5 Carpet Cleaning Secrets from the Professionals

Carpets serve other purposes other than making your homes look grand, elegant and sophisticated. Carpets provide warmth, comfort and act to absorb sound thus giving your home great acoustics. Carpets also increase the value of your home. Thus it is important to take care of your carpets.

The best option would be to hire a professional carpet cleaning company. But if you must clean your carpet right away, pay attention to the advice coming from the pros.

Here are five carpet cleaning secrets from the professionals at Carpet Clean Gold Coast.

1. Never rub stains!

The most common mistake carpet owners make when encountering a stain is to rub it. The professionals will tell you that is the worst thing you can do because it will embed the stain particles deeper into the carpet fibres. No doubt an instant reaction due to panic, the first thing you should do is to blot it with an absorbent paper towel or napkin.

Remember to apply gentle pressure; you do not want to exert heavy downward forces on the stain. Once most of the particles and liquid components have been blotted out, moisten a piece of cloth with water or a cleansing solution of 50/50 water and bleach then gently dab the area. Dry then repeat procedure until most of the stain has been removed.

2. Always have these three ingredients ready

The professionals will advise you to have these items available in your house at all times:

• Club soda. This isn’t just for mixing up a gin tonic. You can use club soda to remove beer and wine stains.
• Vinegar. This ingredient has acids that break down particles for easy removal. If the club soda does not work, use a mixture of warm water and vinegar instead.
• Bleach / non-bleach detergent. For tough to remove stains, use a solution made of 50/50 warm water and detergent. Make sure to check which detergent is recommended for your carpet before applying the solution.
• Dishwashing liquid. If you don’t have detergent or are not sure of the type to use, make a solution of warm water mixed with two drops of “Joy” dishwashing liquid.
• Ammonia. This is a cheap, all-purpose alternative solution for cleaning your stains. Just mix one cup of warm water with one teaspoon of ammonia and pour in a spray bottle.
• Shaving cream. Another handy solution to removing stains. Squeeze shaving cream on the stain and let it stand for 30 minutes. Then gently remove the shaving cream and blot the area dry. If the stain is still present, spray with a 50/50 mixture of warm water and vinegar.
• Handy wipes. Most people do not know handy wipes are not just valuable for cleaning up after baby messes up his diaper. You can use handy wipes to blot stains on your carpet.
• Enzymatic solution. This is an extremely important solution to have if you keep pets inside your homes. Pet urine carries deadly bacteria and can make your home smell extremely pungent unless it is taken cared of immediately and effectively.

3. Use ice for gum

There is a reason why chewing gum is banned in Singapore. As delicious as gum is, it is annoying for those who step or sit on it. In a household, carpets are vulnerable to gum if there are kids and it is accidentally spat out or if someone walks across with gum on his shoes.

When you have gum stuck on your carpets, get a few ice cubes and place on the gum for at least 30 seconds. Gum freezes quickly and can be easy to remove by lifting it off the carpet with a spoon or a spatula. Unfortunately, the most you can do is to cut off the strands as close to the carpet as possible. As long as the strands are cut properly, it should not be noticeable on your carpet.

4. Wax in, Wax out

Some home owners like to use scented candles to give the house a nice scent. But accidents do happen and you can find wax dripping on your carpets. What you need to do is to melt the wax by using your handheld iron.

Place a piece of cloth on top of the area and put the iron on top of it to melt the wax. Then scrape the melted wax off with a butter knife or spatula. Repeat the cycle to remove as much of the wax as possible. Melted wax will stick unto the piece of cloth and a few more cycles should do the trick.

A word of caution: Make sure the iron does not stay on top of the carpet for more than 30 seconds.

5. Deep clean frequently

If you have a commercial steam cleaner in your home, you it to clean your carpet every six months. Steam cleaning mixes hot water and chemicals and drives it through the carpet’s fibres with high powered water jet nozzles. Afterwards, it extracts the dirty water from your carpet. Steam cleaning keeps your carpets clean and sanitised.

These techniques shared by professional carpet cleaners are valuable in keeping your carpets in good condition. But it would be best to hire the professionals to make sure your carpets are well-maintained, cleaned and restored to their original condition. Do you want to talk with our experts? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us now and get your free quote.