New carpet graced our home about 8 years ago, and since that time it has seen, food, soda, wine, juice, mud, dirt, throw up, and more. It has hosted parties, dance offs, sleep-overs, dog naps, and lots of family time. As you can imagine, it gets filthy and it’s not always easy to keep it looking nice.
Carpets trap dust, dirt, odors and even moisture. All providing the perfect breeding ground bacteria and mold. We all know that routine vacuuming helps, but there are several things you can do to keep your carpets looking their best and your home healthy.
How to Keep Your Carpets Clean:
- Vacuum weekly and high traffic areas at least twice a week to remove surface dirt and dust. Use a nice back and forth motion, not going too fast.
- Use welcome mats and rugs, both inside and outside of doors to reduce the amount of dirt brought into your home. Be sure to clean these rugs and mats on a regular basis
- Go shoeless in the house. Enforce the no shoes rule at all times and your carpet will definitely stay cleaner.
- Treat spots immediately. A stain that’s been let to set in, is much harder to remove later and can cause permanent damage
- Vacuum under area rugs periodically to remove loose dirt that may have gotten thru the rugs to your carpet.
- Clean carpets at least twice a year. Clean, disinfect and sanitize carpets, rugs, and upholstery with high-powered water extraction (be sure to check manufacturer’s care instruction).
Rent a Rug Doctor and clean like a pro
- Powerful, easy to use carpet steam-cleaning machines
- Professional carpet cleaning products for a longer lasting clean
- Friendly, helpful customer service
- Convenient rental locations at over 33,000 locations nationwide
- Peak condition & regularly cleaned
- A price that can’t be beat!
Keeping your carpet clean is the easiest way to ensure its longevity and beauty. Take the time an a little effort to treat it well, and it should last many years .
What’s the worst thing you’ve gotten on your carpet?
Disclosure: As you know, all opinions and thoughts shared on the site are my own. I was not paid to write this post, but do have a working relationship with Rug Doctor. As part of that relationship, Rug Doctor sponsored my trip to BlogHer ’12 in New York City.
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Cheryl,
I kid you not, I was searching for carpet cleaning options this weekend! I have a group of ladies coming to my home next weekend and my rugs and sofas look awful!
Thanks for the tip on keeping them clean and for the reminder to look for a Rug Doctor.
perfect timing Amanda!!
My carpets are in desperate need of cleaning. With four kids, it’s crazy how quickly they get filthy! Thanks for the tips. Time to rent a Rug Doctor!
oh I bet Kristen………our dogs is what does ours in!
Great tips Cheryl! Carpets can get so nasty and when I do clean them I actually do rent the RugDoctor already! It gets the job done great and I feel like I can lay on our floors again because they look and feel squeaky clean.
I just need to clean them more often, thanks for the reminder!
did you know you can BUY the same Rug Doctor machines that you rent? I’ve found with owning one, I clean my carpets much more often!
i so need to do this for our playroom. our house is 90% hardwood, so i always over look the room that has carpet. which is the worst room *dirt wise* in the house.
will have to check out the rug doctor!
I love those tips!! I really need to get my basement carpets cleaned. I am excited to look into the Rug Doctor.
xox
great tips, Cheryl! thanks for sharing!
I was just thinking of cleaning our carpets…however I was wondering if you think a professional is better than a rug doctor. I have a cheap dirt devil steam cleaner and while it does get it cleaner it seems like it is still not getting it all. You can definitely see where the rug is when you remove it. So I thought about getting a professional just because I wasn’t sure that a rug dr. could get it….what are your thoughts?
Thank you!
This page may help answer some of those questions
http://rent.rugdoctor.com/why-rent.html
we just got new carpet…it was embarrassing how gross the old carpet was when we moved the furniture out! and I’m a clean freak, scary! now we do NO SHOES and vacuum twice a week…and sounds like we’ll need do carpet cleanings twice a year, too!
I read in a MS Living magazine a million years ago that with a standard vacuum, you have to go over the same spot TWELVE times to get all the dust vacuumed. crazy! I don’t do 12, but I do try to go over the same areas multiple times.
we dont’ have carpet right now, but we’re looking at a place that does, so I’ll have to remember this!
Great tips! It is amazing how quickly my carpets can get dirty!
Great tips! I always love the feel (and look) of the house when the carpets are freshly cleaned!
my husband is obsessed with perfectly clean carpets so these are excellent tips – especially since we’re about to have a kid, ha!
Wonderful tips, Cheryl! We need to clean our carpets soon, so this is great information!
Our vacuum died a few weeks ago, so we were forced to buy a new one. And I have been appalled at the amount of dirt this new vacuum has been sucking up, especially when we keep a pretty clean home and don’t have pets. Thanks for the tips…I can’t wait to deep clean the carpets!!
Great tips! Nothing worse than dirty carpet.
we invested in a Bissell carpet cleaner and it makes our carpets look brand new. Its cheaper to use also. pays for it self real fast. these are all great tips
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