A Cleaning Regime That Will Extend The Life Of Your Carpets

If you use a carpet washer regularly do you still need a vacuum cleaner? It’s a good question the answer to which is – yes you do. Although they may appear very similar – at first glance at least – vacuum cleaners and carpet washers work in different ways.

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 intended to agitate and free as much of the dirt as possible so that it can be removed by suction. There are any number of different designs of vacuum cleaner these days, upright and cylinder, bagged, bagless, cordless – even robotic ones, but they all work more or less as described above.

In order to keep your carpet looking good and odour free, you need to 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, regardless of how diligent you are, it’s inevitable that 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 detergent and water to liberate dirt and dust which is contained deep in your carpet’s fibres. The dirt and dust clings to the detergent which is then sucked out, together with the water. Some carpet washers use pre-treatment sprays for heavily stained areas. Most of them also use brushes to agitate the carpet so as to better release the trapped dirt. However, there’s need to wash your carpet anything like as frequently as you 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 incorporate a selection of accessories so that they can be used for cleaning stairs and also curtains, upholstery – 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 approach using both types of carpet cleaners as set out below:

1. Vacuum clean your carpets twice weekly so as to remove loose dirt and dust before it has the opportunity to become established. Heavily used areas – passages, landings, the patch of floor near doors, hallways etc. – may need even more frequent attention. 2. Use a carpet washer to give your carpets a thorough, deep clean twice yearly. It can also be used to treat any accidental spills – whether on upholstery or carpets – quickly before they turn into stains.

If it all sounds like too much effort then you can console yourself with the fact that apart from looking good and being odour free, even if you have pets, your carpets will last a lot longer – so you will save a lot of money and hassle in the long run.

Discover the benefits which a carpet washer can provide you with. Also find out how you can cut the amount of time you spend on housework with a Tefal steam generator iron – you’ll wonder how you ever got by without one.