Clean Your Carpets

February 24, 2010 Malisa Holderbaum
Tags: carpet cleaning, carpet cleaning machine, carpet shampoo, carpet shampoo machine, carpet shampooer

Most experts and carpet manufacturers say that in order to keep your carpet in top condition, you should vacuum it once a week per member of your household. However, vacuuming alone cannot get the job done. You also need to shampoo your carpets at least once every twelve to eighteen months. That is why carpet shampooing is a good chore to add to your list of spring cleaning projects. In order to complete this task, you will either need to purchase or rent a carpet shampoo machine.

If you are only going to shampoo your carpets once a year, then I would recommend renting an upright carpet shampooer for that job and buying a small handheld carpet cleaning machine to handle spills and stains in the interim. There is no sense in storing a large piece of equipment year round especially since it will take several years to get your investment back. By then there will probably be better carpet shampoo machines available.

To clean your carpets, the first step is to clear away any furniture or other items such as long drapes that might obstruct your way to the carpet. Next, you should vacuum the carpet well to get rid of any surface dirt and debris. The object of carpet shampooing is to loosen and remove dirt and grime that has worked its way deep into the carpet fibers and cannot be removed by a vacuum. The next step will be to prepare your cleaning solution. You can buy brand name carpet shampoos that you dilute with hot water and combine with antifoam agents or you can make your own homemade carpet shampoo. My favorite homemade carpet cleaner is a one to one mixture of vinegar and water. Vinegar is one of the magic substances that you can use to clean almost anything.

After you shampoo your carpet, it is very important to rinse the carpet thoroughly. The best way to do this is to run the carpet shampoo machine with just cold water in it. The cold water will attract any soap residue that is still left in the carpet and then the carpet cleaning machine will extract it with heavy suction. When you run over your carpets and the solution in the discharge container is completely clear of soap and suds then your carpets are rinsed. Finally, you need to allow approximately twenty-four hours for your carpets to dry. You should avoid walking on them while they are wet.

Entry Filed under: General Household Cleaning

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to comments via RSS Feed