How to Clean Carpet: Cleaning Tips for Long Lasting Carpet
- Set the vacuum at the right height
If your vacuum is set too low, you can damage the carpet as well as the vacuum’s roller brush and drive belt. If it’s set too high, you won’t pick up any dirt. To set the vacuum’s ideal height, raise it to its highest setting, turn it on and lower it until you can feel the vacuum trying to tug itself forward as you begin a how to clean carpet project.
Dirt is like thousands of little blades that cut carpet fibers. When you walk across a dirty carpet, you grind sharp dirt particles against the yarn, making tiny nicks in the fibers. All that fuzz mixed in with the dirt in your vacuum cleaner bags is your beautiful carpet headed out the door one bag at a time. When dirt scratches the fibers, it dulls the sheen, which is why high-traffic areas appear duller than the rest of the carpet. Over time, grinding dirt wears away the fibers too, which mats them down and makes them stain more easily. Follow these how to clean carpet tips to keep your carpet as dirt-free as possible.
- Vacuum often
To protect your carpet, vacuum entrance areas and high-traffic areas twice a week and the rest of the carpeting at least weekly. Oily soils attract oily soils, and frequent vacuuming will reduce soil buildup.
- Start with a clean bag or filter
A dirty bag, dirt cup or filter can cut a vacuum’s suction power in half. The main reason bagless vacuums stop working is that the filters aren’t changed often enough. Replace or wash (if possible) the filters on bagless vacuums every three months. Replace vacuum bags when they’re three-quarters full.
- Vacuum at the right speed
Vacuum slowly enough to get out as much dirt as possible. Make one quick pass over low-traffic areas and two slow passes over high-traffic areas. Two slow passes removes ground-in dirt more effectively than several fast passes.
- Use walk-off mats
Use walk-off mats inside and out to keep dirt off the carpeting. Coarse-textured mats outside your doors remove soil and will make a how to clean carpet project easier. Water-absorbent mats inside prevent wet shoes on the carpeting.
The Seven Benefits of Carpet
- Style
Despite hard surfaces, such as hardwood, taking up many pages of interior design magazines over recent years, carpet has a style all its own. From luxurious and elegant to casual and comfy, carpet can give a space an entirely different feel, just by changing the style of carpet. Consider a short-pile, patterned carpet for a formal room or a long frieze for a more casual space.
- Comfort
Have you ever noticed that after a period of time spent standing or walking on ceramic tiles or concrete, your body is sore and achy? Hard surfaces are just that: hard. They offer no flexibility underfoot, so they lack the ability to act as shock absorbers for your footsteps. So what does this mean? Basically, it means that as you walk across a hard surface floor, your body gets a bit of a jolt each time you take a step because your body rather than the floor absorbs the force of your impact.
In addition to feeling nice to walk, sit and lay on, carpet provides shock absorption thanks to its flexibility and cushioning. This effect is increased dramatically if there is underpad beneath the carpet. So, not only is carpet more comfortable to the touch, but it is also easier on the body when standing or walking on it over a long period of time.
- Warmth
Carpet provides excellent insulation value to a space, much more than hard surface flooring materials. In a study conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Textile Engineering, results indicated that a thicker carpet provides a higher insulation factor (“R-value”) regardless of the fiber type of the carpet. Also, underpad has its own R-value, and the use of underpad in conjunction with carpet combines the R-value of each material, giving greater overall insulation.
Reducing heat loss means that carpet can help you save on the costs associated with heating a home, such as electricity or natural gas. For regions that experience cold winters, this could amount to big cost savings every year.
Source: The Carpet and Rug Institute.
- Health
There has been a long-running debate about whether carpet aggravates or alleviates health problems such as asthma and allergies. For years, people with such respiratory concerns were advised to rip up all of the carpets in their homes and replace it with hard surface flooring. However, numerous studies over recent years have consistently shown that carpet is actually more beneficial than hard surface floors for those with breathing difficulty.
- Quiet
Sound carries much further when there is no carpet in the space. You’ve probably, at some point, been in a room that is bare of carpet and noticed that sound tended to bounce off the walls and create an echo in the room. This is because hard surfaces can’t absorb sound the way that soft surfaces – such as carpet – can. Carpet contributes to a much quieter space.
- Safety
It goes without saying that hard surfaces can be slippery, and they’re not much fun to land on when slips and falls do happen. Carpet not only provides a soft landing surface – which can be especially helpful in baby’s rooms – it also helps to prevent some falls in the first place, particularly on stairs. Hardwood stairs present a safety concern, especially when there are very young or elderly residents in the home or occupants with mobility issues. Properly selected carpet increases safety by preventing many slips and falls. Carpet for stairs should ideally be in the 50- to 60-ounce range to provide durability without being too thick.
- Cost
All products have a range of qualities and price points. Therefore, there is no particular floor covering type that is guaranteed to always be more or less expensive than another. However, in general terms, carpet often costs much less than hard surface floors.
Many hard surface flooring products, such as solid hardwood and vinyl floor, require special preparation before they can be installed. Specific sub-floor requirements must be met, or existing flooring must be coated before installation can occur. Carpet typically eliminates these concerns, as it can be installed over a variety of sub-floors, with far less stringent requirements. This saves a great deal of cost.
Additionally, carpet itself can be less expensive than other materials such as hardwood. So, while of course there are exceptions to every rule, carpet is generally more cost-effective than hard surface flooring
Clean Up Pet Accidents
If your pet has an accident on the carpet, act fast. Urine can damage fibers and even change the color of carpet.
