How to keep carpet clean?
Living in a place with carpeted floors for the first time. What kind of cleaning routine should I have to keep the carpet clean?
No shoes on the carpet if possible. Vacuum weekly. Have some type of stain remover handy for liquid spills.
I’ve found placing baking soda (dry) into the carpet and then a mixture of warm water and vinegar helps with stains (as well as breaking pet smells, if there’s dogs,)
Speaking of smells, if there’s a funky smell that won’t go away, an ozone generator usually does the trick (and, it’s quite possibly the carpets,)
Back in the Before Times of Reddit, there was a guy who knew quite a bit about vacuums. Did an AMA at least a few times.
Long story short, powders such as baking soda or any of the common ‘freshness’ options damage vacuums. Avoid using them.
while I agree that the air freshener sorts are basically useless (they smell nice as you vacuum them up.) the baking soda does serve a purpose, and used in the correct proportions, you're not risking leaving the mild abrasive behind. (the other reason the baking soda is used as a cleanser. it's a relatively mild abrasive.)
for the record, this is for spot cleaning, not whole-carpet cleaning. for that get carpet detergent. you shouldn't be dumping baking soda on, instead, you give a light dusting, and just enough that it falls into the pile (but not so much that it falls through the backing.) you're not scrubbing. you're letting it's reaction with vinegar do the work so you don't have to scrub. You absolutely should do a test patch somewhere, just in case you're carpet is bleached by it... and water in the solution can slow down the reaction as well, but if you used the correct amounts of baking soda and vinegar, there isn't anything solid left. If you're unsure add more vinegar+water
the products are sodium bicarbonate + acetic acid (and water) -> sodium acetate (and water, it's aqueous) + carbonic acid, which decomposes into water and carbon dioxide. just run the extractor over it to remove it, and then proceed with the full carpet scrub and extraction. as far as I know, it's relatively safe for pets and kids (sodium acetate is what they use to make salt and vinegar chips- they dry it out of solution and use it as salt.)
during college, I worked on the cleaning crew for the college dorms. this includes a summer of working through all the dorms... and let me just tell you there were some new and interesting smells discovered (in all the wrong ways. the worst is either the closed-down dorms that the security guard took a shit in, after they turned off the water and the aircon.... ozone generators. Trust me.... or, the dorm room that tried to keep a tortoise hidden in the closet, and got away with it for six months. poor tortoise.)
The vinegar attacks proteins in organic stains, causing them to lift off. the fizzing action helps get it out of the fibers if it's soaked in, so it can be removed with the extractor. Also because it attacks proteins, it breaks down smells caused by organic sources. (you can just use vinegar if it's, ah, fresh.) Another side note is, if you have stuck on pans (like from baking fish or chicken breasts or something), heat up enough hot water (as hot as you can stand, I usually go at around steam lifting off.) add a table spoon or two of vinegar to the pan or pot, and a drop of dish soap, then pour in the hot water. (the heat makes the vinegar work faster. Alternatively, take a tablespoon of vinegar some water, and some cornstarch and deglaze that beautiful fond into a sauce... Just saying.)
And if you have shedding pets, vacuum every other day or so (needs adjustment based on the number of pets and their shedding habits)
For stain removal, having a proper carpet cleaner is worth the money. We have one almost always ready to go. It sits in the closet loaded with the water and cleaning solution mix and as soon as a big spill happens we can just clean it up.
Thanks! I'm thinking of buying something called "Spot Shot". Do you have any other recommendations? In the US
Did this professionally for a while. Carpet cleaners would largely go out of business overnight if everyone took their shoes off. Filthy animals.
Yeah you'll be fine. It's not about shoes, its about not tracking in dirt and mud and other crap from outside.
