If you live in a home with wall-to-wall carpeting or a house full of rugs, you are well aware of how fast your soft, attractive flooring may become dingy and unclean due to foot traffic. Because your daily habits and cleaning techniques have a significant impact on how well your carpets perform, there may be more you can be doing to ensure that your carpet looks and smells its best all of the time. Here are a few suggestions for treading more gently, ranging from how you vacuum to your position on wearing shoes in the house.
Remove any stains as soon as possible
The longer you put off dealing with spills and food or pet stains, the more difficult it will be to clean them up later on, and the more harm they will do to your carpet as well. To ensure that your rugs and carpets last as long as possible—and that they remain as clean as possible—be meticulous about cleaning up any spills as soon as they occur. Also keep in mind that different materials and types of stains need the use of different cleaning procedures, so be sure you are using the correct solution for your carpet.
Always remove your shoes
If you truly want to keep your carpet clean, make it a rule that shoes must be removed as you enter the house so that you do not track in dirt and debris from outside. You may even wear socks or stylish cork-soled lounge shoes or slippers to wear about your home to preserve carpeting from oils and grime from your feet if you want to go the additional mile. Just make sure you never wear them outdoors.
Invest in a high-quality vacuum cleaner
You might believe that any vacuum cleaner would do the job, but if you have a lot of carpeting in your house, it is absolutely worth it to spend a little more money on a high-quality vacuum cleaner. Keeping your carpets clean on a regular basis is one of the most essential things you can do to maintain their appearance, and you should make sure your vacuum is up to the task.
Vacuum your home twice a week
While we are talking about vacuuming, make sure you are doing it on a regular basis. First and foremost, you should be cleaning your carpet at least twice a week; but, the manner in which you vacuum is important as well. According to Martha Stewart, you should vacuum each location on your carpet 8 to 12 times, depending on how much foot traffic the region receives, and you should vacuum in all different directions to get the most dirt and debris out. If you do not believe you will be able to keep up with the twice-weekly vacuuming, consider investing in a robot vacuum to take up the slack in between your hands-on sessions with the vacuum.
