PROPER WALL-TO-WALL
CARPET MAINTENANCE TIPS

Carpet maintenance involves vacuuming efficiently, effectively, and consistently, and scheduling a professional cleaning on a regular basis. This will ensure the beauty of your wall-to-wall carpet will last and your indoor air quality will improve for years to come.

IMPORTANT
CARPET MAINTENANCE
TIPS

Remove spots and spills as soon as possible.

Use our ABC Spot Cleaning Guide or our ABC Spotting Solution as per instructions. Call our office at 607-272-1566 if you cannot thoroughly remove the offending material.

Soil is the real enemy.

The ground-in dirt in an excessively soiled carpet can cause serious damage to the fibers, especially in heavily trafficked areas such as at entryways and areas not vacuumed properly or frequently enough.

Be sure to place walk-off mats inside and outside all entry and exit doors to help prevent outside dirt from being tracked inside.

It is better to vacuum ONLY the heavy traffic areas if time is short.

When time is short, vacuum the heavy traffic areas more frequently or repeatedly rather than try to cover everything or everywhere with a once-over-light vacuuming.

Light vacuuming vs. thorough.

Light vacuuming is covering the same area with three or four overlapping strokes. More thorough vacuuming could be 6 or even 8 strokes over the same, heavily soiled areas.

Vacuum against the nap.

Do this especially in high traffic areas. Using a carpet rake to lift the carpet pile could also be helpful in removing ground-in dirt.

When vacuuming area rugs, especially room-size ones with fringe, always vacuum from side to side (opposite the fringes).

We have fringe rakes for sale in our plant which can be used to remove soil from the fringes and also straighten them (with the added advantage of not having to bend over!)  This will save the fringes from being pulled up into the vacuum which can damage the fringes and even the vacuum. If you prefer to use a vacuum tool to vacuum fringes, cover it with an old nylon stocking to prevent damage to the fringe as well as the vacuum.

Maintain your vacuuming equipment.

Never allow dirt collection bags to become more than ½ full. If your vacuum has a cloth bag, make sure to turn the bag inside out at least every third emptying and sweep it off. Check for damaged belts and brush rolls and change or have them changed when needed.

HOW OFTEN TO VACUUM?

An easy way to determine this is to vacuum 1 time a week per the number of people (and pets) living in the home. Thus, 2 adults, 2 children, a dog, and a cat would require 6 cleanings a week. If this is impossible due to time restraints, at least the high-trafficked areas should be done once a day. This will make a big difference to the health and appearance of your carpet.

By following the above procedure, you will not only be removing the loose soil and grit from the heaviest-soiled areas, but cleaning these areas will effectively stop this soil from spreading throughout the house.

Carpet maintenance in commercial settings involves thorough vacuuming at least 3 to 5 times per week. High traffic areas, such as traffic lanes and entrance ways should be vacuumed nightly. 

HOW OFTEN TO SCHEDULE A PROFESSIONAL CLEANING? 

The answer to this carpet maintenance question depends on the degree of traffic on the carpeted areas. A cleaning of all traffic areas once or twice a year with a cleaning of the entire area every 15 to 18 months is recommended under normal circumstances.

If you are already a customer of ours, and if you have given us your email, our newsletter will alert you to any special sales we may have, as well as our Facebook page. 

Call our office at 607-272-1566 at your convenience to schedule an estimate or appointment for the cleaning of your wall-to-wall carpet.

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