My husband and I have really busy lives and often don't have time to clean the house. Unfortunately, both our kids have quite bad allergies to dust and mould, which means we need to keep the house spotless, which can be quite hard. We have started having a professional cleaning service come in a few times a week to give the house a good scrub while we are at work. It means that we can come home to a clean house. It means everyone is healthier, happier and less stressed out. This blog is for other parents of kids with allergies and has tips on how you can keep your house allergen free.
Having carpet in your home provides many benefits, from a soft material underneath your feet to extra padding in case you fall. However, carpeting also has a tendency to stain over time, whether in high-traffic areas or from spills. Here are some tips to follow when you want to clean the carpets and remove some of these spots and stains.
Always Test the Carpet First
Before you clean the carpets with any product other than plain water, test a small area of the carpeting first. Choose an area of your home where it won't be as big of a deal if the colouring of the carpet changes there. Some good ideas include a piece of carpet underneath a rug or possibly a corner of the carpet inside a closet. You want to test for colorfastness so you know if this carpet shampoo is going to fade or cause the colour to bleed. Use just a small amount of the product on the carpet, clean it as you normally would, then wait for it to dry. This lets you know what the finished results are going to be.
Use a Blotting Method
It is very important that when removing spills from the carpet, you blot the spills, but never rub them. Rubbing seems like it would work great and get rid of the stain, but this is only setting it further into the carpet fibres. The best thing you can do with a stain, especially when it is a spill that is still wet, is to blot it. Continue rotating the cloth you are using to lift the stain and blot it, rotate it, and blot it. You will start to see the liquid come up and attach to the cloth. Once the cloth has no clean areas, get a new one and repeat the process.
Know the Right Products For Certain Stains
Each type of stain has a list of products that help to remove that particular type of stain. While some cleaning products, like baking soda and vinegar, work on the majority of them, some are a little more unique. For example, you might hear that people use club soda to remove stains. However, this is really only effective when removing wine stains and sometimes stains from spilled beer. Ice is actually very effective when you have gum in the carpet, as it helps to harden it, so you can then pull the gum from the carpet.
Hire a Professional
When your DIY stain removal techniques just aren't working, it is probably time to call a professional. They will use professional-grade equipment that gets the majority of stains removed from the carpet without too much hassle.
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