Tag: Carpet Cleaning Tips

Practical, easy on the eye, and making the cold Winter nights a bit more bearable, having a carpeted floor can transform any room. Throw in a spilt glass of wine, your fluffy pet and a toddler, and your once-pristine floor space suddenly looks less appealing. 

Out goes the modern home feeling you’ve been building over the years and in comes the constant battle with making your carpets look fresh and clean once more. As much as we hoover, scrub and try to bring our carpets back to life, it’s not as simple as it first appears. 

Enter the professional carpet cleaner. Here are 5 reasons why you should hire one today:

Industry-standard knowledge

Where else are you going to find expert knowledge on how to get your carpets in tip-top condition? The beauty of hiring a professional carpet cleaner is that you won’t find the same level of expertise anywhere else!

Not only will the pros use high-quality cleaning products, but they will also make your carpet look as good as new. Which let’s face it, is better than you using any old cleaning product that will likely have lasting consequences. 

Hiring a professional will ensure that your carpet won’t get damaged and give you a more effective and deeper clean. They will have a better understanding of what products tackle different stains too. 

Less chance of moisture buildup

Unlike you or I, a professional carpet cleaner is more likely to use low-moisture equipment matched with industry-standard techniques. At first, soaking a stain with a wet cloth or sponge may seem like the best idea until you realise months later that mould now covers the spot. Or worse, mould has grown underneath your carpet!

A professional will treat your carpet with chemicals and products that are designed to keep moisture buildup down to a minimum. In the long run, you will save money and have carpets that will last for years. 

A job well done

Did you know that the likes of salmonella, staphylococcus and e. Coli can easily take up residence in your carpet? After all, most of us give them the perfect opportunity to live unnoticed in our homes. Each of these pathogens can lead to a serious illness that can run rife through a household before you’d ever be aware of them. 

Then, think about your walk through the park where your dog trampled through x, y, z along the way. Stomping back through your front door, said pooch has managed to trample dirt and who knows what else, all over your living room carpet. 

Fortunately, the professionals know how to banish unwanted microorganisms, bacteria and harmful germs from your carpets! 

While making your carpets hygienic and safe for use, the pros will only ever use techniques which will maintain the appearance and texture of your carpets. 

Trusted, formulated cleaning products

A myriad of old wives tales has made their way into most of our lives. From the magic of lemons, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, we’ve all been there. Some of them work, and some of them add to the damage. 

Getting a professional carpet cleaner in to treat your carpets will bring a scientifically-backed product range into your home. A good cleaner will only ever use trusted, formulated cleaning products that are specifically designed to treat specific scenarios. They will remove stubborn stains and dirt that your Grandma’s cleaning concoction would struggle to budge. 

What’s more, your carpets are unlikely to fade or have colour-altering chemicals thrown at them. A professional will use cleaning solutions, detergents and sanitisers to get to the root of the problem. They will also offer you helpful advice to keep your carpets in good condition, as well as maintaining good cleaning practices. It’s a no brainer!

Stress-Free lifestyle

Working all hours under the sun, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and keeping your family in check is a lot for anyone to take on. Throw in keeping your home in a clean and tidy state, and you’ve got your work cut out before you can even think about sitting down after a long day. 

So why embrace the stress when you can get someone in to make life easier?

Cleaning carpets require a lot of elbow grease, some practical knowledge, and you’ve guessed it, time. Hiring a professional carpet cleaner in to get the job done for you will instantly take a job off of your hands.

Any type of cleaning is enough to put a lot of us off. So why add to the stress of your daily life? Hire a professional carpet cleaner to get the best possible job done!

Grandmother always knew how to get stains out of the carpets and clothing without resorting to any ‘newfangled’ treatments on the market. She didn’t need the hottest hoover or most expensive washer/dryer. She didn’t look for the new products at the supermarket, and the travelling salesman never made it through her front door.

