Carpet Cleaning: Take these steps to maintain the life of your carpet.

Vacuum – Vacuum every other day concentrating on main traffic areas. In other words focus on the areas that get the most traffic. Your hallways, family rooms and bedrooms for example. Disposable vacuum bags should be replaced when the bag becomes half full.

 

Dry Spills – Remove spills as soon as they occur. Try not to give them time to settle onto your carpets. All dry spills should be vacuum cleaned to lift and remove residue as soon as possible after spill. In cases where you have a lot of pets or toddlers who are accident prone, keep a towel handy somewhere close by in case of accidents.

 

Liquid Spills – The best thing you can do when a spill occurs is to be there to blot it up and not give it time to settle. Blot as soon as possible with an absorbent dish towel or plain, white paper towels. It's always a good idea to keep an emergency special cleaning kit which can be found in most hardwares stores. Keep the kit under your kitchen sink. Most spills, however, react better to a mixture of ¼ teaspoon of clear (non-bleach, non lanolin) liquid dish washing detergent per 1 cup of warm water. Allow the detergent solution to remain 8 or 10 minutes to lift the spill/stain. Thoroughly rinse the area with warm water, and blot until an absorbent towel shows no moisture transfer. For specific spills read this.

 

Vacuum some more – Vacuum heavy traffic areas frequently depending on number of family members or pets. It is also a good idea to get your carpets professionally cleaned at least once a month.