Seven Carpet Care Tips You Can’t Be Without!
Buying a carpet should not be a regular occurrence. A good quality carpet can last up to 10 or 15 years (or longer) if looked after. So this month we're looking at carpet tips to ensure your carpet stays looking as good as you did (or very close to) the day you bought it.
TIP 1: VACUUMING YOUR CARPET
Along with ironing, vacuuming is never high up the list of fun activities to do around the house. Relaxing, watching a box set, catching on your social media, hanging out with friends and family tend to do better but vacuuming is necessary, let's not say evil, for keeping your carpet heavenly. We recommend going over with the vac' once a week to maintain the quality of your flooring (rugs included).
TIP 2: BEWARE OF THE ROTARY BAR!
Now, most vacuums come with the rotary beater bar which is a cylinder with brushes on it furiously rotating to get the dirt and dust out your carpet. There is a feeling that this works for all carpets, but this is NOT the case. It's excellent for cut-pile carpets (soft carpets) where the ends are sheared off at the same length.
It's not so good however on looped pile carpets as it could loosen the fibres resulting in your carpet looking a little fuzzy. Also, do not use the beater bar function on wool carpets as this can also damage it. For these kinds of carpets, the advice is to rely on suction alone. The good news is most modern vacuums allow you to turn off the beater bar or raise it so it doesn't come into contact with your carpet.
‘Ere! You’re not using a rotary bar on that Berber loop are you?
TIP 3: TO NOZZLE & NOT TO NOZZLE
And did you know it's best to avoid vacuuming with hose nozzle around the skirting boards as it pulls loose deposits from the wall and the floorboards through the carpet treating it like a filter collecting unnecessary debris?
Spillages
Oh $#@£*!
Whatever you or those around you believe, we are not perfect. Aiming for it is noble; however, there will be spillages along the way. Not all spillages are not the same. Consider the reaction of a carpet owner when a glass of water or a glass of red wine topples over their deep pile. There are very different facial expressions, and language, for each. It means, how you clean up yours or someone else's mess is determined by the liquid thusly spilt. We've broken down spillages into three sections.
TIP 4: CLEARING LIQUID STAIN SPILLAGE
The first role of any spillage is to ACT PROMPTLY! If you happen to spill alcohol, coffee, tea and - for young families - wee on your carpet (hopefully not all at the same time) then use the following. Using a kitchen roll, blot the area and keep blotting until all residue is removed. Then using a spray of warm water, lightly soak the area to lift the remains of the spillage and blot again with the kitchen roll until it is clear. Whatever you do, DO NOT SCRUB AT ANY TIME!
TIP 5: CLEARING SOLID STAIN SPILLAGE
This is where it gets interesting. We are now considering all the elements of kids birthday party: chocolate, sweets, ice cream and vomit! Using a clean kitchen spatula or something similar, scrape the spillage up, making sure to wipe clean the utensil after each scrape. Once the bulk is removed, use a spray of warm water and blot with kitchen roll as above.
Worst nightmare #9
TIP 6: RED WINE, OIL & PAINT SPILLAGES
We are now on red (wine) alert territory. Along with oil and paint, these have the same effect on the carpet as Kryptonite does on Superman or Superwoman. The best advice is to drink your wine and don't spill it. But, if on your road tom perfection you knock your glass over the first thing to do is DON'T PANIC!!!!!!
Once you stopped NOT PANICKING, it's advisable to do the steps above blot with kitchen toil, soak again if necessary, blot etc. The difference here, however, is to call your carpet supplier or carpet clean specialist immediately. By doing so is the best chance of returning your flooring to pre-kryptonite super carpet status.
NOTE: There was a time when salt was doing the rounds in being able to soak up wine. It does, to a degree, but can leave a mark on your carpet.
TIP 7: LARGE MUDDY FOOTPRINTS (ANIMAL OR HUMAN)
First of all, do not add water. This – to mix one's metaphors – is like adding fuel to the flame and will only make the mudded area muddier and more rooted. Scrape away the top layer with a spatula as mentioned before, then leave it to dry. Once dry, go over with a vacuum to lift all the dried mud out of it - see earlier on rotary bars.
Not a problem for Unnatural Flooring.
NOTE: Always keep baby-wipes available in the house for to deal with small stains quickly such as yoghurt, animal mess and small muddy marks. Use the wipe to lift the mess away from the carpet rather than rubbing it in.
And Finally…
We hope of course you never have to use these but if you do we hope you, and your carpet find them useful. To keep up to date with all the news, views and videos from Archway Carpets you can sign up for updates here.