She knew what to do. She always used the ‘tried and true’ methods—baking soda and elbow grease, or white vinegar. So when you have a carpet emergency, emulate grandma because she knew best.

Basic rules!

When treating , remember these three things: always spot test in an inconspicuous place when trying any new cleaning methods to avoid total ruin, never, ever, ever rub or scrub the soiled material, and there’s always soap (NOT dish soap) and water.

Pongy smells!

Do you have a persistent smell in the carpet? Vaporise it with bicarbonate of soda. Sprinkle and leave it for at least 15 minutes, but if the smell is a persistent one, leave the powdered carpet for an hour or so then vacuum it all away.

After the soda and hoovering, try sprinkling lemon juice around to freshen the carpets even more.

Stubborn stains! 

Do you have a stubborn stain? 1:3 parts white vinegar to water is the magic formula. Make sure that you spot test your carpet first. Remember never, ever, ever rub or scrub a stain. Using a spritzer spray bottle, mist your carpet stain and leave for a few minutes. Then take a clean microfibre cloth and blot the stain away (hopefully).

Once the carpet has dried, if you have time, move your furniture around and sprinkle that bicarbonate of soda liberally on the whole of your carpet and let it be overnight (or as long as possible). Vacuum up the soda completely.

Of course, you should never leave a smelly or soiled carpet for any length of time. Immediate action is always best but not always possible (knows anyone with a child or pet) .

Ever heard of ironing your carpet? Probably not. But it might be that ironing your carpet proves to be a great pre-treatment. Legend has it that you should soak a cloth or flannel in water, lay it over the stain and then iron the cloth. (Be careful—the iron will be hot!) 

You will increase your chances of success if you can use a carpet cleaner before you do your ironing. After ironing, you will need to clean your carpet as per normal. The ironing approach is about loosening up the stain and lifting it for removal.

“Out damned spot!” 

Blood—if wet

Blot it very carefully (remembering the rule to never, ever, ever rub or scrub the stain). Use paper towels for this mess to remove as much as possible to prevent further seepage. Apply cold soapy water to the area with a white cloth. 

Blot and rinse until the cloth is no longer transferring red or pink colour. Make sure you are rinsing out the cloth properly before reapplying to the carpet. If the stain is large, work from outward to the middle of the stain. You must repeat this process until the blood has diluted and disappeared.

Blood—if dry

Use a stiff-bristled brush to loosen the blood, but don’t spread it around. Hoover up the dry blood flakes before applying cold soapy water as with the treatment of wet blood and repeat the above-mentioned process.

When blood won’t budge

Mix a paste of 1:2 parts baking powder to water and blot the carpet with a cloth. Leave it to rest for half an hour before wiping off the dross. If the mixture has dried, you can hoover up the residual mess.

If baking soda hasn’t done the job then you might have to break out the big guns – ammonia. The recipe is a one-half cup of warm water and one tablespoon of household ammonia. Sponge the concoction onto the marked carpet and then blot with paper towels until it is nearly dry. Use a clean sponge dipped in cold water and apply only to the stain. Pat it dry.

Red, red, wine

For starters, it is always a sad moment for pause when the wine is spilt. After the reverential moment of silence, get your gears grinding, because that stain is not going to disappear by itself.

Go to the kitchen, not for white wine, because why waste more wine? White wine does not take out the red. Perhaps this was a prohibition trick, but it does not work.

Instead, grab the kitchen roll. Be gentle and take your time to pat up the blotch. Remember pressure is good; friction is bad. Stand on top of the paper towel to get up excess liquid.

Thereafter, take some mild clothing detergent – a gentle one for woollen fabric is best. Mix a teaspoon of it with half a pint of warm water, and 1-2 teaspoons of white vinegar. Apply the concoction a soft cloth and dampen the affected carpet. Again, you want to blot from the outside into the stain. Don’t oversaturate the carpet. Then blot the carpet again with just water to rinse.

Place several layers of paper towel over the area and take a waterproof weight of some description to place over top and leave overnight. If there is still a residual stain, you can repeat the process or call a professional carpet cleaner.

