Carpet Maintenance: Six Enemies of Your Carpet

Whenever you make an investment, you want to be sure it is a wise one.  That’s why you do your research, ask lots of questions, and weigh your options.  Eventually, though, you need to make a decision.  At this point, your role changes a bit.  Now that the investment is made, you start to ask a different set of questions.  You ask questions like “What can I do to protect my investment?”  and “How can I preserve my assets?” and “How can I reap the greatest benefit from this decision?”  So if you’ve made an investment in carpet for your home, you probably want to know how you can maintain your flooring and keep it looking new.  For a start, you can keep in mind these 6 enemies of your carpet and try to minimize their negative influence (in no particular order).

Shoes.  When you think about all the places your shoes go and all the messes they walk through, it shouldn’t be surprising that they are not kind to your carpet.  The bottoms of your shoes step through dirt, mud, oil, and even some trash and biological waste.  This means that they bring with them soil as well as bacteria.  Some people ban all shoes from carpeted floors.  Another strategy for protecting carpets is placing rugs and walk-off mats in high-traffic areas.

Spills.  Obviously, you want to minimize the spills you have on your carpet.  But let’s face it, they are going to happen.  The key here is to make sure you take care of them quickly and completely.  Additionally, it’s important to make sure you are using an effective stain-fighting agent. (When Langenwalter cleans your carpet, we will supply you with a bottle of one that works extremely well.)

Furniture.  Your furniture is a weight on your carpet which can take its toll over time.  Even light-weight pieces can create permanent indentations in your carpet if they remain in the same place for too long.  An easy way to fix this problem is to rearrange your furniture on a regular basis.  Even just moving things a few inches can be enough to keep the divots from forming.

Sunshine.  Nobody wishes sunshine would disappear and most of us would probably like to see more of it.  However, it is reality that sunlight will cause fabrics and fibers to fade.  This is true of your carpets like anything else.  Using blinds and curtains to filter the sunlight can minimize the effects on your carpet as well as other furnishings.  Rearranging furniture (as recommended above) can also help to lessen the effects sunshine has on your carpet by ensuring that the fading will occur evenly.

Pets.  There is nothing like a pet to bring a sense of joy and playfulness to a household.  Yet there is no doubt that pets are hard on carpets.  Not only do their paws tend to bring in more dirt, but they also bring with them the inevitable biologic contaminants.  We may not like to think about urine, feces, and other secretions, but they are a part of life with a pet.  Again, cleaning up messes right away can go a long way.  Some pet-lovers also have good luck with training their pets to stay off some surfaces.

Shoddy Cleaning.   Though cleaning your carpets regularly is a really effective way to maintain new-looking carpet, if not done right, cleaning can have negative consequences.  Professional carpet cleaners who use substandard equipment or incorrect techniques may actually damage carpet.

If you take a look at this list, you’ll notice that many of them just simply can not be avoided.  But you can also see that there are things that you can do to make a difference.  Regular professional carpet cleaning is one thing that you can do to make your carpet look better today as well as protect it for the future.  Don’t get rid of your pets or stress about forgetting to take your shoes off.  Just call Langenwalter at 317-876-9944! We’ll help you preserve the look of your flooring for many years to come.