Great idea. Dry soils, which are basically pulverized rock, are typically trafficked in on the soles of shoes. When it works its way into individual carpet tufts and then trafficed again, it causes a majority of the discoloration we regard as "wear". Have a dedicated pair of house shoes or slippers. Buy several sizes of machine washable ones for house guests. And vacuum several times a week. I once had a customer whose wife was limited to a wheelchair, which are typically very hard on carpets and leave dirty traffic patterns in the path of the wheels. Their carpets were in good condition. Their secret? "Outside" wheelchair that stayed in the trunk of the car.
Also to add what the others have said- take your shoes off as you come in- this is really true of any kind of floor.
Also, you can find rental companies that rent the machines. They’re not too hard to use, they don’t have to be “big” but you really need to be able to work soap in - and suck it back out. (Look for tool rental companies- the one by us also rents out everything from jackhammers to dethatchers to skid steers.)
If you have messy pets, you can buy the machines for pretty reasonable prices. I've got one for my parrot, and my carpets are in great condition.
the not-comercial extractors don't have the same kind of extraction power that the commercial machines do. They're great for mitigating high traffic areas... but eventually you'll want to rent a commercial system. (1-3 times a year,). the commercial extractors will make a huge difference for deep cleans. especially on thick-pile carpets.
The pack-vacuum-like commercial extractors start at around 1500.
Interesting, which commercial machines are you referring to?
I did a little research when I bought mine, I think mostly vacuum wars testing, and I think they found similar results, with the commercial systems just having larger tanks. That said, I don't expect their tests are super scientific or anything so I'm legitimately curious.
My carpets aren't thick at all though, and most of what I'm cleaning is exclusively surface level anyway.
We used tenant co for our machines, looking at it their website, the ex-sc1020
Any of the medium-size commercial machines are going work better though. Nobody would pay the 2-5k for a medium sized extractor if it was simply tank size. And that’s really the entry level machines.
Also? Another benefit is not having to store it. I’m… not saying the retail things don’t have their benefits, but they’re not really deep-cleaning like a professional service or comercial rental will.
Thanks, I'd never heard of carpet cleaner machines before this thread, so I'm glad I asked. How often should I use it? My household is all adults, no pets, we wear house slippers.
IMO very rarely. You'd use it if something had majorly soiled the carpet that's bigger than a spot clean or if you are freshening up, such as an exit or spring clean.
It's a time consuming process, as you aren't scrubbing the carpet - just spraying in soap and sucking it back out several times until the soap / water comes out clean.
Oh it definitely is. Also consider having to work in a humid room as you'll be working with a wet carpet too. Not gonna be fun on a hot day unless you have ventilation and air-conditioning.
Our house is a high traffic house where we have lots of visitors as well as 3 dogs so my schedule is going to reflect that.
- Vacuum twice weekly. On Monday with a robot vacuum, then on Wednesday with a Dyson for a deeper clean.
- Spot shampoo when there are accidents.
- Shampoo all carpets once every 3 months.
- Have carpets professionally cleaned once a year in the spring.
Ultimately the problem is how dirt enters your home. Our house would be a million times cleaner if we didn’t have dogs. They track in dirt and it is just a pain to control.
It does work but we still use a small spot carpet cleaner right away. This helps to keep things from getting bad. Our dogs rarely have accidents in the house (it’s been over a year since the last one) but they seem to find other ways to make a mess.
Yup my doggo tracks in so much dirt, but I wipe her paws when she comes in so it doesn't end up in the rest of the house.
Vacuum, carpet cleaner, don't let kids bring food/drink to the carpeted rooms (and maybe don't do it yourself to set a good example).
Thanks! Do you have a suggested frequency of when to vacuum and when to use the carpet cleaner? I currently vacuum once a week
I think you've already found your preferred frequency. The frequency largely depends on one's personal preferences, just like with cleaning bedding and the rest of the house.
If you want to let your carpet develop a stank and keep stains be my guest. Though if I am your guest I might have opinions.
On top of what the other guy said, hire a professional service every once in a while to do a deep clean. The rentals at the grocery store just don't cut it, you need a better machine than that.