- First, soak up the urine with white paper towels. Printed patterns can bleed color into the carpet. Press hard to soak up as much as possible. Then add about a quarter-teaspoon of dishwashing liquid to a cup of lukewarm water. (Don’t use the detergent you use with your dishwasher.)
- Next, apply the soapy water. Soak the area thoroughly with paper towels. Then blot the area with dry paper towels and repeat this wet-and- dry process at least once. Follow up with clear water to rinse out the detergent and blot the carpet dry again.
- Finally, apply one part white vinegar mixed with two parts water and blot the carpet one last time. Cover the damp area with about 20 layers of paper towels and a heavy stack of books. Change the towels again and again until they no longer absorb moisture.
- If your pet has frequent accidents on the carpet, buy a “carpet extractor,” a small handheld vacuum designed to suck liquids out of carpets.
The Best Carpet Color to Hide Dirt – Keep Your Home Looking Clean
Red Colored Carpet
Red is a favorite color among many people. When you see red, your breathing increases, preceded by a rapid heart rate. This shows that red stimulates different feelings and emotions which are depended on the context. For instance, it can trigger love or hunger. Therefore, if you love red, buy a red colored carpet for your dining room. Red would not be the best choice for hiding dirt because it can look dirty quickly.
Orange
Orange is a great color for anyone looking for something that’s energetic, warm and welcoming. And if you have anything in your living room with different shades of orange, don’t be surprised if you get unexpected guests from time to time. While orange can come in various shades, it’s best to avoid using it to hide dirt because the difference in the carpet and dirt’s orange will be noticable.
Gold/Tan
Gold/tan is an energetic color which is closely associated with money. Having a gold/tan carpet in your home symbolizes extravagance. This is going to be the best option to hide dirt, especially if you get a carpet with multiple shades of tan. The tan mixture will help the dirt not be noticable if you skip a day of cleaning. Therefore, it will fit excellently in an entertainment room as a welcoming color or an office room as motivational color.
Green
The green color is associated with different emotions. For instance, yellow-green is associated with sickness and jealousy, darker green with money, and lighter green and true greens with renewal, nature, and health. With that in mind, you can use true greens or lighter greens anywhere you want a refreshing and natural vibe. Again, this isn’t a color that can hide dirt, rather the dirt will make green carpet appear to have more wear-and-tear than it really does.
Blue
Color blue symbolizes sea and sky which represent trust, loyalty, and wisdom. Many people view blue as a soothing color because it slows the metabolism of the body helping people to calm down. This means that if you are the kind of person that gets angry very quickly, use a blue carpet either in your master bedroom, living room or any other place you’d want to feel relaxed. Avoid blue in kitchens and dining rooms because it can reduce your appetite.
Purple
Being a mixture of blue and red, purple is closely associated with wealth, luxury and power. Darker purple signifies sadness while lighter purple enhances nostalgia and romance. Therefore, blue will be perfect in a master bedroom anytime you get in with your spouse, the room will be filled with love. You can as well as have a purple-pink in your office to signify power and wealth.
Black
Black signifies mystery, power, and emptiness. However, it’s a perfect color to put it in high traffic areas such as living room or child’s room because it’s excellent in hiding dirt.
White
White means pure and symbolizes innocence and cleanliness. Generally, a white carpet will not hide dirt and because it can be hard to clean, it will be a great idea to have it in fewer traffic areas or areas away from pets or children such as a master bedroom.
Bottom Line
From the above information, it is evident that choosing the right carpet for your home or office is not a walk in the park. However, it could be easy to make an informed decision based on your home’s interior, the color you love the most and the level of traffic expected in the intended areas. Overall, the best carpet color to hide dirt is going to be carpet colors such as black, tan, and gray.
How to Choose a Carpet to Make Your Small Room Look Bigger
If your room is small, choosing a wrong kind of flooring will make you feel that the walls are closing in on you. There are a number of decorating tricks you can adopt to make the room bigger than it actually is. These visual tricks start with selecting the right kind of carpet.
Carpet patterns
When you are in a small room, the busy patterns in the carpet need sufficient quantities of visual processing. The brain’s consequent visual activity makes the room appear smaller. The good choice of a carpet is to choose one with a clear unobtrusive pattern. An example of these is the tone-on-tone carpeting. Such patterns have subtle shading methods which are not too busy and do not distract from the room’s other features.
You can also select a cut-loop and structured grid pattern. This involves the selective cuts of a few of the loops without changing the color. Texture variation in carpeting has the result of visual interest which enhances the appearance of small spaces.
Enlarging a space
Subdued carpets are ideal for smaller rooms. These kinds of carpets blend seamlessly with the furnishings and the walls so that a feeling of larger space is created. Subdued carpets make an excellent choice for home offices and small dens which receive a large amount of foot traffic. If you have a tiny bedroom, go for a textured and plush carpet. These kinds of carpets are known in the trade as cut and pile and can be laid all over the house. Use identical carpeting to make the space look larger and coordinated too.
Carpeting colors
After you have selected the carpeting style for the concerned room, it is now time to select a color. Choose neutral or light colors for small rooms. Unlike dark colors, light colored carpets do not soak in light, but reflect it. This results in the appearance of bigger space. The carpet selected must match the wall covering or paint. This will make the room appear much bigger. Lighter shades of blue or green make for relaxing colors- making them perfect for bedrooms. When it comes to living rooms, choose neutral tones like sandstone, beige or light gray colors. They will make the space seem larger than it actually is.