Atlanta Carpet Cleaning Shop

So you’ve just got some brand spanking new carpets and they are looking great – and if all goes well, you’d  like to keep it that way! This article will discuss some common sense tips on keeping carpet clean and new looking.

Remove your shoes before entering the home. Taking off your shoes before coming in is one of the easiest and best ways to keep dirt from ever getting into the carpet in the first place. Think about all the areas your shoes have been – public sidewalks, break room floors, bathroom floors in public buildings, clubs, and so on – do you really want to bring anything touching that in contact with your carpets? Getting in the habit of simply taking off those shoes before walking into the house is a great habit to make. Asking guests to remove shoes can sometimes be ackward, but leading by example is the best method short of asking them to take off the shoes.

Put a nice rug outside the door to wipe your feet on. If you’re unable to follow the first tip above, putting a rug outside the door will motivate people to wipe their feet before entering.

Put a nice rug inside the door to wipe your feet on. Now this is a funny follow-up to tip number 2, but I’ve noticed something interesting – almost like a weird psychological experiment – but if you put a second rug on the inside of the door, people who have just wiped there feet outside will probably go ahead and do it again. So now you’ve got people wiping their feet twice instead of once. Try it, it works!

Vacuum once a week, every week. Regularly vacuuming those carpets will remove the dirt and grime before it has a chance to bond with the carpet fibers for the long term. This is one of the most obvious carpet cleaning tips yet how many people out there allow there carpets to go weeks and even months before vacuuming them? A weekly schedule is the best method for long term care and cleaning. For more specifics on vacuuming, see this article: Cleaning Carpets with a Vacuum Cleaner.

Get your carpets professionally cleaned once a year, ever year. A professional carpet cleaning service will be able to remove far more dirt and dust and other dirty things – like pet dander – from your carpets, even if you follow all the tips above. You can’t go wrong with hiring a professional to clean the carpets! You and your carpets will be happy you did.

For more information on carpet cleaning, see Preparing for Carpet Cleaning and the Carpet Cleaning FAQ.

Before having a professional carpet cleaning service  come to your home, there are a few things that should be done in preparation to make things go as easy as possible for everyone involved. The reasons for this type of preparation is for safety, speed, and to improve the overall quality of the cleaning.

Before the service truck arrives, all furniture items on the carpet should be removed off the carpet so that the cleaners have easy access. In the same way, the removal of smaller items such as magazines, toys, and so on will make everything easier. In order for the carpet to be cleaned, access to all areas must be made. However, removal of large items such as beds or desks is not necessary. Carpet cleaners will work around such items to access the carpet underneath them as well as possible.

Fragile items and any breakable items should be removed and placed in a safe spot for protection.

Cats and dogs should be partitioned off in a safe space which is well ventilated (an open window works well), and in which does not contain any carpet that will be cleaned. The animals will need  to remain here for many hours. (It is not possible to clean the carpets and then put animals right back on the carpet due to the length of time it takes for carpets to dry.)

This one is a bit ironic, but nevertheless, it is recommended that you either make certain that the carpet cleaners will do a pre-cursor carpet vacuum with a traditional vacuum cleaner before applying the stronger cleaning methods, or simply vacuum your own carpets before they arrive. Carpet cleaning definitely starts with a simple vacuum to remove free debri, dirt, and hair that is at the top level of the carpet fibers.

If the carpet extends into the closet and this area is  to be cleaned as well, be sure there are no  hanging clothes which touch the carpet. For instance, skirts and suits might need to be pinned upward or hung from a doorway in another part of the house while the carpets are cleaned. This should be done to protect clothing and make the carpet accessible. Additionally, if your carpet extends into your kitchen, all kitchen furniture should be removed as well for easy access to the carpet.

Draperies and curtains often hang down and touch the carpet. These items will need to be pinned upward or otherwise made so that they are not touching the carpet in order to protect the draperies and make the carpet underneath them accessible for cleaning.

Do I need to remove my furniture and other items before having the carpets cleaned?

Yes and no. Furniture containing easily breakable items (such as a china cabinet) needs to be removed or cleared out. Other furniture items can be worked around. Items such as couches and loveseats should be removed if possible. Carpet cleaners will assess this before starting, so the best thing is to do what you can before they arrive and then they will let you know if anything else needs to be removed or is otherwise a concern.

How long does it take the carpets to dry?

Usually it only takes about 3 hours for the carpets to dry after a thorough cleaning. In some more humid environments it can take a much longer time (up to 15 hours), but for most, the average is just around 3 or 4 hours.

What do I do with my pets?

Pets will need to be taken out of any rooms with carpets while they are being cleaned and until they are fully dried, which takes anywhere from 3 to 4 hours but sometimes even up to 15 hours depending on the type of cleaning and the humidity of the home/environment.

Is it true that some carpet cleaning methods eventually cause shrinkage in the carpet fibers?

This was once true, however it is no longer a concern. A material called jute used to be regularly used as a backing inside the carpet. When jute becomes wet, it shrinks – and certain carpet cleaning methods caused enough wetness to make this happen. The good news is that nearly all carpets made today (and for some time now) no longer uses jute, instead the carpets have a synthetic backing.

