Choosing whether to clean your carpet or get a new one can be a tough decision. Have no fear though, this blog post is here.
And we’re giving you all the different ways you can clean your carpet without the need to pull the whole thing up.
Remember though, if you do decide to change the whole carpet, it’s a really good idea to change the underlay too . That’s because the underlay is guaranteed for the full life of the carpet and you won’t want you old underlayment to diminish before the new carpet.
Anyway, from the toughest stains to general wear dirtiness, have a read of this article to find out just a few ways you can have your carpet looking spic and span in no time.
We often find that customers who have a light coloured carpet and struggle to keep theirs clean try and revert to a darker coloured carpet for their next purchase.
So, lets get going.
Give stains your carpet a good scrub with Vanish
This is a good option if you simply have a couple of stains on the carpet but not necessarily the best if you want to give your carpet a good deep clean. You can find Vanish products that are specifically for carpet. Usually meaning it doesn’t need to go in the washing machine after applying the product – like you would need to do with clothes.
Act Quickly
If you spill something on the carpet that’s likely to stain, then you need to act quickly in cleaning it up to have the best chance of getting it out.
Blot from the outside-in (don’t rub)
The saying goes – always blot, never rub. If you rub the carpet, you are likely to increase the coverage of the stain. On the other hand if you blot from the outside of the stain and work your way inwards, any of the staining liquid that goes on the cloth will only work it’s way into the centre – thereby reducing the coverage of the stain.
Cleaning your carpet with baking soda
London Clean Professionals suggest in their article that baking soda can be an effective solution to masking up pet urine when your pet has that accidental wee on the carpet. It will help absorb the smell and can be very useful when training new pets
They also suggest to use baking soda for oil stains. Apply the baking soda liberally on the stained area and leave it until the baking soda absorbs the stain until it becomes a sort of dry crust, which you can effectively vacuum and leave you with a much lighter stain. After most of the oil has been absorbed, you can proceed to blotting the stain.
Do a full deep clean by hiring a Rug Doctor
Rug Doctor is one of the most well-known carpet cleaner brands on the market. You can get right into the carpet to remove dirt and grime that lurks but is generally invisible to the naked eye. Without sounding like an advert for them there’s a good chance your carpet will look brand new once you’ve finished cleaning.
They also have a store finder on their site and there’s usually a laundrette not far from most UK homes from which you can hire the cleaning machine.
The Rug Doctor website also has full instructions on for cleaning your carpet with an RD machine. On thing to note is that for woollen carpets, you want to use only luke warm water.
If you’re pondering whether to change your floor or give it a clean, it’s definitely worth trying first with some sort of cleaning machine as you might be amazed by the results.
Use the simple dish soap to clean your carpet
This is a good option if you really don’t want to use a machine. And you may be simply amazed by just how well a carpet can come up when you give it the once over with some water and dish soap.
First you will want to vacuum the whole area, then create your solution. Firstforwomen.com recommends 1 tablespoon of dish soap to every 8 inches of carpet or stain.
When applying the mixture to the carpet, there are a few different options for doing so, for example, you could use an old toothbrush (but if you have a large area to cover, this might take you a while). So you might want to use a towel to gently scrub and blot the whole area.
Note, you’re not looking to fully wet the floor, it’s purely a case of getting the mixture to absorb any stains that are smothering the carpet.
