Do you know how to deep clean or steam clean your carpets? We embarked on this adventure last weekend, and we learned a few things along the way.
Our home has exactly one room with carpeting. It is a berber loop carpet that we had installed to replace some peeling and crumbling vinyl tile. Truth be told, I am not a big fan of carpeting, because I never feel as though it is really clean.
For the first year of the new carpet’s life in our home I attempted to be vigilant, no let us say militant, about keeping it clean and stain free. No food or drink was allowed in that room and no shoes either (we generally have a no shoes policy in the house but don’t always enforce it for guests).
Unfortunately, I don’t come across as very general like, and my husband couldn’t be bothered with worrying about the carpet on the many trips back and forth from the garage. Guests would also come in through the back door straight from the woods and contribute dirt that way. The throw rugs were never installed.
Needless to say, two years later we were left with a very dirty carpet that needed to be cleaned.
What we learned:
- Renting a machine and doing it yourself is cheaper than hiring someone, especially if you only have a single room to clean.
- The cost of buying the cleaner costs about as much as the rental. There are coupons available.
- It is worth it to buy the pre-treatment cleaner for high traffic areas.
- You have to watch for “wick up,” in which dirt rises from the bottom of the carpet during the cleaning process and deposits itself on the surface, making things look worse.
- Do a couple of dry practice runs with the machine on before you add water and cleaner, so you get used to the machine.
- Your carpet may need two passes to get clean and will need to dry between passes.
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