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Maintaining the look, feel, and health of your newly cleaned carpet takes a little effort, but doing so helps to protect the investment you’ve made in your cleaning and will help to extend the life of your carpet in your Waterford, MI home.
There are a number of things you can do to keep your carpet clean and looking fabulous in after you've had a annual professional cleaning done. In addition to enhancing the interior of your living spaces with different colors, textures, and design options, well-maintained carpet continues to work effectively as a filter for indoor pollutants and allergens that make their way into your Waterford, MI home. Great-looking, clean carpet can’t care for itself, so it’s important for you to spend quality time with it and show it a bit of love in the following ways:
Apply carpet protection – If you are a landlord or homeowner we strongly suggest opting for the application of a carpet protection product (commonly referred to as ‘Scotchguard’) at the time of your cleaning. It will provide you with the extra insurance and resistance against spills, stains, and resoiling which will give you peace of mind and help you save on future carpet cleanings. Left unattended, spills and spots can seep into the carpet fibers and set in at which point they will often turn into stains. Once spots become stains, they can be difficult and costly to treat with no sure guarantee of removal. Carpet protection also assists with vacuuming as it allows you to vacuum 50-60% more dry particulate soil. Keep in mind carpet protection doesn’t last forever and should be reapplied with every annual cleaning.
Attend to spills and spots quickly – Again, do not let spills or accidents sit for too long. Gently scrape and pry up any solids stuck to the carpet and then blot up any excess liquid with a white absorbent cotton towel or paper before applying any spot removing treatment.
A high-quality spot remover treatment or spray is essential – Ask the carpet cleaning company which professional carpet spotter spray or alternative treatments they recommend you use on your carpet. Be warned that spotter treatments available for purchase at the neighborhood store may not be pH-balanced for your carpet and could harm it in the long run. Some carpet cleaning companies have carpet spotters available for purchase and others offer a bottle to their clients for free. You can also opt to use natural or home-sourced spot removal treatments for everyday accidents and spills. Plain water, gentle-for-hands dish soap, vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide can be used safely on most carpet fibers for spot treatment and removal.
Vacuum at LEAST 1-3x a week depending on the amount of traffic in the home – More people or pets require that you vacuum more often. High-traffic areas could benefit from being vacuumed daily. If there is anyone in the home that suffers from allergies, asthma, or respiratory issues, daily general vacuuming with a closed-filtration, well-maintained HEPA vacuum is also highly recommended. Regular vacuuming keeps dirt, dander, debris, and pollutants from working their way deep into your carpet fibers, grinding into them, causing irreversible damage, and creating dirt-attracting residue. Carpet that is allowed to become overly dirty also can’t effectively do its job working as a giant household filter. Enduring, inclement weather may also pose a need to vacuum more often due to road salt to treat snow, dried mud from rain, etc.
Place an indoor and outdoor mat at every entry point of the home – Mats keep additional debris from being tracked into your home and carpet. Runner (long) type mats are most effective as it may take a few steps for dirt to fall off the bottom of your shoes. Mats placed inside the home should be water absorbent and heavy duty outside mats should be rough and textured to remove soil from shoes. Shake these out or vacuum them on a weekly basis.
Get into the habit of sweeping outdoor areas near the home – Walkways, sidewalks, porches, and side entrances should be blown or swept of debris and dirt on a regular basis.
Sweep and mop your indoor hard surface floors regularly – Dirt can be tracked from these areas onto your carpet.
Wipe the paws of your pets when they come in from the outdoors – Dirt can get trapped in your pets’ paw pads and dropped onto your carpet. Keep a clean towel near or at entryways to make this easier.
Brush and bathe pets regularly – Excess pet hair from shedding, scratching, and dried skin dander that can end up in your carpet can be alleviated with consistent brushing and baths. Make sure your pets get the right nutrients and food (to prevent allergies that lead to scratching) and are checked for fleas (another allergy source).
“Redecorate and restyle” your home without buying a thing – Some people hate change, but change can be great for your carpet. Occasionally rearranging your furniture can help prevent carpet wear and fiber damage from daily traffic lane activity.
Institute a ‘no-shoe’ policy for family members and guests – Mandating that no shoes be worn in the home is probably the most important step you can take to stop dirt and debris from being tracked into your home and causing soiling and damage to all of your flooring areas. You can keep a basket of clean or new slippers or slipper socks to for your guests to wear to minimize any discomfort in going shoe-less. Avoid walking on your carpet with bare feet as oil in the skin can be left behind, attract dirt, and make your carpet grimy over time.
Change your HVAC filters regularly – Installing a new return air filter every month can minimize the appearance of dark filtration lines that can appear along the perimeter, or edge, of your carpeting.
Avoid excessive use or improper burning of low quality candles - Candle soot can exacerbate filtration line problems. Make sure to trim your wick to ¼” to 1/8” to prevent a long soot-producing flame or flickering, choose high-quality soy or beeswax candles over paraffin, avoid burning candles in drafty areas, and extinguish your candle flame by using a snuffer instead of blowing it out. You can also opt to use wax fragrance cubes that can be melted via an electric heat source if you tend to burn candles for their scent.
Invest in professional weekly or biweekly house cleanings – If you’re super busy and just don’t have the time or interest to give your home a good dusting, vacuuming, and overall cleaning, considering having a professional service or independent house cleaner come in to take care of the dirty work. At the very least, you can schedule a seasonal spring or fall deep house cleaning once or twice a year (right before your next scheduled carpet cleaning). This will allow for easier maintenance cleaning that you can do on your own in the interim.
Limit food and drinks to kitchen and dining room areas – Spills and accidents caused by juices, chocolate, and sauces can be detrimental to your carpet. Worst case scenario, keep a specialized, professional spot remover spray or spot clean up kit close to well-used carpeted areas or during parties. Inform family members of its location so that they can attend to spills fast before they have a chance of setting in.
Schedule your next professional cleaning in 6-12 months, but no later than 18 months – Putting a reminder on your calendar will help to keep all of your carpet maintenance efforts on track. If you were satisfied with the service and results provided by your last Waterford, MI carpet cleaning company, be sure to give them a call. If not, don’t feel obligated to use them again and seek out a quality company by asking friends and family for a referral or get on the internet and research companies that have glowing positive online reviews (Yelp.com, Angie’s List, and Google+ Local are good places to start).
Carpet Cleaning Excellence has the distinction of being the carpet cleaner of choice for quality conscious homeowners throughout Oakland County, Michigan. We pride ourselves on our long list repeat clientele and client testimonials. If you are seeking a new carpet cleaning company, email us at info@klein-cleaning.com or give us a call at 888-688-0603. We offer a free, 15-minute, no obligation carpet inspection, and competitive quotes on 3 full-service cleaning packages. New clients qualify for a $25 introductory discount on their first cleaning.
Every cleaning we do comes with over 25 years experience, a 100% money backed guarantee, and a 30 day unlimited return visit spot removal service to keep your carpet looking its best right after its been cleaned (does not include pet accidents, sorry). Clients with high-traffic homes or crawling babies can also opt for a money-saving frequent cleaner program where every other cleaning is ½ off. How can you go wrong with such no-risk, peace of mind carpet cleaning?
Carpet Cleaning Excellence provides the best carpet and upholstery cleaning to areas in and around Waterford, Commerce, Keego Harbor, West Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, and Novi in Oakland County, MI. Tile and grout cleaning is a specialty, too!
