Carpet Cleaning Mistakes to Avoid
Between the heat and the dirt and dust that will make their way into your Arizona home, hard surface flooring options that are easy to clean, like vinyl and tile, tend to be the popular choice.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy soft, comfortable carpets in your bedrooms and other living spaces. While they might take a bit of extra cleaning to keep them looking great, carpets can still be a great addition to your desert home.
Ready to keep your carpets clean and beautiful? Keep reading to learn a few carpet cleaning mistakes that you’ll want to avoid.
1. Letting Spills Sit
Regardless of the type of flooring that you choose, letting spills sit on your floors can lead to stains and damage, and make them tougher to clean up.
Even durable tile floors will stain if things like red wine or coffee are allowed to sit and soak in for too long. Carpets will stain even faster.
No matter what you spill, clean it up as quickly as possible. Soak up as much of the spill as possible using towels or paper towels before using a cleaning solution to treat the stain.
Even if you spill something that won’t stain, like cracker crumbs or water, it’s still important to clean it up. Crumbs will get further broken down and pressed into your carpet fibers, which can discolor your carpets and make the mess even harder to clean up. Water should also be soaked up and dried completely. Otherwise, mold and mildew could form in the underlying carpet pad and subfloor.
2. Not Vacuuming Enough
If your carpets are dark in color or multi-colored, it can be tough to see when they actually begin to get dirty. But dirt, dust, and other debris will gather in your carpet fibers day-to-day. The longer they are allowed to sit there, the more they get ground in, discoloring and even damaging your carpet; over time, dirt and dander actually wear at the fibers of your carpet, leaving them shredded and broken.
Vacuuming your carpeted floors can help to prevent this damage. Whether your floors look dirty or not, you should aim to vacuum them at least a couple of times a week. If you know that you’re tracking in a lot of dirt and debris, you may want to consider running your vacuum more frequently.
Hate vacuuming? If you know that you’re likely to put off this chore, consider investing in a robotic vacuum that you can program to clean up for you once a day or every other day.
3. Using Harsh Chemicals to Treat Stains
There’s a growing movement that has revealed the harsh chemicals hiding in common household products. Carpet cleaning solutions are no exception.
Your favorite products could have chemicals that are left behind in your carpets and released into the air in your home. This can cause sneezing, coughing, and, in extreme cases, asthma attacks and migraines.
Research your spot cleaning products before using them. It’s also a good idea to test them on a carpet square or in an easy-to-hide corner before applying them directly to your carpets.
These products should only be used to treat stains and spills at the moment; deep cleaning your carpets is a job best left to the Zerorez® pros.
4. Over Scrubbing
Scrubbing away at set-in stains might seem like the best way to get them out of your carpet fibers. But whether it works or not, this method can cause irreversible damage to your carpets.
Over scrubbing will damage the individual fibers of your carpets, causing them to unravel. It can also spread out the stain and debris, leaving a larger area of your carpets discolored.
5. Not Utilizing Runners and Area Rugs
It’s natural that certain sections of carpet will see more wear and tear than others. If you want to prolong the periods between having to replace your carpets, area rugs and runners can help.
These carpets are more than just accents for your home. They can actually protect the carpets that lie underneath. This is ideal for high-traffic areas that see more wear and tear, like hallways and entryways.
6. Relying on Carpet Deodorizers to Kill Smells
From pet stains to dander to mildew, your carpets can be the source of a variety of stinky odors in your home. Too many pet owners opt to try to treat the smell rather than the source of the stink.
Carpet deodorizers may promise to get your home smelling fresh again. But these often only mask the smell temporarily. They may also contain harmful chemicals that could stain or damage your carpets or put your family’s health at risk.
Never try to mask the smell; instead, call in the pros for a deep cleaning that treats the stink at the source. The best carpet cleaning Tucson, AZ has to offer has the tools it takes to treat stains and odors the right way.
7. Renting Carpet Cleaners
Many grocery and hardware stores offer carpet cleaner rentals. These big, heavy machines may seem like a great way to give your home’s carpets a deep clean. But just like the other cleaning products we’ve mentioned, these often utilize chemicals for that cleaning that might be damaging to your carpets and your health.
Carpet cleaners also soak your carpets through to the subfloor and only extract a small amount of that water. This means that your carpets take a long time to dry out. Mildew and mold may form in the meantime. And if you walk on your carpets before they are completely dry, you risk discoloring them and dirtying them again.
It isn’t just water that’s left behind, either. These carpet cleaners may not remove the soap and chemicals used completely. This can actually change the texture of your carpets, leaving behind a “crunchy” feeling.
8. Skipping a Professional Zerorez® Carpet Cleaning
Don’t let these carpet cleaning mistakes ruin your home’s floors. Instead, clean up spills as soon as they occur, use a temporary spot treatment as needed, and trust the Zerorez® pros for deep cleaning.
Finding the best carpet cleaner Tucson AZ has to offer can help you get rid of set-in stains and dirt and debris in your carpets, and keep them looking like new longer. The Zerorez® cleaning process utilizes a patented system that extracts dirt and debris and requires minimal drying time. You’ll get clean, soft carpets, without days of walking on wet floors or suffering through that “crunchy” feeling.
Ready to get your floors looking great? Schedule your next Zerorez® cleaning appointment today!