Sticky stuff

Chewing gum on the carpet? Gum is fun until it gets stuck somewhere it never should have been. Depending on the colour of your carpet, i.e. light colours like cream, reach for the peanut butter jar. It does seem strange, but the old wives’ tale insists. A couple of tablespoons of this yummy spread will help remove the mess. But caution, you then have to clean up the peanut butter.

If there is any remaining gum, a wire brush should get the little leftovers off of the carpet.

The peanut butter remedy might be hard to come to terms with. You can always try freezing the gum first. Take an ice pack and put over the gum. When hard, try breaking apart the clump with a spoon, fork, or dull butter knife. Can repeat the process until all the gum has come away.

The bottom line

If you insist on tackling the stains yourself, remember the basics above, and ask yourself ‘What would Grandma do?” But also remember that professionals exist for a reason and not all of them are travelling salesmen, charlatans, with the latest gimmick. 

If you have tried your best to get out the stains but have had no joy, google a pro, pick up the phone and give them a call. They are waiting to help save your carpet from disaster.

No wonder the carpets are always a fright! The never-ending, visual landscape of fluff and dirt is created by everyday traffic of kids running around like little hooligans, the dog and cat shedding their winter coats, and the husband snacking on crackers and flaky pastries while he watches TV. It seems that no matter how often you hoover or shampoo the floors you are constantly bombarded by the mess.

It is okay to go into the other room and scream into a pillow; that is just Therapeutics 101. It is sound practice to release your tension, but just know that when you return to the living room, the crumbs and pet hair will still be there. Oh, the futility!

So, what if you just give up or go a cleaning hiatus or house-cleaning strike? Shut the door to the offending room and go on holiday—um, er—probably not. What happens if you neglect your carpets and don’t clean them regularly? Assuming this is not a rhetorical question, let’s look at the potential issues and risks if you were thinking about neglecting one of your home’s most relied-on commodities. 

Dirt Build-up

Dust and dirt, soil and soot, grease and grime. No matter what banner it flies under, filth is all the same, because it is all unwelcome. Another commonality is that it can be harmful and damaging if left to fester. Hoovering the floors once per week will not stop the build-up in moderate to high foot-traffic areas.

Smells 

Smells seem to permeate in a carpeted environment. The tight weave of the fibres act as a woollen breeding ground of sustainability for ‘pongy-ness’. It might be amazing the rate of the unidentified scent that infiltrates the home, but wouldn’t you rather be impressed by a fresh spring breeze wafting through the home?

Stains

Food and Beverage spills are inevitable. Life! It is made for living, and a house is meant to be lived in. But the laissez faire attitude is not recommended when it comes to whether or not you should clean up that spill tonight or tomorrow morning. Be proactive with stains before they really take a strong-hold.

Irreparable Damage

With the seasons come different problems that can cause irreparable damage to our carpets. In the wintertime, the use of sand and salt products to de-ice the pavement can get tracked in. These are heavy abrasives that can cause ‘delamination’ to the glue and backing of carpets. 

No matter what season it is, dripping water is not a carpet’s friend. If the kids are constantly running back and forth between the sprinkler/pool and the house, the carpets are sure to suffer.

Germs, Disease, and Ill Health

Respiratory problems, e.g. asthma, and other allergies caused by dust mites and other micro bugs, and mental health, e.g. depression, have been linked to dust mites — nobody needs this headache. Allowing dust to stick around can spread viruses, e.g. Norovirus. Moisture can cause mould and mildew to grow as well as harmful bacteria and viruses causing sickness, e.g. Campylobacteriosis and Salmonella.

How to Combat:

For dirt build-up: there are some easy steps you can take to keep that carpet and home fresh-er and clean-er. Keeping spaces neat and tidy go a long way to helping stave off the dust and dirt. 

