Expert’s Practical Guide to Keep a Carpet Clean

When it comes to keeping carpets clean, “prevention” is a key concept here. The best way to have clean, fluffy and nice smelling carpets is to regularly care for them. Regular vacuuming (at least 2-3 times a week) is essential. For best results use the beater brush and vacuum in multiple passes in different directions (as the almighty Martha Stewart suggests). Treat spots as they occur by blotting the stain, and the using soapy water (or special carpet detergent) to remove it. You should plan a deep cleaning of the carpets a couple of times per year, even if they seem to be in overall good shape (prevention, remember). Here you can choose to do it yourself, it’s time consuming and somewhat tiresome but at least you know the job is done, or you can hire a professional. Either way you have a few deep carpet cleaning techniques to choose from depending on the type of carpet you have and its condition. The two major methods are hot water extraction and dry extraction. Generally both ways are safe to use with most carpet materials, but in any case check the manufacturer’s cleaning guidelines. Dry extraction uses a dry (surprise, surprise) absorbent compound to remove grime and bad smells, so it leaves the carpets completely dry and doesn’t pose any risk of shrinking. However, hot water extraction (also known as steam cleaning) uses the cleaning power of hot water and in some cases mild detergents, so it is generally less toxic, while it does a perfect job in deep carpet cleaning.