Carpet and Rug Care Smarts

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.

Which is to say, before you know it your carpet will be spilled on, stains will set in, and the like new luster will dim. Which doesn’t even consider what dirt and sand can do to your lovely new carpet over time. Not that you have to accept this decline as inevitable. At least not if you follow some common sense care tips.

For removing ordinary dirt vacuum high traffic areas like halls and entrance ways twice a week. Hit the rest of your carpeting at least once weekly. The idea is to remove dirt before it has a chance to get embedded.

Slow is the watch word to bear in mind when using your vacuum. You want to run the head six or seven times over each area. Sounds extreme I know. But such an effort gives the vac time to extract any dirt working it way deeper into your carpet. While bringing life back to the fibers themselves.

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.

Spills are another problem. They are best coped with by acting fast to get whatever liquid or almost liquid up and off the carpet before a stain sets in.

Blot not scrub is the word of the day when dealing with any spill. Grabbing white paper towels to absorb liquids or a spatula to slide under thicker spills to lift them off the carpet. Followed by an application of powdered or foam carpet cleaner — which is smart to keep on hand too.

Emergency stain removal begins with spot removers designed for carpet. There are several such miracle workers available and they won’t cost and arm and a leg either. Dry cleaning fluid is another good product to have at your arsenal.

Obviously different stains require different modes of treatment. For some dry cleaning solvent are best. Others will respond to the carpet spot remover. Other still may need a mix of liquid detergent, ammonia or vinegar. Whatever solvent you use, just be sure you’ve tested it on your carpet in an out of sight location to make sure it won’t harm the color.

The final problem to discuss is crushing. As in crushing the life out of your carpet under the weight of heavy furniture. Carpet casters to the rescue in this case. If you don’t like those then at least scoot your furniture a bit to the left or right to spread the wear and tear over more surface area.

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.

According to author and vacuum enthusiast, Aiden Mundt, a Miele vacuum cleaner should be high on your list – if you want a quiet vac. Otherwise check out the detailed vacuum cleaner reviews for more on various Dysons, Hoovers, or Panasonics even. Get this and more at your site for advice on vacuums, AskTheVacuumGuy.com.