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Montag, 7. Dezember 2009

Carpet Care: Here's Plenty of Useful Tips

By Aiden Mundt

New carpet can sure change the look of a room, can't it? It's fresh. Has no stains. And the color just lights up the place. Now comes the hard part however. Keeping it looking fresh, vibrant and like new for as long as you can.

Sadly, before you know it, spills happen and stains creep into the picture. Plus over time accumulating dirt and grime will grind down your lovely new carpet. Making it look old and lusterless before its time. To help avoid that outcome how about some time tested carpet care tips?

Vacuuming to remove ordinary dirt from high traffic zones like entrance ways and hallways is a good first step. Followed by a thorough cleaning of the rest each week. You want to prevent dirt, sand and grit from working their way deep into the fibers of your carpet where they can grind away over time.

You want to vacuum slowly - against the pile. Repeatedly pulling and pushing the vacuum head over the same general area six or seven times even deep cleans. Yes, this intense vacuuming action sucks out the deep down dirt. It also revives the carpet fibers making then springy again.

Carpet Care Tip: Carpet wears at the point where the tufts of nylon and backing meet. Any accumulated grit saws the fibers off at that point. Which is why you want a vacuum that can extract as much of the sharp, sand like dirt as you can.

Moving your furniture and changing traffic patterns is a good thing too. It eventually allows you to vacuum every inch of carpet - another good idea.

Of course spills are another issue. Quick action is your best move when they happen. As getting to a spill fast means you're less apt to be stuck with an ugly stain.

Which is also why you want powdered or foam carpet cleaner handy as the next step. Remembering the watch word here is blot not scrub using white paper towel on any liquid spilled. Or if need be a spatula to slid under the thicker spills to lift the material off your carpet.

To remove stains, try applying dry-cleaning fluid or spot-removing solution sold at carpet stores.

Yet if a stain sets in which stain remover you use depends on the what caused the stain. But a quality spot remover is a good first step. Just be sure to test it's impact on your carpet in an out of the way corner. Better still a closet. You want to see if it removes the carpet's color before having at it to vigorously. If spot removing solutions are unavailable, try using dry cleaning solvent mixed with liquid detergent, ammonia and vinegar to clean small spots.

Finally you want to protect your carpet from the crushing weight of furniture with some inexpensive carpet casters.

It's inevitable that spills will happen sooner or later. Not to mention what daily wear and tear can do to carpet. But frequent vacuuming, quick action and a bit of extra care can minimize the damage and prolong the life of your floor covering. Keeping carpet from being a natural, if inadvertent, stain magnet that eventually mars its beauty.

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