When properly taken care of, the carpet in your home should last around 10 years. Since carpet is expensive, it is a big investment. You want to be sure to extend the life of your carpet as long as you can, so it is important to know what to do to keep your carpets in their best shape. Since spills and stains are some of the most common ailments that affect carpets, preventing them will help to keep your carpets looking and feeling their best. We at Chet’s Cleaning would like to introduce a few ways you can help prevent carpet stains.
- Utilize Stain Resistant Treatments
Professional carpet cleaners can apply a treatment to your carpets to make them stain resistant. This treatment will add a type of seal or protective layer over the surface of your carpet, making it more resistant to spills and stains. This treatment prevents substances from penetrating into the carpet fibers, where they can become trapped and leave unsightly stains. You can have this treatment applied to your existing carpets, but if you are in the market for new carpet, many new carpet fabrics come with this treatment already applied. While this treatment will not prevent all stains, it will definitely help make your carpet more resistant to stains and make spills easier to remove and cleanup.
- Remove Your Shoes
Shoes carry excess debris, dirt, grime, and other harmful contaminants from outside into your home. When shoes are worn on carpet, they transfer all of that muck onto the carpet, and then push it deep down into the fibers. As this debris is pushed and trodden down deeper into the carpet, it will not only weaken the fibers, but cause the dirt to be trapped inside. By removing your shoes before you walk on your carpet, you greatly decrease the amount of contaminants that are introduced to the carpet. Leave dirt, mud, and all other outside contaminants off your carpet by removing your shoes. Also, you will greatly decrease the wear and tear your carpet endures when you do not wear hard sole shoes on it, which will help extend the life of your carpet.
- Protect Your Carpet with Rugs and Mats
One of the best ways to prevent spills and stains on our carpets is to cover them with protective coverings like rugs and mats. Not only do rugs protect your carpet, but they can also add a decorative touch to the room. You should consider placing rugs or mats in areas that receive high foot traffic, or areas that are exposed to food, drinks, or pets. Regularly clean mats and rugs to ensure that built up debris does not get transferred to the carpet.
- Clean Up Spills Immediately
Accidents happen and even with all precautions in place, spills and stains are bound to occur. The faster you clean up spills, the better odds you have of preventing stains. When cleaning up spills, do not ruin the carpet. Rubbing will cause the spill to push further into the fibers, and make it more difficult to remove. Instead, dab up the spill and continue to dab the affected area to help absorb it out.
- Have Your Carpets Professionally Cleaned on a Regular Basis
Vacuuming your carpets at least twice a week will help remove surface dirt that could potentially get trapped in carpet fibers, and will help keep your carpets in good condition. However, vacuuming alone is not enough. Since vacuuming only removes surface dirt, you should have your carpets professionally deep cleaned at least twice a year to remove trapped debris, and to extend the life and look of your carpets.
We want your carpets to look and feel their best and have an extended life. For all your Birmingham carpet cleaning needs, contact Chet‘s Cleaning.