Complete Care of Carpet and Oriental Rugs – What you need to know to get the most out of your investment.
There is nothing like new carpet or a beautiful oriental rug. It smells new, feels incredibly soft and fluffy, looks beautiful and makes a perfect statement about your style and taste. One additional benefit in Boulder, or any other area of Colorado is the way it feels on your feet on a cold day- no other floor covering, which is relatively inexpensive to buy and install, keeps you warm from your first step of the day. Your carpet or oriental rug represents a sizable investment in your home or business and the proper care and maintenance are critical.
In order to get the most out of your carpet or oriental rug, you need a total carpet care program. A total carpet care program is a “retailer to recycle” approach to carpet and rug care. To be effective, the program should include proper selection, professional installation, daily soil control, interim maintenance, regularly scheduled restorative cleaning, and the application of an appropriate carpet protector. The following tips can help you develop a simple carpet care program.
Carpet selection and professional installation– it may be too late for the carpet you already have, but carpet selection is an important part of making sure your carpets perform as expected. Some fibers are more resilient than others. Certain colors and fibers look cleaner longer because they hide soil better. Pile height, face density, and carpet construction all play a factor in how well your carpet or oriental rug will hold up.
Soil control– Prevent soils from getting on the carpet by using walk-off mats and keeping walkways and hard surface floors clean. If you remove your shoes when entering and wear clean house shoes or socks, you will stop much of the soil from ever entering the home- (bare feet should not be on the carpet surface on a regular basis due to body oils that will be transferred from the skin to the carpet surface which will oxidize and turn yellow over time). The most damaging soils are dry, gritty, particulate soils that abrade and dull the surfaces of the carpet fibers. This leads to an overall loss of luster in the high traffic areas and washed out appearance that can not be removed by cleaning. Regular use of a well-maintained vacuum cleaner is the single most important part of a total carpet care program. Remember to change the bags or dump the canister when they are about half full and replace any hepa filters on a regular basis- don’t wait until the filters are totally full- doing so will shorten the life of your vacuum and reduce the effectiveness of your cleaning. Prompt attention to spots and spills is also highly important using a safe cleaning compound that does not leave a residue. Spots can eventually become permanent stains if allowed to age and oxidize on the carpet or rug. It is best to attend to food and beverage spills immediately as carpet protector is only designed to keep the spill on the surface of the fibers long enough to allow you to remove the substance in a timely manner.
Interim maintenance- Some areas simply require more attention than others. The main entry of your home and the high traffic areas in the family room, or just outside the kitchen tend to collect the greatest amount of soils. One area that I have noticed many clients neglecting is the master bedroom and closet- in general bare feet in these areas are making contact with the carpet or rug which deposits body oils on the fibers. The body oils attract soil and oxidize which will cause a yellow tint on the fibers of over time. In most cases, it makes sense to clean these areas more frequently. Maintenance cleaning usually goes quickly, dries fast and involves little or no furniture moving, so it is far less disruptive to your daily routine.
Scheduled professional cleaning- There comes a time when your carpet or oriental rug requires deep restorative cleaning. This should always be done before soiling becomes visible. By the time you see soil buildup, damage has already been done to the fibers. How often you need professional deep cleaning depends on several contributing factors including the number of occupants, presence of pets, vacuuming frequency, lifestyle and other considerations. For instance, Boulder and the surrounding areas have had forest fires nearly every year. The smoke from these fires will enter your home and damage all surfaces eventually.
Protector application- Virtually every carpet and rug manufactured in America comes with a factory-applied protector ie- Scotchguard, or Teflon- TM. Over time, this protector wears off and your carpet or oriental rug loses its ability to resist household spots, spills and stains. It is very important that this protective finish be reapplied after every professional cleaning. Your carpets and oriental rugs will thank you and will stay beautiful and last years longer.
Call Cathy at All Phase Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning at (303) 938-1793 for more information on making your carpets and rugs last longer or to schedule your next carpet, upholstery, or tile and grout cleaning in Boulder or surrounding areas. We are happy to help.
I hope this article was helpful and leave you now with this picture showing some of my beautiful tulips that graced our yard this spring. Have a wonderful spring and summer:)
