Carpet Cleaning 101

Carpets add a natural touch of luxury to your home and provide a cosy, welcoming feel. However, the effect can be totally ruined if your carpets are dirty. Cleaning your carpets can be a time-consuming process but is essential if you want to keep your home looking and smelling great. 

But what are the best ways to clean your carpets? And when is it time to call in the professionals if the job is too big for you to handle yourself? Here we answer all your questions about cleaning your carpets, making it easy for you to achieve a clean and hygienic home where your family and guests can relax and unwind.

Investing in effective carpet cleaning with professionals 

“Carpet cleaners in my area won’t tell me their hourly rate.” This is because every job is different, every carpet comes in different shapes and sizes, and the levels of dirt will vary, too. At Jim’s Cleaning, our professional team charges by the job, not by the hour. This means we can always give you the fairest price. Even if you live in a high rise apartment, we will always keep our prices competitive — you won’t get any nasty surprises from us!

“Where can I find professional carpet cleaners in my area?” you may be asking. Well, contact Jim’s Cleaning today for a free quote! With franchises all over Australia, we’ll be able to get your carpets looking as good as new.

FAQs

Why is cleaning your carpets important?

Your carpets add so much to the ambience of your home, so naturally, you want to keep them fresh. They are also a significant investment, and you need them to last as long as possible. Cleaning your carpets regularly will help extend their lifespan by preserving their appearance and keeping them in the best condition. It will also rid your carpet of any unpleasant odours — you might not notice them, but your guests certainly will! Your home will quickly lose its appeal if it doesn’t smell good.

However, the most important reason to keep your carpets clean is for the sake of your health and the health of those you live with. Along with your upholstery, window treatments and mattress, carpets are one of the areas in the home that attract the most dust and dirt. Carpets are even more vulnerable than other surfaces, as they absorb outdoor debris from your shoes. 

Allowing dust and dirt to live in your carpets can cause allergies and even breathing problems. This all makes for an unhealthy living space, so you need to keep your carpets as clean as possible. Having your carpets cleaned will rid your living space of dust mites, bacteria and other allergens, improving the air quality in your home and making it a much more pleasant place to be.

How do I clean the carpet?

As professional carpet cleaners, one of the most common questions we get asked is, “How do I clean my carpet myself?” We always suggest that the best place to start is by giving your carpet a thorough vacuuming. You should vacuum at least twice a week, but if you have young children or pets, you’ll need to vacuum more often than this.

Make sure you do the job correctly — move all your furniture out of the way and vacuum underneath and behind it. Go over the high-traffic areas of your home more than once if you want to ensure your carpets are as clean as possible.

Once this is done, you can use a squeegee on your carpets to collect any excess hair and pet fur that the vacuum cleaner might have missed. Combined, these two steps will give your carpet a basic clean, but it won’t be enough to rid your carpet of stains and ground-in dirt.

If you want to give your carpet a more thorough clean, you can use carpet shampoo. This can take time because you have to work it into the carpet. Should you rinse carpets after shampooing? Yes, as the shampoo contains chemicals that you need to remove from your carpet to keep your home safe and healthy. Do you keep cleaning the carpet until the water is clear? Again, yes. If there is still dirt in the water, this means there is still dirt in the carpet.

However, it is essential not to get your carpets too wet. Excess water can damage the appearance and structure of your carpets, and you will need professional help to remove the water damage and restore your carpets to their former glory. The professionals at Jim’s Cleaning can also help if your home has been flooded and your carpets have been damaged. They can even take care of other clean-up tasks, including floor stripping, leather upholstery cleaning, as well as bringing your tile grout and ducts back to their gleaming best self.

Should you vacuum after carpet cleaning?

We recommend that you always vacuum after cleaning your carpets, even if you have had them professionally cleaned. Often, it takes time for ground-in dirt to wick to the surface. This can only be removed by vacuuming once all the dirt has had a chance to rise to the top.

This process makes some homeowners ask, “Why does my carpet look worse after cleaning?” Sometimes dirt, stains and even mould can be buried deep within the carpet, only rising to the surface once the carpet has been cleaned.

How do I clean carpet stains?

Stain removal is always tricky because the same method won’t necessarily work for different stains. In all cases, the most important thing is to spot-clean the stain as quickly as possible, so the carpet doesn’t have the chance to absorb the spillage. However, the cleaning method you should use depends entirely on what the stain is. Some examples include:

1. Red wine

Red wine is one of the most notoriously difficult stains to remove from a carpet. If a red wine spillage happens, you need to blot it right away with a paper towel. Don’t rub, as this will make things worse.

Once you have blotted as much as you can, make a paste of three parts baking soda and one part water. Leave this on the stain to dry completely, then vacuum it away. 

2. Coffee

Blotting with paper towels is also the first thing you should do if you spill coffee on your carpet, as this can be another problematic stain to remove. Once you have removed as much of the spillage as you can by blotting, you should add two teaspoons of dishwashing soap to two cups of warm water. Apply this solution to the stain with a cloth or bristle brush, working from the outside to prevent spreading. Rinse with a clean cloth and plain water, leave to dry, then vacuum.

3. Nail polish

This is an extremely difficult one. The most effective method of removing nail polish stains from your carpets is to use acetone. However, this can also stain and change the colour of your carpet, or, in the worst case, melt the fibres. Nail polish stains really are best left to the professionals.

Whatever the stain, if standard removal methods don’t work, you might need professional help cleaning your carpets. 

How do I deep clean my carpet?

Sometimes spot stain removal is not enough. If your entire carpet needs a deep clean, two options are steam cleaning or dry cleaning. To steam clean your carpet, you need to purchase a steam cleaner. You usually have to purchase a particular carpet cleaning solution, which mixes with hot water in your steam cleaner to remove ingrained dirt and stains.

On the other hand, dry cleaning is a method of cleaning that requires less moisture but more chemicals. It is often used in busy circumstances like commercial carpet cleaning, where there is no time to wait for a carpet to dry before it gets used again. Due to the specialist nature of the cleaning chemicals involved, carpet dry cleaning is a job for professional carpet cleaners.

What is the most effective carpet cleaning method?

 This depends on the type of carpet and the nature of the stains. The most effective method will always be to call in the professionals, as they have extensive experience and access to solutions you can’t buy in-store.