If however, you are in the market for new carpets, take a look at this recommended Atlanta Carpet Installation company.

Do I really have to vacuum my carpet before paying for someone else to clean it?

Some carpet cleaning companies include a pre-cleaning vacuum service as part of the procedure. And likewise, some do not, and will ask the homeowner to vacuum before there arrival. It is important that the carpets be vacuumed before any intense cleaning in order to remove the upper layers of dirt on the carpet. The cleaning will then target the lower levels or embedded dirt, dust, etc.

How often should I have my carpets professionally cleaned?

This is a great question! We recommened for long-lasting, healthy, clean carpets that you get them cleaned every 12 months. You can’t go wrong getting the carpets cleaned once a year! And in the long run, your carpets and your home will certainly reap the most benefit!

What about my wood floors?

Cleaning wood floors is a whole different ball game than carpet cleaning, but the good news is that most carpet cleaning companies also offer the services to clean your wooden floors. Ask and find out! You might qualify for a discount if you use more than one cleaning service from the same company!

Organizing the downtime for a professional carpet cleaning is not typically considered one of life’s joys. However, like getting the oil changed or having the car washed, it’s one of those necessary parts of life that should not be neglected! Sometimes, opportunities open that make it much easier to go in for a professional carpet cleaning. Other times, outside circumstances pretty much demand (or strongly appreciate) a good carpet cleaning. Let’s take a look at what we mean by these two examples.

What are some opportunities to take advantage of when it comes to a carpet cleaning? The answer is fairly obvious : right before moving into a new home or renting an apartment, before you’ve put all your items in the house is by far the easiest  time to get those carpets cleaned! (Or deal with any other issues, such as the plumbing or electrical issues.) This means no furniture removal (sorry furniture moving companies!), no hiding the pets, no cleaning up the closet floor. It’s also a good “peace of mind” tool – imagine how nice it is moving into a place and you know that the previous residents dirt, hair, bacteria, and other “things you don’t want to think about” have been removed from the carpet? And if you are moving into a place as a renter, do NOT count on the rental company to clean the carpets beyond anything but a vacuum.

Other less used opportune moments would be after doing any kind of remodeling (definitely after and not before!) or if you’re replacing a large amount of furniture, it could be a great time to clear out those rooms and get things clean before putting the new furniture in.

More often than not though, it is not so much a good opportunity that presents itself for a carpet cleaning as a circumstance. Probably the most eager carpet cleaning customers are the couple with a newborn. And for good reason: do yourself a favor right now and DON’T think about all the undesirable debri that is in the carpet. OK, actually, for the sake of understanding, let’s ease into this: dirt, bacteria, pet hair, human hair, pet urine, body fluids, food… it is easy to see the problem. Does anyone want to think of having a child crawling in this mess? True, the mess is microscopic usually, but nevertheless, many find it disgusting to allow a child to crawl on carpets which have not ever had a true professional carpet cleaning! And we didn’t even get into the possibility of allergic reactions do the dirt and grime…

Beyond the proud parents of a newborn, it’s also a good time for a carpet cleaning when things just get too messy and too much time has passed without a cleaning. It’s a good idea to consider having a real carpet cleaning done every 12-24 months. It’s not that expensive and the result is a clean carpet and perhaps most importantly, peace of mind.

Now is may seem funny to put forth an article proposing how to vacuum, implying there are some secret trick to it. There’s not really, it’s just that, sometimes the fundamentals get lost, or rather, common sense has a way of flying out the window when we do something regularly without putting much thought into it. Vacuuming the house is sort of like that; I mean really, do you actually think about what you’re doing when you walk around the house with that thing? Most of us are trying to just watch our favorite soap at the same time, with the TV blaring over the loudness of the vacuum cleaner.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at some simple things to remember when vacuuming your house.

Vacuuming regularly every week will increase the overall health and lifespan of your carpets. Get in the habit of regularly vacuuming the carpets. By doing this every week, you won’t be giving all the dirt, grime, dust, pet dander, and other assorted nastiness time to settle in deeply into the carpet fibers. This means the carpets will increase their overall lifespan, and in the meanwhile, your carpets will look better.

Pay special attention to carpeted areas with high foot traffic. All entryways in and out of the house are targets of high foot traffic, and casualties of the dirt that this brings. Also, check the path between the couch and the refrigerator. (Joke.)

Pay special attention to computer desks, dinner tables, and places where you spend a lot of time. I noticed that the area around my husbands computer desk seemed haunted by cookies and other crumbs on the carpet. What foul ghost could be causing this? Oh wait, perhaps there’s a less supernatural cause to it all – my husband eating at the computer! You’ll likely find that any area where you spend a lot of time naturally collects more dirt and grime, both from foot traffic and “food traffic.”

Really go over the spots with a lot of dirt/foot traffic/food traffic. Don’t just idly run the vacuum cleaner over the dirties parts just once. Really go over it – back and forth, side to side, slowly. Give it time to remove the dirt from the carpet fibers. It only takes an extra moment or two to do this but it can make a big difference in your carpets appearance simply because it will be cleaner!

Do you have any every-day vacuum cleaning tips? If so, give us your thoughts by adding a comment below!