The ‘no shoes’ policy may seem uptight and annoying, but it really does cut down on the tracking-in. Keep a pet-designated cleaning towel by the back door to intercept those muddy paw prints. Don’t forget to clean under the furniture too.

Smells: There are a lot of options when it comes to deodorisers on the market. The type of smell and its cause will need to be considered, e.g. mould and mildew from humidity and the damp, stale food and garbage. For pets, you might need an enzyme-activated or non-ammonia-based cleaner. Stay away from formaldehyde-based air fresheners.

Stains: Blot up spills straight away, spray water and white vinegar (4:1 ratio) to separate the stain from the carpet, re-blot the area to remove excess moisture, and repeat the process until the stain is successfully removed. To dry the area, put an absorbent towel over the area and put a heavyweight overtop to soak up the moisture. You might need to seek a professional if a stain is extra stubborn.

Irreparable Damage: Be wary of using wire-bristled brushes or vacuum cleaner attachment heads, such as a rotary brush known as a ‘beater bar’, that may not be designed for the type of carpet, e.g. wool and natural fibres, in your home. Also, wipe your feet and incorporate some easy tips scattered throughout this article, e.g. removing shoes at the door, and cleaning up any liquids, spillage and stains immediately.

Germs, Disease, and Ill Health: Keep your carpets clean from dust and dry from moisture. Deodorise your carpets.

Eco-friendly and Natural Carpet Cleaning Agents

Purchasing harsh chemicals and household poisons can be a recipe for disaster. They are not safe options and their use might have unknown long-term effects. Why take the unnecessary risk? But if you do choose to use such items as bleach, ammonia, and methylated spirits, keep these locked away from children and pets, and only use in well-ventilated spaces.

Look for home remedies and natural solutions to replace chemical cleaners with chlorine, lye, phosphates, heavy metals, and ammonia. Non-chemical cleaners will be user-friendly and better for your in-home environment as well as the outdoors environment. 

For instance, healthy, homemade flea treatment for dogs try a wormwood, lemon and rosemary water spritzer. Or tea tree oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar are all astringent-product forces to be reckoned with. Anything baking soda -related; ask your grandma — she knows.

At-home Appliances Worth Their Salt

Although vacuum cleaners are not the only tool you need in your cleaning cupboard, they are an important one. Not all hoovers are created equal. If you have a pet, for instance, you will need a pet-specific appliance and attachments to pick up the hair-shed. The hoover will need to have shampoo capability for the stains and the smells that come as a package deal with your beloved family pet.

Also check your carpet materials, e.g. wool or synthetics, and the manufacturer care instructions. You can’t treat all carpets in the same way when they are not made in the same way.

Letting the Pros at It

It is recommended that you get your carpets steam cleaned by a commercial cleaner twice per year, but less than once is a crime against your carpet. But professionals need to use responsible cleaning agents as well. Commercial carpet cleaners on the market often use naphthalene and perchloroethylene. These are carcinogenic and you need to say ‘NO THANKS’ to these. Look for eco-friendly carpet cleaning companies close to your home.

Conclusion

To preserve the longevity of your carpet and the health and wellbeing of your family, it is crucial that you employ a professional carpet cleaner to deep clean your rugs on a yearly basis. Maintain personal health and home cleanliness by incorporating as many of these helpful suggestions as possible into your house-cleaning regimen. You, your family, and friends will enjoy your living space and feel at ease in your home.

There comes a time for every homeowner or landlord where they realise their carpets could do with a thorough clean.

There are two options available. You can give it a go yourself by hiring a domestic carpet cleaning machine, or you could even buy a machine yourself. However, in most cases, this isn’t worth the hassle and can produce poor results.

We always recommend hiring a professional when it comes to getting your carpets cleaned.

Top 4 Reasons to Have Your Carpets Cleaned by a Professional

Although hiring a professional carpet cleaner is more expensive than ‘doing it yourself’, it’s worth the extra cost. Here’s why.