As someone who does none of the things mentioned by the others, they are absolutely right. If you can spare the money you can also purchase your own carpet cleaner. Depending on the amount of carpet it might be worthwhile. If it's not a lot of carpet you could just get a small spot cleaner like I have. I hate it but it gets the job done.
I have a small spot cleaner vacuum too and it works well. I just wish it wasn't so damn loud. Feel bad for my neighbours when I use it
Lol, I would be interested in hearing your cleaning routine 😆 It sounds like you might just vacuum and not use the carpet cleaner machine? I had never heard of them before this thread.
Oh rental? Take photos as evidence that it is natural wear and tear in case the landlord claims damage.
Scuffed carpets are normal from dragging furniture over it (eg chairs) and flattening from foot traffic.
I wouldn't bother with a professional carpet cleaner unless you have a big spill or upon your exit.
Take your shoes off. Wear indoor slippers indoors.
Don't eat or drink anything (besides water) in carpeted areas (especially drinks with bright colored dye in them...)
If you have the opportunity, rip out the carpet and replace them with hardwood floor, because having carpet is a giant headache.
Spot clean immediately or asap if you get a spill. Prevent the spill from spreading while you clean by blotting / dabbing with clean towels (a roll of toilet paper helps with this), and if needed scrub as small as you can.
If you do get an inevitable stain, consider if you can get furniture to place it on top or change to dimmer lighting to hide it 😉
Thanks, I was thinking of buying something called "Spot Shot" for spot cleaning. Do you have any other recommendations? (In the US)
Hey, sorry, no - I am in Australia. Looking at Spot Shot's site it seems they are one of the products owned by WD-40, so they seem reputable. If using chemicals test in a small area to ensure the colour doesn't leech out like you do with clothes.
I'd use Spot Shot for more stubborn and difficult stains like coffee if you couldn't get to it fast enough, but the basic cleaning products (water, dish soap, vinegar & bicarb, etc) will work fine as they'll dilute before the stain can set in.
Don't tempt your luck with red drinks though.
Spot Shot can work wonders, but definitely read the instructions. It's been awhile since I've had to use it, but I recall thinking its use is not intuitive (not complicated, just not what I would have assumed).
I also have a Little Green Machine from Bissell, which has been so fucking useful. I generally use that instead of Spot Shot, and on rare occasions, the two in tandem. Again, be sure to read the instructions and clean the machine out properly after every use so it doesn't get gross.
Actually the best comment. Carpet is such a hassle and gets dirty so quick. Unless you can afford to clean it all the time, it's not worth it.
It's also thousands, 800sq ft is probably a couple grand in materials alone not even accounting for labor to remove the carpet and labor to install (area dependent).
Plus, carpet is so soft. IMO, a good compromise is tile in places like bathrooms, kitchens, hallways and entryways. Living room could go either way and carpet for bedrooms.
But that could still add up on the sq ft so it wouldn't necessarily solve the cost problem and ultimately is only a cosmetic upgrade Vs spending thousands to say upgrade your HVAC and insulation or maybe new windows which could actually pay for itself in time from savings on having to run HVAC less
Rugs. Same benefit of carpet except you can throw them in the washing machine. Run a boom and mop on the tile while you wait for the wash cycle.
I rent and have carpet everywhere. I have placed a disposable rug on top of the carpet around the eating/drinking area to catch all the mess.
Handheld ones with the motorised brush are great for fluffing up the carpet while maintaining great manoeuvrability and without lugging a heavy weight beind you.
In this case the Dyson v7 or greater will work well if it is a small / medium house.
I disagree with cordless Dysons. We have the V8 Animal and it's pretty pathetic. It struggles to pick up anything denser than dust and the very smallest of crumbs, and the battery life isn't enough to do a full clean of a house in one go. Most of the time we have to get out the old corded one to finish what the cordless couldn't. I think brands like Shark and Vax are supposed to be better but I've not tried them.