Could The Correct Cleaning Routine Increase The Life Of your Carpet?
If you decide to buy a carpet washer do you still require a vacuum cleaner? It’s a good question the answer to which is – yes you do. Although they look very similar – at least at first glance – vacuum cleaners and carpet washers work in a different way.
Vacuum cleaners remove loose dirt and dust from the upper layers of the carpet using suction. Most modern cleaners also use spinning or rotating brushes to agitate the carpet fibres. This is designed to agitate and free the maximum possible amount of dirt so that it can be effectively removed by suction. There’s a huge variety of different vacuum cleaner designs nowadays, cylinder and upright, bagged, bagless, cordless – even robotic ones, but they all operate more or less as described above.
If you wish to keep your carpet looking fresh, clean and free from odours, then you must vacuum on a regular basis. What you should try to do is to remove as much dust and dirt as you can before it has a chance to get trapped deep in your carpet. However, it doesn’t matter how diligent you are – some dirt will be ground deep into your carpet and become trapped. That’s when a carpet washer is required.
Carpet washers use a mixture of water and detergent to free dust and dirt which is trapped deep in the fibres of your carpet. The dirt clings to the detergent which is then removed, along with the water. Many carpet washers make use of pre-treatment sprays for heavily stained areas. The majority of them also use brushes to scrub the carpet in order to better free the trapped dirt.The good news is that you don’t need to – and in fact you shouldn’t – wash your carpet anything like as often as you need to vacuum it. There are various different factors which will determine the required frequency – but, for most family homes, twice a year should probably do the trick.
The majority of carpet washers also have a selection of accessories so that they can be used for cleaning stairs and also upholstery, curtains – and even car seats. Over and above being useful for cleaning up any accidental spills before they get established and form stains, you’re sure to find plenty a variety of different uses for your carpet washer around your home in between “big cleans”.
So, in order to keep your carpets in tip-top condition and to maximise their lifespan, vacuuming alone isn’t enough and using a carpet washer alone isn’t enough either. You need a twin pronged attack which employs both types of carpet cleaners as laid out below:
1. Vacuum clean your carpets twice weekly to remove loose dirt and dust before it has the opportunity to become established. Heavy traffic areas – hallways, passages, the floor near doors, hallways etc. – may need to be cleaned even more often.
2. Use a carpet washer to deep clean your carpet once every six months. It can also be used to treat any accidental spills – whether on upholstery or carpets – quickly before they turn into stains.
If it sounds like a lot of effort then you comfort yourself with the knowledge that, in addition to looking good and being odour free, even if you have pets in your house, your carpets will last for much longer – so you will save money and hassle in the long run.