Carpet Care Tips

1. The most important step in caring for your carpet is vacuuming. Vacuum the carpet thoroughly and frequently, particularly in high-traffic areas. Walking on soiled carpet allows the soil  to work its way below the surface of the pile where they are far more difficult to remove and can damage carpet fibers. Frequent vacuuming removes these soils from the surface before  they can cause problems.
For rooms with light traffic, vacuum the carpet traffic lanes 2 times a week and the entire area one time a  week. In areas with heavy traffic, vacuum the carpet traffic lanes daily and the entire area 2 times a week. Up to three passes of the machine will suffice for light soiling, but five to seven passes are necessary for heavily soiled areas. Change the vacuuming direction occasionally to help stand the pile upright and reduce matting.
A high quality vacuum is a must for a good soil removal.  Cheaper vacuums don't last as long and loose their quality of suction after a little while. Always make sure the vacuum bag or canister is changed or dumped 3/4 or less full.  Much more and the vacuum's suction is greatly reduced.

2.  Walk off mats at all outside entrances are as important as a good quality vacuum.  We recommend one that is course and very porous so the soils will go down below the foot traffic and keep the soil away from your shoes and out of your carpet in your home.

3.   Spot removal is close to the top of the list of carpet care tips.  Always remove spills as soon as you see them.

A: If you spill a drink or some type of liquid, take a folded towel and place on top of the spill and step on it or tap it with a spotting brush to draw as much liquid as possible up in the towel, move towel and repeat until no more will transfer into towel. Then take plain water ( if it is a water base spill) in  a towel  and flush spot out by placing on top of spill with pressure on it do not rub, tap with spotting brush to remove the remainder of spill then force dry with a fan or hair dryer with no heat.  

B: If solid take a spoon, spatula, or something flat and remove as much as possible with out forcing further down into fiber.  Take the recommended spotting solution of 1/4 teaspoon of clear dishwashing detergent to a quart of warm water and put on towel and work the spot from outside to middle to keep spot from expanding, trying not to force farther down into fiber.  Repeat until none will transfer on towel.  Then take a clean white towel tap with spotting brush to transfer any remaining into towel, repeat until no more will transfer.  Then force dry top of fiber either with a fan or hair dryer with no heat to keep the spill from wicking back.
C: For oil base spills take a spoon, spatula, or something flat and remove as much as possible with out forcing further down into fiber.  Take the recommended spotting solution  designed specifically for grease, oil, or tar, and put on towel (never pour strait on fiber, this will go to backing of carpet and remove the glue and cause damage to fiber) and work the spot from outside to middle to keep spot from expanding, trying not to force farther down into fiber.  Repeat until none will transfer on towel.  Then take a clean white towel tap with spotting brush to transfer any remaining into towel, repeat until no more will transfer. Then take the recommended spotting solution of 1/4 clear dishwashing detergent to 1 quart of warm water on towel to flush out the remainder.   Then force dry top of fiber either with a fan or hair dryer with no heat to keep it from wicking.

4.  You have invested a lot of money into your carpets so take the time and effort to maintain them.  Most carpet retailers tell you to wait  until you just have to - to get your carpets cleaned.  They have a negative approach about carpet cleaning, when carpet cleaning is done right it will make your carpets last longer.  Waiting until your carpets are overly soiled is the best way to have to replace your carpets sooner.  You wouldn't keep wearing a shirt  or pair of pants until they were so soiled when you wash them they wouldn't come clean.  Carpet is just like your clothes if you wait until they are really soiled then it is very hard to keep the like new appearance.  The longer stains and soil are left in the fiber the harder they  are to remove. If the dry soils are left in the carpet fibers it acts as sandpaper and tears away at the fiber and leaves the carpet fibers dull.  You may not have spills and stains in your carpets but the dry soils is what puts wear on the carpet fibers. Most carpet manufactures recommends 6  to 12  months getting your carpets cleaned, maybe up to 18 months if  you do not have a lot of traffic.  Over the past 20 years, I have seen a trend of customers waiting 3 to 6 years to have their carpets cleaned and then expect us as professionals to get the like new appearance back into their carpets and it does not happen.  Get your carpets cleaned on a regular basis to keep them looking like new for years to come.

5. Move furniture around  in your rooms to offset the traffic pattern in your carpet.

6.  Never use over the counter spotting detergents. most if not all will leave a sticky residue in the fibers and cause the spot to reappear larger and darker. Some spotters will even bleach and damage your carpet fibers and  will set the stain in the fibers so even carpet cleaning professionals can not remove them.  If you are in  doubt  about the spot or wether or not you can remove it yourself then call a professional, more than likely you will set it in where it will be in the fiber permanently.