Carpet care tips for busy homes
Published: September 20, 2016
Remember when you first got your new carpet? You were careful not to eat in that room. You made sure everyone took their shoes off at the door. Then after a month or so, life got back to normal. The kids ran across the carpet every day when they get home from school. You had a party and someone spilled something. Your hands were full and you dropped something dirty on the floor.
Life happens and it’s important that your carpet stands up to it. Indianapolis carpet store Kermans has a few tips to handle the worst that life can dish out to your carpet.
The best thing you can do for your carpet is vacuum regularly and schedule professional deep cleaning. You should always follow your carpet manufacturer’s recommendations for cleaning products and frequency of deep carpet cleaning – in fact your warranty often depends on it. In between those deep cleanings, however, you’re likely to encounter some big stains and spills. Here are four tips to deal with some of the worst.
Spills and stains: This tip works for everything from red wine to chocolate syrup. Blot don’t rub – the goal is to soak up as much of the spill as possible without rubbing it into the carpet fibers and padding. Scrubbing your carpet can also permanently damage the fibers and then you’ll end up with an area that always looks different from the rest of your carpet. Once you’ve soaked up the spill with clean cloths, use damp cloths to further blot the area and then thoroughly dry the spot.
Dried gum: Find a spot of dried gum stuck to the carpet? Don’t stress – get some ice. Freeze the gum with ice cubes for 30-60 seconds at a time. Once solid, use a spoon to scrape up the gum – most if not all of it should come up. If you still have some gum on the carpet, cut strands of carpet right next to the gum to free up the sticky stuff – it should be small enough to not be noticeable.
Grease: This one seems like a nightmare but simple dish soap comes to the rescue! Mix 1/4 cup of mild liquid dish soap with 1 cup of warm water. Dip a clean cloth into the water/soap mix and soak the stain but remember our first tip – don’t rub! Blot and dry as noted in the spills tip above.
Candle wax: Place a clean white cloth over the wax then put a warm iron on top of cloth just over the wax to warm and loosen it – only for 30 seconds at a time so you don’t scorch the carpet. Use a spoon to scrape up the wax. After removing most of the wax, lay a paper towel on top of the waxed area and use the iron again – remember 30 seconds or less each time – the leftover wax residue should stick to the paper towel after a few times. If a bit of wax is leftover, cut the strands of carpet right next to the wax to remove it.
If you have a busy house, you’ll want a carpet that stands up to the wear and tear. Learn more about the types of carpet available at Indianapolis carpet store Kermans.