Better results

If you decide to clean your carpet yourself, you may barely notice the difference. After all, domestic carpet cleaners aren’t particularly powerful or designed to deal with common household stains.

Although a professional carpet cleaner costs more, they will produce fantastic results that are worth every penny, as long as you choose someone reputable. You’re guaranteed better results because professionals use expensive equipment which cannot rival the domestic cleaners. They also have the advanced solutions needed to tackle tough stains which household versions from supermarkets don’t compare to. 

Makes your life easier

As well as being more effective than domestic carpet cleaning machines, professional carpet cleaners have the equipment that will plough through the job. Making it much quicker and easier. DIY carpet cleaners aren’t particularly powerful, and so, if you have lots of rooms to clean, it could take hours or even days to complete. And then you have the added hassle of having to move heavy furniture, not to mention the bulky equipment as well! A professional does the job more quickly, and because they’re used to the weight of the machine, this is no problem for them.

Quicker to dry

Carpets that have been professionally cleaned take 75% less time to dry than using a domestic machine. This is mostly down to the fact that professional machines effectively remove moisture from the carpet while the cleaning takes place as well. So if you have your carpets professionally cleaned, they’ll dry in no time at all. If you try and clean your carpets yourself, they’ll probably remain damp for days and give off a rather unpleasant odour too! Plus, more dirt can be drawn into the carpet because of the moisture left there. 

Less risk of damage

Professional carpet cleaners know the fibres and materials of various types of carpets. So, they know the methods or chemicals that can be used to clean them without causing any damage. If you purchase or hire a household carpet cleaning machine in the hope of completing the job yourself, you could be in for some nasty surprises. Especially if you don’t know whether the machine or solutions are compatible with your carpets. Replacement carpets are expensive. Would you be able to foot the bill?

Christmas is that time of year when you can experience lots of different guests through your door. 

With family and friends descending for some much needed festive cheer, they may pay little attention to removing their shoes. For you, this can mean all sorts of dirt and debris being ground into your once pristine carpet, making it dark, dingy and unwelcoming. Clumsy family members and mulled wine don’t tend to go hand-in-hand. Meaning your once pristine carpet can soon look anything but!

Thankfully, by having your carpets professionally cleaned, your rooms can return to their once former glory, and you can enjoy a fresh and inviting environment once more. 

In our opinion, the new year is one of the best times to have your carpets cleaned because it sets you up for the year ahead and is easy to remember for when your next clean needs to take place. 

So, if this is a potential new years resolution for you, have a look at our guide. It takes you through how to clean the rooms of your home, step-by-step. One of which is hiring a professional carpet cleaner to rejuvenate your floors to their former glory.

How to Get Your Home and Carpets Looking Immaculate This New Year

Tidy your rooms. Keeping all your clutter stored away means that the job can be completed more efficiently. While knowing that every square inch of your carpet is going to be cleaned.

Start at your ceilings and work down. Get rid of cobwebs and dust around the edges of the ceiling. Then clean the walls and dust the furniture. Finally, give your carpets a good hover to get rid of the remaining dust and dirt.

Clean upholstery. If your chairs, curtains and soft furnishings could do with freshening up, do this before having your carpets cleaned. Cleaning soft furnishings can instantly make a room fresher and more inviting.

Tackle stubborn marks. Stains like coffee and red wine can be a nightmare to remove. For this task, you’ll need a specialist stain remover, designed for stubborn stains. We recommend getting your carpet cleaner to do this for you. They tend to have all the specialist chemicals which are much more effective than the ones you can get in supermarkets.

Have your carpets cleaned? You could try this yourself. But we would recommend calling in your local, professional carpet cleaner for a thorough clean of all your carpets throughout your home.

Final inspection. Give all your rooms a once over. This will make sure you haven’t missed any stains on any of your carpets or upholstery. 

Job done! Sit back and enjoy your clean home for another year. Just make sure to deal with any stains as they happen as they can be difficult to remove once dried in. 

If you haven’t yet made a new years resolution this January, consider having all your carpets cleaned by your local professional.

