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.

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!

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!