Carpeting adds comfort and warmth to any home or office but requires regular cleaning to look its best. In addition to vacuuming and spot stain treatment, deep cleaning removes embedded dirt, dander, and allergens.

Some manufacturers require that you have your carpets cleaned to maintain their warranty. Here are six things you should know about carpet cleaning. Contact Carpet Cleaning EL Dorado Hills now!

Vacuuming may seem like a chore, but it’s important to maintain carpet fibers. Whether it’s pet hair, dirt, or debris from outside, vacuuming regularly keeps the dirt and pollutants from settling into the fibers and causing damage to the fabric over time.

Vacuums use suction and sometimes agitation to remove dirt, dust, and other small particles from carpets and hard floors. It’s recommended that you vacuum your entire home at least once a week, and more frequently for high-traffic areas. The best vacuums for carpet are ones that are designed to specifically remove the small debris found in the carpet fibers, such as a commercial grade vacuum cleaner.

While a regular maintenance routine of vacuuming can help extend the lifespan of your carpets, it’s also crucial for a professional cleaning to be effective. It’s vital that you pre-vacuum your home before the professionals arrive to suck up surface dust and other abrasive particles that can scratch and damage the carpet’s delicate fibers during the cleaning process.

Pre-vacuuming also helps ensure that any set stains or allergens that are stuck in your carpet fibers get removed during the cleaning process. Without pre-vacuuming, these abrasive particles can be pushed deep into the fibers and become difficult to remove with cleaning solutions.

Carpets can also act as a filter, trapping and holding allergens and pollutants that you then breathe in. This can trigger symptoms of asthma and other respiratory conditions in sensitive individuals, such as bronchitis. Vacuuming regularly removes these contaminants from the carpet, improving indoor air quality and making your home healthier for you and your family.

Another benefit of pre-vacuuming is that it can improve the results of both low moisture cleaning (LVM) and hot water extraction (HWE). This is because unvacuumed dirt turns into mud when mixed with water, which makes it harder to clean the carpet. The LVM and HWE processes use a combination of cleaning solutions to remove both the abrasive dirt from the surface and the embedded staining and odors beneath. Pre-vacuuming can also make the drying process much faster, allowing you and your family to return to your home sooner.

Preventing Stains

Even with today’s best stain-resistant carpet, spots and spills are a fact of life. When they’re handled quickly and correctly, these aren’t a big deal—but when allowed to sit, they can cause permanent damage that will make the spot harder to remove. The problem is called wicking or soiling.

To prevent this, keep a moisture meter handy and use it to identify problem areas before they get too wet. Then, blot the area with a white towel (not printed or colored) to soak up as much of the liquid as possible—and continue to do so until the spot is nearly dry. If the stain is particularly stubborn, put a piece of white cotton cloth over the spot and weigh it down with books or other heavy objects to keep it from resoaking.

If you need to use a cleaning product, be sure it is approved for your type of carpet. And, be very careful when rubbing or scrubbing a spot—this can work the stain deeper into the fibers and cause it to reappear later.

Finally, be sure to vacuum regularly to remove the dirt and oils that build up in the carpet pad and that wick back from the bottom of the fibers. And, encourage your family members to follow the shoe rule—it will help keep mud and debris from getting trapped in the carpet fibers.

All kinds of toxins and allergens get trapped in the fibres of your carpet—think dust, pet hair, dead skin cells, mildew, mould and other germs. When they’re walked on and then inhaled, these can lead to health problems like asthma and allergies.

If you have pets, then you’re probably well acquainted with the kind of stains they can leave behind on your carpet—like blood, vomit and urine. Fortunately, a bit of hydrogen peroxide works wonders on biological stains like these. Just sprinkle the spot with the solution and blot it (again, using a white towel) until most of the liquid has been drawn out of the carpet. Be sure to test the peroxide in an inconspicuous spot first, as it can bleach carpet.

Stain Removal

Keeping up with routine carpet cleaning and stain removal is a great way to maintain the longevity of your floors. Having the right knowledge of how to treat stains and spills is also essential, especially because different types of carpet require special treatments to keep them looking and smelling fresh.

The best strategy for removing any type of spill or stain is to act fast and soak up the excess liquid before it can seep into the fibers. Using a clean white cloth or paper towel, blot the affected area to absorb the stains as much as possible. Avoid scrubbing, which only pushes the dirt and stain deeper into the fibers. Instead, blot and rinse to get rid of any soapy residue that will attract future grime.

Before applying any kind of stain removal solution, test the product in a hidden area of your carpet to ensure it won’t set the spot or cause other damage or discoloration. Pouring a solution over the spot may oversaturate the carpet, which can result in ringing or watermarking around the edges of the stain. It’s better to apply the treatment with a spray bottle and work it into the carpet in a circular motion from the outside of the stain, toward the center to prevent spreading.

After treating the spot, rinse it with icy water to remove any residual cleaner and prevent the spot from drying in the wrong way. If you don’t rinse fully, re-soiling will occur very quickly. Another common reason spots reappearing is something called “wicking.” It happens when the stain has soaked into the carpet’s backing or underpad and can be re-absorbed by the strands. The re-absorbed stain travels up the fibers and back to the surface of the carpet, like a candle traveling up the wick of the holder.

If your stains persist, it’s time to call in the professionals for a deep carpet cleaning by hot water extraction. This is the only way to remove embedded dirt and stains completely from the tangled fibers of your floor coverings. For the best results, look for a professional who uses a truck-mounted machine to both dispense and extract the dirty solution.

Cleaning

Carpeting provides a warm, comfortable and attractive addition to any home. However, just like any flooring type it requires regular upkeep in order to retain its appearance and functionality. In addition to daily vacuuming to remove surface dirt and debris, there is also the need for more extensive cleaning, especially in high traffic areas. Professional cleaning helps to keep your carpets looking great and smelling fresh while also ensuring that any embedded dirt is removed from the deepest recesses of the pile.

Dirty carpets can trap airborne pollutants that cause allergies and other health problems. These pollutants include bacteria, dust mites and bed bugs. Regular cleaning helps to remove these allergens, thus improving indoor air quality and making your home a healthier place to live.

Regular professional cleaning helps to extend the life of your carpeting. Regular upkeep will not only prevent premature wear and tear but will also reduce the rate at which the color of your carpet fades and the fibers delaminate. This is particularly important in high traffic areas of the home and office that are subject to continuous wear and tear.

There are many different methods for deep cleaning carpets, but the most common is hot water extraction. This process involves the application of a chemical preconditioner such as an alkaline solution for synthetic carpets or a mild acidic solution (such as dilute acetic acid) for wool twist pile and other natural fiber carpets. Then a pressurized manual or automatic carpet cleaner is used to rinse out the preconditioner, leaving behind only a fraction of the soil. After the carpet is completely dry, it will be inspected to ensure that all the stains have been removed and that the fibers are returned to their neutral pH level. For best results, carpets should be cleaned every 12 to 18 months.