To keep carpets and rugs soft and clean, it’s no secret: they need to be maintained. What care to provide, which products to use, and at what frequencies?
Difficult to keep a clean and beautiful carpet or rug for a long time, especially when there are animals and young children in the house. Difficult but not impossible. Whether it’s an accidental stain, a spot deposit of dust, or encrusted dirt, there is a Cleaning Services Renton for everything, but you still have to know them. A brief overview of the precautions to take and the care to be taken to preserve your carpet and rugs.
Protect Access to Your Home to Limit Soiling
To ensure the carpet and its carpet’s better longevity, a certain number of simple precautions can be taken. Placing a doormat at the entrance to your home may seem like a harmless gesture, but it’s a good way to limit, inside, the dirt that comes from the outside. As the UFTM (Union of Carpet and Rug Manufacturers) reminds us, “85% of soiling comes from outside”, so it is important to protect yourself against it.
Be careful, however, to opt for an efficient model. Many models favor the gold aesthetic; the doormat has a real role to play. Choose one with coarse and long hairs that will effectively clean your soles.
It would help if you also took care not to install your carpet or carpet too close to your home’s accesses. “It is often said that a person entering a place must be able to take at least six steps to discharge the dust under their shoes. Installing a carpet just behind your front door is not necessarily the best from a hygiene point of view.
Adapt Your Behavior to the Presence of Rugs and Carpets
The presence of rugs and carpets inside your home implies adopting good daily reflexes such as, for example, wearing slippers or, at least, taking off your shoes as soon as you get home or even avoid having meals right on top of a mat. Crumbs are pernicious, especially when the carpet is a long pile or curly pattern as they sleep in and are then difficult to vacuum.
Likewise, if your accommodation communicates directly with a terrace, a balcony, or a garden, be sure to leave a pair of shoes that are easy to put on so as not to go out in slippers.
Good to know: For quick cleaning, you can equip yourself with a hand vacuum cleaner. The crumbs will be easier to find and, above all, they are removed as soon as they fall. This prevents dirt from accumulating.
Waterproof Your Carpet or Carpet for Better Protection
The first thing to do when buying a rug or carpet is to make sure, before laying, that it is waterproofed. “Many products sold on the market already are”. “They are easy to spot because they bear the “label. The latter guarantees better resistance to dirt and stains”.
If this is not the case, you can do the waterproofing yourself. You need to buy a specific resin-based product. It pulverizes and comes to rest on the fibers to protect them. “Thanks to this invisible film, dust takes longer to penetrate the fibers”. For good efficiency, it will be necessary to renew the operation every year.
Good to know: Other treatments can be applied upstream to the carpet: treatment for maximum softness, anti-stain treatment, and anti-soiling, antibacterial treatment. In general, spilled liquids bead on the surface without penetrating the fibers.
Vacuum At Least Once a Week
There is, of course, the vacuum cleaner among the regular care to be lavished on its carpet and rugs. It must be passed at least once a week for good hygiene, particularly on all passage areas. “This is the minimum. Moreover, he continues, in the event of the presence of children or animals at home, it is insufficient. It must be spent more often”. The vacuum cleaner prevents dust from entering the carpet and, at the same time, raises its hair. “When we use the vacuum cleaner, we do not just vacuum; we restore softness, we ventilate”, comments our interlocutor. “In the end, he sums up; we deal with the problem of
Only here, it is still necessary to use a powerful device. Carpet manufacturers recommend using a vacuum brush, that is to say, a device that, in addition to vacuuming, is equipped with a rotating brush that allows dust to rise to the surface and suck it up better afterward. “The devices simply equipped with a flat brush allow a limited elimination of fine dust in the atmosphere and do not raise the pile”, specifies the UFTM (Union of manufacturers of rugs and carpets) in one of its information brochures.
Respond Quickly to Water in Case of Liquid or Food Stains
We are in a family, we drink to celebrate a birthday, and there, it’s the tragedy: one of the guests spills his glass … Moment of panic! Put salt, baking soda, lemon, washing-up liquid. Everyone goes for their little advice and their miracle product without really knowing what to do! One thing is certain when such an accident occurs: you have to react quickly. “The faster we intervene, the more chances we have of preventing the task from oxidizing and discoloring the fiber.
How to act? Simply by putting a sheet of absorbent paper soaked in cold water on the task. We do not rub at first to avoid enlarging the task; we absorb it. “When the task has just been done, and it is superficial, no need to use chemicals, water is enough to catch up”, assures the expert. Once the absorbent paper has drunk all the fallen liquid, all that remains is to rub the stain very gently from the outside to the inside. Normally, it diaphragms after only a few minutes! This method is valid for liquid stains but also food, on condition of having removed a maximum of fallen food before
If the stain persists, an acidic solution such as vinegar or carbonated water can be added to the water.
Salt on a red wine stain, an effective remedy? Yes, but on the condition that you apply salt sparingly. There is no point in putting three tons on the task. It makes more sense to put only a pinch and repeat it as the salt drinks the wine. We will then delicately suck all the salt added.
Good to know: You should always dry your rugs and carpets after having wet them. It is therefore advisable to vacuum after having intervened. To avoid damaging the motor of the appliance with water, be aware that you can vacuum very well through a light cloth such as a tea towel. Steam vacuum cleaners are also available, but they should be used with caution because the water can damage your carpet or your carpet if it is too hot.
Dry Cleaning For Encrusted Stains
If you haven’t done the job with water, you can use liquid shampoo, but it’s used with great care. “He can walk very well, but he can also fix the task. Be careful to respect the recommended use and the doses indicated on the packaging.
Otherwise, you risk seeing discoloration on your carpet in the area of the treated area. Also, liquid shampoos have the disadvantage of leaving the carpet slightly greasy. It then fixes the dirt better and gives it a rough appearance, not very pleasant to the touch.
When the stain is well encrusted, the best thing is to use a powder to do a dry cleaning of your carpet or your carpet. It is then enough to sprinkle the product at the task’s place to let it act than to aspire.
Good to know: There are dry cleaning kits sold in DIY superstores. The company Carpet Care markets one specially dedicated to the stain removal of rugs and carpets. It includes gel, powder, stain remover, cloth, and brush, and stain removal guide— indicative public price: 60 €.
Do a Deep Cleaning Once a Year
To keep the carpet looking good and healthy for as long as possible, it is recommended that you do a deep cleaning once a year. To do this, you will need a shampooer either in a DIY store or from a company specializing in carpet and carpet cleaning. Thanks to the injection/extraction technique, the device injects a mixture of detergent and water into the carpet, which then sucks up.
“These devices should be used with caution because if the dosages are incorrectly done, the fibers of the carpet can be damaged. Before using a shampooer, also make sure that the carpet is not made from natural fibers. Bamboo, silk, flax, soybean fibers are, in fact, likely to break out.
It is also not recommended to carry out such cleaning on rugs or carpets with long pile. “They will have a hard time drying out and picking up bad odors that remain long after cleaning.
Last important tip to remember: don’t pick just any day to tackle this type of cleaning. Drying being very important, it is indeed strongly recommended to plan the operation on a day when the weather will be nice and hot.
Good to know: To avoid the inconvenience of the shampooer, know that you can also clean your carpet or your carpet manually with water and shampoo or, better still, with Marseille soap. You will then proceed area by area, which avoids having to block the entire room during cleaning.
Take Your Carpet to a Professional If Stains Persist
If you don’t feel like going into deep cleaning on your own or just the stain persists despite your cleaning attempts, know that you can call in a professional. Many companies specialize in cleaning rugs and carpets. When they are serious, they clean the carpets manually, taking into account their specificities.
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