Prairie Floor Carpet

A fresh, clean carpet brightens a room and adds a level of comfort unsurpassed by other flooring materials. Unfortunately, without proper care, carpets can quickly discolor, stain and become matted. The same carpet that once brought you pleasure can quickly turn into an ugly eye-sore. More significantly, dirty carpets trap dust mites, mold and mildew, fur deposits from pets and other substances that can be hazardous to your family's health. Thankfully, there are a number of excellent carpet cleaning tips and solutions to keep your carpet looking like new while ensuring longer carpet life:

Tip #1: Buy a quality carpet Ensure that you purchase a carpet made with a durable and color-fast yarn. Make certain that the material allows for repeated carpet cleaning and is soil and water repellent, particularly in high traffic areas. Tip #2: Kick off your shoes for a cleaner carpet The soles of your shoes are a receptacle for sand, dirt and small stones from the outside environment. These materials act as a kind of sand paper, literally wearing down your carpet. Furthermore, much of the dirt clinging to shoes gets caught in carpet fibers, quickly soiling and matting carpet. Wearing outdoor shoes on carpets repeatedly causes “tracking” on the carpet - that horrible grey path often seen in high traffic areas of older carpets. So, do yourself and your carpets a favor. Kick off your shoes in the house and enjoy the luxurious feeling of carpet under your feet (in your socks or slippers of course!).

Prairie Cotton Carpet

Tip#3: Vacuum your carpets often
You've already kicked off your shoes, now turn on your stereo and boogie with your vacuum cleaner. Try vacuuming your carpets thoroughly at least once a week. Weekly vacuuming picks up loose dirt generated from outside and inside the home, which, when left alone, can accumulate quickly and cause damage to your carpet.

Tip#4: Professional carpet cleaning
At least once a year, invest the time and effort in renting a carpet shampooer from your local grocery store, hardware store or local area dealer. A carpet shampooer will deep clean, using a chemical shampoo made specifically for heavily soiled carpets. These wet-cleaner machines, also known as “steamers” spray and remove hot detergent while doing the scrubbing for you. A word of warning. Over saturating the carpet can cause water to soak through and damage flooring underneath. A final word of warning. If you're clumsy with machines, have a bad back or are physically fragile consider hiring an outside contractor instead.

Tip #5: Directed carpet cleaning
Ongoing spot cleaning can save you from bringing in a carpet shampooer more than once a year. Never, ever scrub a stain. Instead, blot it with a cloth. Club soda is a tried and true stain remover (let is set for 15 minutes) as is shaving cream. If these two classics don't work, invest in a professional carpet spray. They are more toxic (particularly for babies and pets), so read instructions carefully.

Keeping your carpets clean doesn't have to be a burden. By properly caring for, and respecting your carpets, you can maintain the beauty and quality of your carpets for many years. Happy cleaning!