10 Commandments of Carpet
Care
1. Vacuum frequently and thoroughly. Most
of the wear of carpeting is caused by dirt. Oily
soils attract more oily soil and frequent
vacuuming will reduce soil buildup.
2. Get at stains quickly, 99% of all stains
can be removed by one cleaning agent or another
if they are cleaned in the first few days. The
longer a stain chemically reacts with the carpet
the harder it will be to remove it.
3. Test carpet before scrubbing, extracting
or spotting. All carpets are different. Some
carpets are very sensitive to acid type cleaners
and will lose their color quickly. Other carpet
dyes are sensitive to harsh alkalis.
4. Use appropriate spotters starting with
the mildest. Do not use harsh spotting agents
unless absolutely necessary and always neutralize
high alkaline or high acid cleaners after
use.
5. Never dig or brush spots. The proper
procedure is to scrape the spot towards the
middle and then tamp the spot into the white
towel or cloth using a brush or other tamping
devices. A meat tenderizer makes a great tamping
tool.
6. Do not overuse detergents, shampoos or
spotters. Too much detergent will result in
residual left in the carpet that even thorough
vacuuming may not remove.
7. Do not over wet carpet. Carpet
detergents are chemically active enough so they
do not need a tremendous amount of wetting.
Over-wetting can cause brownout, carpet
shrinkage, adhesion problems and all other kinds
of nightmares.
8. ROTARY scrubbing will clean the carpet
fibers the best by encapsulating dirt and
detergent residue, which powders off the carpet.
Periodic vaccuming will flush out this dirt
and other organisms deep in the
carpet.
9. Never "coat" a dirty or spotty carpet.
After scrubbing or extracting a dirty carpet, if
you are not satisfied with the results, do not
apply a coat of carpet protector as this will
result in "gluing in the dirt" making it harder
to remove it the next time. Either re-scrub or
extract the carpet or leave the carpet until the
next cleaning cycle before you coat.
10. Vacuum frequently and thoroughly. It is
so important it deserves two recommendations.
Vacuum frequently and thoroughly. It is so
important it deserves two
recommendations.