If you are lucky enough to own a dog, you’ll probably know just how difficult it can be to keep the carpets throughout your home in good condition. Although you may be worried about keeping your carpet fresh, there are, of course, much worse problems that can happen with your carpets as a result of your pets.

Accidents happen, and carpets can be permanently stained as a result. Or, instead of your dog using its chew toy for fun, it may use your carpet as an alternative. Although we cannot advise on such problems, one thing we are experts on is keeping your carpets clean and fresh despite having dogs at home.

So, if you’re fed up of your dogs making a mess, and have considered drastic measures, such as replacing your carpets with hard floors, or even worse, giving up your beloved pet, this simply isn’t necessary.

We provide all the tips you need to keep your carpets in the best condition possible. 

Keeping Your Carpets Fresh as a Dog Owner

Keep your dog clean. Our advice here is simple, if you keep your dog clean, your carpet stays clean too, because any dirt or debris on your dog is less likely to get onto your carpet. The trick is to keep your dog well-groomed, in particular keeping its hair trimmed to reduce the amount that lands on the floor.

Vacuum your carpets regularly

Depending on the breed of dog you own, your dog will always shed a certain amount of hair. Although hoovering with a regular vacuum cleaner is normally sufficient, it doesn’t always pick up all of the hair. Our advice? Buy a vacuum specifically designed for pet hair for a thorough clean-up.

Act fast with accidents

It is a fact that from time to time, dogs do have accidents. However, it is the way that you deal with them that makes all the difference. You’ll need to act quickly, stains left for long periods will stain your carpet permanently.

Dog urine on carpet is a common problem, and this can be dealt with using a dog urine cleaner, plus baking soda or dog urine neutraliser to destroy the smell. Steam cleaners are also effective at dealing with accidental stains.

Use natural dog foods

Many dog foods contain high levels of artificial colours, which can be a nightmare to get out of your carpet if your dog has an accident. The easiest way to avoid this problem is by buying natural dog food which is low in artificial colourings, or better still doesn’t contain them at all. 

Have your carpets professionally cleaned

No matter how much time or effort you invest into keeping your carpets cleaned, sometimes you just feel like you’re fighting a losing battle. If this sounds familiar, we recommend hiring a professional carpet cleaner who can get your carpets smelling fresh once more. Or perhaps even looking as good as the day they were installed! 

The carpets are the main components in the majority of households. They are very enjoyable to walk on and are great floor insulation. They also can be quite expensive, so naturally, everyone wants to keep them in good condition for as long as possible.

The golden rule for most households is to hoover at least once a week and deep clean using a professional carpet cleaner at least once a year. 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply to all.

Everyone should look at their carpet conditions and identify what is best for their home.

Different factors may increase the frequency of cleaning needed.

Family lifestyle

To improve your home hygiene you must first ask certain questions. For example: “Are there children in the house?” “How many pets live in the house?” “Is there a smoker in the family?” “Do you allow to wear shoes inside the house?” According to the IICRC – Standard & Reference Guide for Professional Carpet Cleaning aspects of your family lifestyle determine the regularity of carpet washing.

Check your heavy traffic areas

Most of the people tend to walk the same path between rooms, as well as visit some rooms in the home, like a living room or bedroom more frequently than the others like spare bedroom or study. Logically these heavy traffic areas of the carpet will get dirty faster and will require more frequent cleaning.

What your carpet is made of?

Most of the carpet manufacturers will give detailed instructions on how to clean their carpets most effectively. If you do not know what material your carpet is, and how to clean it, do not hesitate to ask the manufacturer.

Most of the professional carpet cleaners are trained to identify the fabrics and choose the appropriate cleaning method.

Remember, if dirt is not removed regularly, it will become permanent.

Dirty carpets create a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Keep a healthy environment for your family by asking to remove their shoes at the entrance, following the regular cleaning regiment and hiring the professional, that uses eco-friendly cleaning agents.