How to Maintain Clean Carpets at Home

Carpets are a popular flooring option in Singapore. Carpets are also considered to be the traditional choice of flooring for many.

And why not? After all, they provide comfort, minimize injuries in case of falls, conceal uneven floors, and are available in so many different colors and styles. Due to their insulating properties, carpets provide warmth by retaining heat and also help in noise reduction.

As popular as they are, they demand regular carpet cleaning maintenance to keep looking their best. If you didn’t know it already, it isn’t as easy to keep a carpeted floor spotless as is a hardwood, laminated, or a tiled floor. Moreover, dirty carpets are not only uninviting, they are unhealthy too. Learn how to keep clean carpets at home with these helpful tips:

Have Your House Smelling Fresh and Looking Clean

Modern carpets are manufactured in a way to hide soiling so it may not be easy to tell if your carpet needs cleaning. However, by the time the carpet starts looking soiled, it may already be too late to reverse the damage. Vacuuming daily will ensure that dust particles don’t build up in carpet fibers.

If the carpet stinks, hot water extraction, one of the best carpet cleaning methods, will not only leave the carpet looking as good as new, but smell fresh too.

Keep Dust Mites Away

Did you know that dust mites are the leading cause of asthmatic allergies in Singapore? Dust mites are microscopic organisms that thrive in dust and feed on dead skin cells. Dust mite excretions and body fragments can become airborne and cause or exacerbate allergies. If you find that your eyes are watery and itchy most of the time you’re indoors, or if you have developed skin rashes, it’s time to deal with the dust mites.

While vacuuming can help eliminate dust, steam cleaning the carpet exposes the dust mites to high temperatures that they cannot survive. After cleaning, rest assured that you are living in mite-free homes with lower possibilities of allergic reactions.

Say No to Mold

Mold is a fungus that can grow well in the presence of just dirt and moisture. If you let dirt accumulate on the carpet and also have high humidity levels inside your house, mold can grow and spread quickly.

Carpet and indoor mold can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat. You can also develop asthma or allergies. Studies have shown that prolonged exposure to mycotoxins produced by mold can lead to neurotoxicity, hypersensitivity, and cancer.

Regular carpet cleaning helps get rid of dust and using high-powered drying tools can remove moisture from the carpet fibers.

Bid Indoor Air Pollution Goodbye

Carpets can trap several indoor pollutants such as lead, particulate matter, cockroach droppings, pet dander, etc. Toxic gases can adhere to these pollutants and get trapped between the carpet fibers. When you switch on your air-conditioner or heater, the air inside the house along with these contaminants and pollutants keeps on circulating and this can make you sick in the long run.

As such, maintaining indoor air quality is of utmost importance inside homes. Special shampooing formulas and high-powered vacuums can get your carpet rid of these pollutants and improve the quality of air inside your house.

You could also conduct home health checks and even purchase your own Air Quality DIY Kits for the best air for you and your pets.

Stay Healthy with Clean Carpet

Carpets and your health are intimately related. Carpets are home to several microbes apart from dust mites and mold, and can thus expose you to more dangers than allergies or asthma attacks. Skin irritation and infection are common problems that you can face if you don’t clean carpets regularly. You may develop rashes, and your skin may feel itchy.

In particular, Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection generally associated with walking barefoot on dirty carpets. The fungus breaks into the skin, breeds, and leads to chronic itching in the feet.

Studies have shown that living in an unclean environment can weaken the immune system, and raise stress and anxiety levels, thereby making people with cardiac problems prone to heart attacks or strokes.

So, make sure you buy cleaning products that contain anti-microbial and special hygiene-related compounds when cleaning your carpets. Better still, contact your carpet cleaning certified professionals to do the job for you.

Prolong the Life of Your Carpet

Carpets are an essential part of homes and offices. Carpets also cost a lot and as such, they need to be cared for diligently if you want them to last for long. The best way you can take care of your carpet is by cleaning it regularly. And don’t worry, the idea that cleaning carpets regularly will ruin their appearance is a myth!

Carpets are exposed to dust daily. Dirt and sand particles have ragged edges that can wear out carpet fibers as you walk on them. Carpet fibers can also become matted due to the constant pressure on them in high-traffic areas. Regular vacuuming can freshen up carpet fibers and groom them, while also removing any fibers that have come loose.

Vacuuming also pulls out any bugs or beetles that have made your carpet their home. Most of these insects feed on carpet fibers, thereby wearing out the carpet quickly.

So, keep up the vacuuming, do-it-yourself with good cleaning agents and equipment, or just call certified carpet professionals to do the job for you. They are just a click away.

Conclusion

If you have recently switched from hardwood or tiled floor to a carpeted one, you may wonder why everyone fusses so much over keeping carpets clean. It is important to clean carpets regularly for a number of reasons as mentioned above.

The best way to keep carpets clean is by vacuuming high-traffic areas every day and other areas at least once a week. It is also important to spot clean the carpet immediately if you drop food or spill drinks on it, or if there’s a child or pet accident.

Be careful when you attempt to spot clean the carpet to get rid of the stains or the spills. All carpets are different and you should know what cleaning materials you need to use on your carpet. Always test the cleaning product on a small inconspicuous area of the carpet to make sure it is safe to be used.

When in doubt, leave the job to carpet cleaning certified professionals, accredited by institutions and organizations like:

• Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification
• Restoration Industry Association
• Carpet and Rug Institute