I guess you all know how important it is to regularly clean our home, this includes the carpets and rugs, flooring, upholstery and don’t forget the curtains. Of course managing all of this in addition to cooking and going to work is say the least hard. Especially if you have neglected it for several days, things just build up and you end up buried with work. This means no weekend for you, but cleaning and tidying the house.
Make Cleaning Faster
In order to avoid this I recommend you make a schedule which involves all the family members, after all they too make a mess. The easiest way for fast cleaning is if you have a hardwood flooring, but if you know how to properly maintain carpets and rugs you’ll have no problem. You probably think vacuuming once a week is more than enough, but you’re wrong. Since textile flooring accumulates around eighty percent of the dust and dirt daily vacuuming is in order.
If you manage to find time and take care of the rugs and carpets there will be less stains and the air quality of your home will improve drastically. This means less allergies and healthier family members.
Of course we’re not just talking about carpets, you have to pay attention to the upholstery and curtains, although drapery is vertically positioned it too accumulates a lot of dust and soil.
Enough with maintenance, I’ll give you some advice how to proceed when encountering a stain.
How To Clean Stains
First of all you have to know what is the material used in the manufacturing of the carpet or rug. Is it natural or synthetic, because this will determine the cleaning method. Most natural fibred carpets are intolerant to liquid, therefore it is best to use dry cleaning solutions or contact professional cleaners. As for the synthetic fabric, most can be cleaned with commercial detergents, but make sure there is no protective coating.
The coating contains special chemicals which can react to those in the cleaning solution, therefore I recommend using homemade solutions or green cleaners. Keep in mind that all stains are different, therefore require individual approach. For example you can’t properly clean ketchup stain with vinegar, because both are acidic. You have to understand what the stain is and after removing it neutralize the affected area.
So for acidic stains baking soda is the best option, as for the alkali ones vinegar will do the trick. Before you apply any kind of cleaning solution it is a good idea to spot test the area for an adverse reaction. Of course you don’t have to go through all the trouble, there are many carpet cleaning companies which offer great services – here is my personal favorite.