By Carpet cleaning is easy, especially if you’ve got a good vacuum. Part of being an adult is coughing up a pretty penny for a food vacuum, but it’s totally worth it. (Oh, and part of owning a good vacuum is also making sure you’re emptying it between each use!)
This guide describes not only how to best clean your carpet, but also how often you should clean your carpet and then some additional bonus cleaning tips for specific ways to remove stains and spot treat problem areas.
Vacuum
- Why? The vacuum slurps up all those little particles that are hiding out among your carpet, preventing dirt from getting ground into the carpet or wearing away its fibers.
- Move imposing furniture, cords and miscellaneous clutter out of your way (shoes, the dog bed, floor pillows, your foam roller, etc.).
- Don’t forget to play with all the various vacuum attachments to really get into the carpet’s edges and beneath the furniture that was too big or annoying to move.
- Vacuum in both directions to make sure you really cover all that ground.
- We prefer a vacuum with a rotating bristle to really suck out any embedded dirt
Spot clean + pretreat stains
- Depending on the type of stain, you can use a clean, damp rag to blot at it (never scrub the stain, it’ll usually just make it worse!).
- Give the stain a firm blotting using one of the following: club soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide or a dish soap (such as Dawn Dish Soap) and water will usually take out most stains and spots. (More on specific types of stains below.)
- Always finish spot cleaning a stain with a clean water blot to remove any residual cleaning products, especially soap.
- For more stubborn stains, you can try a salt solution.
- Pour some club soda onto the stain to saturate it.
- Dump some salt on top of club-soda-saturated stain. The salt serves as a buffer that prevents the stain from setting.
- Let the salty soda solution sit and dry out for about 20 minutes.
- Vacuum up the dried salt.
Scrub to disinfect
- Combine a DIY solution of 1 part white vinegar + 3 parts water.
- Scrub your carpet using a soft bristle scrub brush and your vinegar solution to disinfect any problem areas that might be smelly or unsightly.
- Vinegar’s acidic properties will help to deodorize your carpet, even if it currently has your living room smelling like a bag of chips.
- Blot away vinegar with a clean, dry towel.
- If you’ve got some real weird smelly bits of carpet, try sprinkling the offending areas with baking soda, and let it sit for about 20 minutes before vacuuming it up.
Steam clean
- With steam cleaners, always follow the directions.
- Using hot water and a small amount of the ready-made cleaner of your choice, begin steam cleaning the carpet, navigating the steam cleaner slowly back and forth.
- Steam cleaners push out water when you push them forward and suck it back up when you pull them backward. It’s important to move the steam cleaner slowly so it effectively removes as much moisture from the carpet as possible, to prevent mold or mildew growth.
Vacuum (again!)
Think again: You’re not done cleaning until you make one more final pass with the vacuum. Plus, those lines in the carpet are just so satisfying.
