Top Carpet Cleaning Secrets – Easy and Money saving!
We certainly do love carpets here in the UK, many homes throughout the country will be laid with varied patterns and thickness of material to make our rooms that bit more cosy. Progressing from years ago when houses usually had tiles (both ceramic or plastic), good old bare floor boards or even parquet if one had the budgets. Today we have dedicated stores across the UK designed to help home owners find that perfect carpet for their home and with prices starting at just £1.99 a m2 to those in the £100’s and £1,000’s.
Keeping them clean for many is a real difficulty even with strict house rules such as no shoes in the house or pets – Carpets see a lot of usage in our homes from the busy stair case to the popular TV room, over a period of time it is sometimes inevitable that they will see some wear and tear along with dirt / stains.
So what options, other than replacing our carpets, have we to keep our carpets fresh, clean and looking new?
Professional Carpet Cleaning Company: You might have expected this as an option, but I like many saw this option as an expensive one and if we can, a solution we should try to avoid if we can. Though you will find that a search online will show that prices are not too hard hitting, in fact I see a general price of around £80 + for a standard three bedroom house to have carpets cleaned – One example here with Clean a Carpet.
Vacuum regularly and thoroughly: Though not a direct solution, in the long term it will be. By setting yourself a regular cleaning pattern on your carpet cleaning endeavours will help to reduce ground in dirt / stains. A way to avoid ruining your carpets with stains is to make sure you clean them as often as possible otherwise usage stains will remain permanent.
Treat stains immediately: The best way to treat any stain on any surface is to act quickly. A old stain is usually one that was not treated quickly as most normal household spillage on to carpets can be cleaned if treated not long after it happens. Yes of course a lovely brand new thick pile beige carpet will struggle big time if a dish of pipping hot oily Vindaloo curry is knocked over it, but most carpets today are made with some resilience to spills so many times it will not be game over when spill occur.
Use the correct products: Do not panic and go rummaging through doors and applying something to your carpet that is not fit for the purpose. Do not think immediately bleach or alcohol and instead do some quick research online to find the best produce to deal with the exact stain, and not forgetting also, for the carpet you have fitted. As an example bleach may rid some stains on some carpets, but on others such as those rich in colours it may cause permanent fading.
Never rub instead dab: Many people will think to rub that stain away with a cleaner – This is a big no as you will likely spread the stain further over a wider area so instead the better method is to dab gently the problem area to contain it spreading.
Spilt candle wax: A fairly common accident at home, I have done it myself, and when spilt the wax will fairly quickly set and embed itself within the pile of the carpet. Here the saviour is the house hold iron and a little bit of delicate ironing motion on the carpet with ideally a thin material such as that of a tea towel. Lay the tea towel over the area where the wax spillage is and gently iron over the area to warm up the wax – When warmed up you carefully scrape the wax away (you may have to repeat the process). Take note which carpet you have prior to this action and do not leave the iron on too long as it may cause damage to the pile. Once more or less cleaned away you should them apply the likes of kitchen roll and once again quickly iron over the stained area to pick up an oily residue.
Chewing gum: Such a common one again and a relatively easy solution to match. If you spot chewing gum on the carpet you will need to ideally remove what you can by hand without accidentally rubbing it in further. The trick here is to use an ice cube and freeze the gum (up to 1 minute of applying the ice to the gum) which will harden it and make it easier to manage – You will then need to raise the gum as high as possible and simply cut with a knife the attached strands of carpet so that the spot will be less or mostly unnoticeable.
Dish washing liquid to the rescue: If you have no specific carpet cleaners at home and need to get rid of light stains such as tea / cola / juices then you should opt for a bowl of warm water, a small sponge / cloth and add in some dish washing liquid. Gently dab the effected area with the dampened sponge / cloth to rinse and raise away the spillage.
Shaving cream for grease and oil stains: I thought this an odd one though many refer to it and that is the usage of shaving cream for stains which involve grease / oil. Spray the cream on to the effected area (only a small amount needed) and use a damp cloth to dab the area in order to raise the stain out from the carpet strands. Once you have worked on removing the stain then clean away any excess shaving cream with a solution of warm water and dish washing liquid.
White vinegar: A well known aid to cleaning stains is vinegar. Lighter stains you can look to use white vinegar along with warm water to slightly thing it down. If tougher and darker stains are the problem then white vinegar along with either laundry detergent or cornstarch.
Beer: If you can spare some that is! Yes, it is said that a coffee or tea stain confronts you then applying a drop of beer on top and dabbing the effected area will reduce or remove the stain.
WD40: A household favourite so many of us will have a can of this in the garage of under the sink somewhere. If you have an ink stain the it is said that applying WD40 to the area will reduce / remove the stain – Leave for a few minutes then lightly dab away the WD40 and stain with warm soapy water and a cloth.
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