Carpet Cleaning at Home

The first task my husband and I did as a married couple was to arrange our home and bedroom and some DIY touching ups. We varnished our antique wooden bed, the bedside table and everything else that needs fresh coat of varnish. We spent some time together decorating and picking new curtains to hang for the windows. Then my husband suddenly remembered we have a beautiful carpet rug in the store room which use to belong to his grandmother, and off we went to dig out the carpet rug.

We both agreed that a carpet would be a nice addition to the room to spare our feel of the floor's coldness walking around the room without our slippers. Yet when I saw the carpet rug coated with about a decade-old layer of dust, I suddenly had second thoughts. With that amount of dust, I bet I could plant and grow some nuts in it!

Nevertheless, my hubby could not be persuaded to do without the carpet or purchasing a new one. So I had no choice but to help him clean the carpet. Mind you, it is not just a small piece of carpet. We had no proper tools like those professional carpet cleaner with steam and vacuum cleaners, so manual labor is really our only option. I think it took us half the day to scrub, soap and rinse the dirty floor covering until it showed its real identity. Several days after being left to dry on the clothesline, we finally managed to lay the carpet inside our bedroom. By the way, steam cleaning is also known as Hot Water Extraction for those who have come across the term; is only just one method for carpet cleaning.

Carpets are great floor coverings but some homeowners are scared off when it comes to carpet cleaning. However, deep cleaning the carpet will make the carpet to last long and look good. The task will become easier if you know the proper ways to clean the carpet as well as what materials to use.

Before you do any cleaning make sure you remove everything on top and around the carpet, that may get in your way as you perform the cleaning task. Run a vacuum over the carpet area. If you don't have a vacuum cleaner available, try using a stiff broom to help get rid of the loose dirt on the surface of the carpet.

Nowadays there are many companies that offer equipment rentals, so you can easily rent a vacuum cleaner in the case that you don’t own one. Aside from a vacuum cleaner there are also other types of carpet cleaner offered for rental. You may have to search through around or on the internet for a carpet cleaning equipment rental company near you though.

Carpets should not be too saturated because it may eventually be a thriving ground for bacteria and mold. However, if your case is similar to what my husband and I experience, make sure the carpet dries completely in open air before you place it back inside the room.

If you are to use a liquid carpet cleaner to shampoo your carpet, check the labels and choose one with less than 10 pH content. The cleaner you need in cleaning the carpet must not leave the rug sticky and messy afterwards, for this you will have to determine from what fibers or materials your carpet is made from. For instance it is made of wool; find a cleaner that is suitable to wool carpet.