure to take certain things into account before starting the cleaning.
1) How often should you vacuum?
You can vacuum depending on your home situation, if you have no kids or pets then once a week should be fine, however if you have a high traffic area with kids or animals shedding hair then it would be more pertinent to vacuum every second or third day.
2) Color fading
Conduct a small test to check whether your carpet fades with the impact of water or any other cleaning detergent. A good carpet is colorfast and it would retain its color more effectively against cleaning activities. You can perform this test on some part of the carpet which is out of the sight, maybe in a BIR. By these tests you can know the best cleaning products suitable for your carpet. Moreover if your carpet is losing color and shine on the cost of cleaning, it would be a better option to keep using it with a light dusting and simply vacuum thoroughly, however without thorough shampoo cleaning you may eventually require replacing the piece once it is too stained.
3) Protecting your furniture and accessories
Depending on the choice of cleaning method either you would be cleaning your carpet where it usually sits or taking a rug out to some other place where you can easily perform cleaning. In either case you need to move furniture and accessories to reach each and every part of the carpet. Professional cleaners are trained to perform such tasks before starting the job however you should also remember to do it or remind the cleaners to save your furniture and carpet cushions from any soaps or harsh chemicals that may be used.
Shampoo Cleaning Unit
If your carpets are light colored, having tendency to attract stains you can opt to own your very own specialised cleaning tool. A carpet steam / shampoo cleaning unit, specially designed for your carpets can be sought from the manufacturers or carpet specialists. They come with dispensing triggers and upright brushes and their cleaning capabilities are twofold as compared to casual vacuuming.
Dry Cleaning
If you want to walk on your carpets sooner and for them to dry faster then dry cleaning might an option for you, they generally use water however the water does not soak through to underlay so your carpet will dry faster, keep in mind however that the water does not [penetrate as deep as with steam cleaning.
Extraction methods / Steam cleaning
These methods could be classified into two categories. In water extraction techniques, also known as steam cleaning a cohesive nature of steam or solvent is used to take out dust and grit from the carpet. First of all carpet is soaked thoroughly and then the dirty solution is pulled away until the carpet is almost dry. In a dry extraction some dry absorbent is used instead of liquid which is later vacuumed to give a clean look to your carpet.
7 steps for best restoration
The Australian Carpet Cleaning Institute (ACCI) recommends a 7 stage process to better restore your carpets as per Australian standards AS3733. This process may take longer then a vacuum, dry clean or steam clean and may cost more however if you see the value in maintaining your carpets then it is definitely worthwhile:
Step 1 - Vacuum, a thorough once over with a powerful machine will suffice.
Step 2 - Condition, a special carpet conditioner is applied to break down dirt and stains
Step 3 - Washing, the conditioner is now worked into your carpet with a special rotating brush
Step 4 - Rinse, now a hot water steam is used to wash away the conditioner, dirt and soil
Step 5 - Spot removal – if there are any stubborn spots left then you can work on these individually with a carpet cleaning spot remover
Step 6 - Drying, excess water is now removed from your carpets with a drying machine
Step 7 - Brushing, a special broom is then used to return your carpet to its fullest height and create a lush, fuller, softer feel
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