Wondering what item in your home is dirtier than your toilet seat? Your carpet! Carpets are known to hold more than 200,000 bacteria per square inch. If that wasn’t bad enough, your carpet could also contain several pounds of dirt spread throughout your home. Just because your carpet appears clean to the naked eye, it could be hiding a lot of contaminants that are dangerous to your family’s health. But, how often should carpets be cleaned? Keep reading to discover what the experts recommend when it comes to keeping your carpets clean.
Vacuum At Least Twice Weekly
Having clean carpets starts with a regular vacuuming schedule. Experts recommend that you vacuum every inch of your carpet at least twice a week. This means that vacuuming needs to be a solid part of your cleaning schedule. Even if you don’t think that your carpet appears dirty, vacuum it anyways. Odds are, you’ll be surprised by how much dust and dirt your vacuum collects after running it through your home.
If you have multiple people living in your home, pets, or small children, you may want to consider vacuuming the high traffic areas of your home daily. Any areas where your children are playing on the floor or your pets like to sleep are bound to collect dirt. Not only will daily vacuuming help you keep up with the mess, but it will also protect your loved ones from the dirt and dust.
Spot Clean Stains as Soon as Possible
Wondering how often should you clean your carpet? Well, when it comes to stains, you’ll want to clean these up as soon as possible to prevent them from setting in. The sooner you tackle stains, the more likely you are to take care of the issue. But, how exactly should you go about cleaning carpets that become stained? That depends on what causes the stain.
How to Handle Dirt, Mud
When cleaning up dirt and mud, it’s best to let it dry before attempting anything. Then, vacuum over the area several times to pick up any loose dirt. Use a mixture of hot water and dish soap to target the area with a cloth. Then, blot up the moisture with a dry cloth. Repeat these two steps until the stain completely disappears.
How to Handle Food, Drink Stains
Food and drink stains are a little more difficult to tackle because every item could affect your carpet differently. Start by removing any excess food or liquid from the carpets, you don’t want these items to stay on your carpet and have more time to set in. For liquids, use the blotting method with hot water and a stain remover solution. For food stains, first, scrape up any dried residue, then attempt the blotting method.
Deep Clean High Traffic Areas Every Three Months
When it comes to how often to deep clean carpet, you should do this job yourself every three months. If it makes it easier to remember, you can also add it to your seasonal cleaning list. But what exactly does deep cleaning include? Well, it starts out with vacuuming all of your carpets to make sure that they are as clean as possible. Most people will choose to vacuum everything twice before using a carpet cleaner.
Then, either rent or purchase your own carpet cleaning device. These devices use soap and warm water to clean your carpets. You run the carpet cleaning over the carpet once to apply the warm water and cleaning solution. After letting the solution sit for a few seconds, you run the carpet cleaner over the area again to suction up the water and cleaning solution. This will bring dirty water into your cleaner, which you should frequently empty as you clean the rest of your carpets.
It’s best to do this in small sections, starting at the furthest point and working your way towards a non-carpeted area of your home. The carpet will remain wet for several hours, so turn on the fans and avoid walking on the area to help speed up the drying process.
Schedule an Annual Professional Cleaning
You may think that since you keep up with vacuuming, spot cleaning, and deep cleaning all on your own, your carpets are handled. But, there is always going to be build-up on your carpets that only the professionals can handle. This is why you need to get your carpets professionally cleaned once a year.
Professional carpet cleaning companies use the best cleaning products and equipment, meaning that they can get your carpets a whole lot cleaner than you can. They know all the tricks to handle different types of carpet and different types of stains. In addition, many offer satisfaction guarantees, meaning you can trust that they will get the job done right each year.
Carpet cleaning can be scheduled online in advance, so there’s no reason to avoid this step. Instead, schedule your next cleaning as soon as your current one is done, so you never forget when you’re due for a professional visit. This will provide the peace of mind that your carpets are clean for you and your family.
Stop Asking, ‘How Often Should Carpets Be Cleaned?’
After reading this article, you no longer have to ask the question, “how often should carpets be cleaned?”. Instead, use this article as a guide to help you keep your carpets clean year-round. Start by vacuuming your carpets twice a week and spot cleaning stained areas as soon as they appear. From there, you can deep clean your carpets on your own every three months. And don’t forget to schedule an annual professional cleaning to get rid of all the dirt and build-up that you don’t have the ability to clean up on your own.
Wondering what other areas of the home you should be concentrating on when it comes to cleaning? Be sure to head to the Lifestyle section of this site for all the best housekeeping advice.
