Carpet Cleaning Tips

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1 General Tips
2 How to Spot Clean the Carpet
3 Things to avoid
4 Methodology Checklist
5 Sources/References
6 Authors

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General Tips

No matter how rich its colors and textures or how intricate its weaves, your carpet or rug is only as good as the care it receives.
Today's carpets are designed to hide dirt and resist soiling and staining. But that's no excuse to skip regular vacuuming. Soil can damage fibers if it remains in the pile.
A good rule of thumb: vacuum areas of your carpet that get light traffic once or twice a week, and more often in places where people gather, kids play and pets roam.
Use up to three passes of the machine for light soiling and five to seven passes for heavily soiled areas.
Your vacuum cleaner should remove soil and surface dirt without any damage to the carpet.
Also, make sure dust particles are contained within the filtration bag and the machine itself so they don't fly back into the air.
This is especially important for people who are sensitive to dust and other indoor pollutants.
Tests have shown that some carpet-cleaning products don't clean any better than water.
The Carpet and Rug Institute awards a blue and green seal of approval to carpet-cleaning products, such as spot removers and presprays, which pass a series of tests administered by an independent, accredited laboratory.
The CRI Seal of Approval signifies to consumers that these products remove spots and soil effectively and don't damage the carpet's appearance or performance when manufacturer's instructions are followed.
Mustard, catsup, grape juice and dirty motor oil are just some of the staining agents used in the tests. For a complete list of Seal of Approval products, visit carpet-rug.org.
Spills and spots on carpet need immediate action.
The longer a spot stays on the carpet, the harder it is to remove and the more likely it will become a permanent stain. Use a clean, white, dry, absorbent cloth or paper towel to remove spots and spills.
Always blot — never rub or scrub — or a fuzzy area might result. When blotting, work from the outer edge in toward the center of the spot to avoid spreading the spill. Be sure to absorb any remaining moisture by placing several layers of white paper towels over the damp area and weighing them down with a heavy object.
All dry spills should be vacuumed to lift and remove as much of the substance as possible. Pouring liquid into a dry spill can create additional problems.
Stubborn spills and embedded soil require deep cleaning, preferably every 12 to 18 months.
Your options are to use a professional service or to rent or purchase carpet-cleaning equipment for do-it-yourself cleaning.
Professional cleaning is recommended for carpet and area rugs that are made of wool, silk or other natural fibers.
For any do-it-yourself cleaning method, the following points are critical: always vacuum to remove as much dry soil as possible, and follow instructions carefully.
A common mistake with do-it-yourself cleaning is using too much cleaning product and failing to extract all the product from the carpet during the cleaning process. The residue not only attracts dirt and makes carpet look bad quickly, but it also speeds the breakdown of fiber, shortening the life of the carpet.

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How to Spot Clean the Carpet

Use a clean towel and dab up the excess spill
Pour a 1/4 cup of cool water on spill/area
Dab spot with clean towel, DO NOT rub towel across area because that will only make the mess larger.
Keep dabbing and adding a little more water until area appears clean.
Go over the area again (dabbibg only) with another clean towel to ensure that most of the water has been cleaned up.

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Things to avoid

Don't soak your carpet too much or it will take way too long to dry and may soak through to the underlay and rot your floor.
Be sure that you have time to clean and dry your carpet without other people tracking more dirt in.

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Methodology Checklist

Mix some powder laundry detergent with some water; use common sense with how much you're mixing. Mix together with a cloth.
Vacuum your rug. Once over is good enough, and start from a corner.
Wipe down a small area of the carpet with the cloth to make it damp, and collect any lint from the top.
Scrub the area gentlywith the scrub brush until clean.
Throw down some old towels or sheets so the carpet doesn't get dirty, and to soak up excess liquid.
Replace your soapy water with fresh clear water after finishing the entire area.
Go over the cleaned areas with just water and the scrub brush to remove any excess soap, then let it dry. It will dry faster with fans or open windows.
When it's done, your carpet will smell like the detergent you used and will be sparkling clean.
Try extremely hard to remove all detergent from the carpet, as the excess detergent will pick up soil very quickly.
Be sure to vacuum when it's dry to fluff it up.

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