12 Carpet Cleaning tips from the professionals

Want to turn a place into a home? Simply deck all floors in carpets. They keep your feet warm during winter and provide you with a soft and comfortable surface when walking around barefoot in the summer. Many items count for our comfort at home, but not many have the same power that carpets do. You will often spend a lot of time and money to get the ideal carpet for your living, knowing that you’re not going to change it any time soon. Once you have the perfect rug, you also need to take good care of it—no, vacuuming it weekly won’t be enough.

Sil All Services Northampton is the appropriate cleaning company to hire for deep-cleaning services of many kinds. We execute end of tenancy cleaning, spring cleaning, after builders cleaning, after party cleaning, move-in/out cleaning, one-off cleans, etc. Deep cleaning the carpets is on our checklists for these services, and we recommend you hire professionals every once in a while.

Many people think that vacuuming the carpet once or twice a week is enough to have a beautiful and hygienic carpet, but that’s not true at all. Our professionals know everything about deep carpet cleaning and share with you the most surprising tips for cleaning rugs. These tips won't eliminate the necessity of hiring professionals, but they can prolong the time until your carpets need deep cleaning.

1.      Don’t rub a stain

Many people are tempted to rub a stain on a carpet, but this is one of the most frequent mistakes people make when cleaning a carpet. According to professionals, rubbing the stain only set the dirt deeper into the fibres. We know that people do it with the best intention, but they obtain nothing but the opposite of cleaning. You should, instead, blot the spill with a paper towel/napkin, using gentle pressure.

2.      Keep a lint roller within reach

This situation may feel similar to you: no matter how hard you vacuum the carpet, you notice hairs, crumbs, and crud that never seems to go away. The situation is widespread when dealing with long-hair carpets. Sadly, not even a powerful vacuum cleaner can remove all the annoying hairs.

There is an affordable solution to this problem, a lint roller. Use it for the affected areas and insist until you remove all problematic particles. It all depends on the type of carpet you have, but you shouldn't have to spend more than five minutes going with the lint roller over a rug.

Read also: How to Care for Wool Carpets and Rugs

3.      Have a basic cleaning kit

Sometimes, you don't need expensive and specially made cleaning products; sometimes, affordable and essential tools and ingredients will do. Here’s what you should have in your home at any given moment:

• White distilled vinegar is excellent at removing juice stains
• Club soda to clean the beer and wine stains
• Ammonia to clean all sorts of stains
• If you have a cat, don’t use ammonia because you only make your cat mark its territory where you've just cleaned (cat urine has ammonia).
• Wet wipes to blot light stains on the carpet
• Dishwashing liquid when you know which cleaning product to use or don’t have a carpet cleaner at home. A solution made of warm water with two drops of dishwashing liquid will come in handy.

4.      Use an iron to remove stains

With carpets being such valuable items in our homes, it’s understandable why people have always looked for ways to clean their carpets to perfection. For this trick, the steps to follow are:

• Vacuum the stained area to remove the hard particles and work only on stains
• Treat the spots with a solution made of water and vinegar with a ratio of 3:1. Allow the mixture to sit to go deep into the stained fibres. Most of the time, you only need to wait for five minutes.
• Put a towel on the stain and apply a heated iron. The heat and pressure make the stain transfer into the towel, similar to a reverse temporary water tattoo.

5.      Remove chewing gum with ice

If you have kids, it’s only a matter of time until they have some accidents with chewing gum on carpets, upholstery, and everything else around the house. You only need few ice cubes to place them on the gum for a minute. Gum will freeze instantly, and you can scrape it off with a spoon or a butter knife.

Even if you have to cut some fibres, the carpet will still look good after you’re done.

Read also: How to Remove Most Common Summer Stains From Your Clothes

6.      Use vinegar to get rid of slime

One of the most popular things for kids today is slime. Many parents avoid even buying it because they fear it will stain the carpets forever. In reality, removing slime is more straightforward than expected:

• Use a paint scraper or knife to scrape excess slime off the carpet. Begin at the outside of the slime puddle and go towards the centre.
• Make a cleaning solution of 2/3 distilled white vinegar and 1/3 cup warm water. Pour enough of it on the slime so that you cover it without saturating your carpet. You can leave it for extra 15 minutes if the slime has dried already.
• Loosen the slime from the carpet with a scrubbing brush and use enough pressure. However, don’t ruin the carpet’s fibres.
• Pat the area with a dry, clean towel. Should you see more slime, repeat the steps.
• If the slime has left a coloured dye on the carpet, apply a spot treatment solution specially made for carpets. Let it work for 1-5minutes and blot it with a clean cloth.
• Vacuum the area once the carpet has dried.

7.      Get rid of oil stains with baking soda

Oil is probably one of the most difficult stains to remove from carpets; hot water and dabbing technique may be necessary. Extracting oils from carpets requires a particular method, but it can all be more manageable with baking soda.

• Apply baking soda generously on the stained area
• Let the baking soda work and forms a dry crust
• Vacuum the baking soda
• Dab the stain to remove it completely

8.      You can remove wax stains!

Many of us like using aromatic candles to have a lovely pleasant scent in our homes. However, the risk of incidents isn’t null, and many people have to deal with puddles of wax on carpets. Melting the wax is the most straightforward cleaning method.

• Place a piece of old cloth on the stain
• Run the iron over it to melt the wax. Set it to the lowest temperature, and don't run it on the carpet for more than 30 seconds.
• Use a clean rag to blot the melted wax
• Repeat the steps as many times as necessary until the wax is completely gone

9.      Use shaving cream against dirt stains

Carpets coloured in beige, yellow, white or soft pastel can develop dirt stains from high traffic, careless incidents, or dust accumulation. Kids playing around can also cause noticeable skid marks, and dirt will affect carpets’ appearance.

Use some shaving cream (any kind will work) and let it sit on the dirt stain. Remove it afterwards and enjoy the soft-touch feel of the carpet.

10.  Freshen the carpets with baking soda

Baking soda is a fantastic ingredient that you can use for many things, from baking to cleaning the oven and eliminating odorous.

• Use a bottle of essential oil and a 16-ounce box of baking soda
• Add 10 to 20 drops of essential oils; citrus oil will give a fresh smell
• Sprinkle the carpet with the mixture and let it sit for 10-15 minutes
• Vacuum afterwards

11.  Give the shag carpets the care they need

Just because shag carpets are, again, popular amongst people doesn't mean that they have become more accessible to clean than before. On the contrary, many vacuums are so powerful that they make the shag carpets shed because they suck the fibres. Soon enough, the carpets become frizzy or come loose.

To avoid such unpleasant effects, you should vacuum the shag carpets with the hose attachment. It's the most effective way to clean deep into the roots of fibres without damaging the weave.

12.  Use vinegar to fluff your carpets

Along with baking soda, vinegar is another super ingredient to have at home. Not only can you use it for cleaning, but you can fluff the high-traffic areas of carpets that seem flattened and worn out.

Add equal parts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the mixture on the affected areas. Once the material has absorbed the solution, get a regular spoon and run it sideways along the carpet. You loosen the fibres and make the carpet look new.  

Call professionals for deep cleaning

No matter the typical cleaning methods you use for your carpets, hire professionals for deep carpet cleaning twice a year. Sil All Services Northampton uses expert methods such as hot water extraction to revive the colours of your carpet and remove the dirt, grime, and dust deeply set in the fibres. We include such tasks on our checklists for end of tenancy cleaning, spring cleaning after builders cleaning, move-in/out cleaning, after party cleaning, one-off cleans, etc. Call us for future information and a free quote for the job.