How to Care for Wall-to-Wall Carpets

Of all the priced furniture and accessories in your house, wall-to-wall carpets are the prime candidates for catching dirt and witnessing a build-up of grime.

The sheer surface area of these carpets, which is practically the entire floors they are laid out on, makes it impossible for them to escape dirt and accidents of all kinds. This means they get filthy very fast and that you have to be looking after them constantly.

The flip side of this is that if you do care for your wall-to-wall carpets well, you will have one great and eye-catching living room to boast of. Take a look at some examples here.

So how does one prevent swathes of carpets from going the way of dirty rags, and instead maintain them so well that they only add to the charm of your house?

Keep Changing Your Door Mats

Makes sense to start at the beginning, doesn’t it?

Door mats take in so much. In the hot and humid weather of Singapore dust transforms into grime very fast, and we all know how annoying the stickiness is to get rid of. Your doormat is constantly absorbing dirt, moisture, and germs, not just from the air but also from the footwear of everybody who visits you. Needless to say, it gets soiled very fast.

Mats have their own capacity for absorbing dirt. Beyond a point, they stop being absorbers and become dirt-transferring agents instead. If you don’t want your doormat to contribute to the dirt entering your house (and ruin your carpet), either clean it regularly or replace it every two weeks or so.

You can also cover your doormat with a disposable surface to keep it clean and to avoid having to wash it regularly.

Keep Outer and Inner Footwear Separate

Since footwear that has been all over the city is the biggest carrier of dirt, micro-organisms, and allergens, all of which gets transferred onto the surface of the carpets where they sink in and take home for ages, banish people in your household from entering the house with soiled boots on. (Banish maybe a strong word here but hopefully, you get the picture.) This is serious business and you will have to handle it seriously.

Make it a rule for everybody in your house to leave their shoes outside and only enter with socks on. If they insist on wearing footwear inside the house, ask them to keep separate pairs for this purpose. The footwear to be worn inside the house shouldn’t be worn outside, and vice versa. This is one of the best ways to keep a lot of dirt and other undesirable stuff out of your house and away from your carpets.

Vacuum Busy Parts of the Carpet Twice a Week

Once a week is simply not good enough, we’re afraid. Ideally, carpets should be (gently) vacuumed every other day to prevent the build-up of grime in the first place but this may not be feasible for everybody.

If you don’t have the time to vacuum the entire carpet twice a week, make sure you cover at least the busy areas – areas that attract the most dirt and foot traffic.

Clean up Spills on Carpet as a Matter of Urgency

The best way to prevent stains is to not let them build up. A stain once settled in can be difficult to get rid of. Hence make it a priority to attend to spills as soon as possible. You don’t have to do much when the spill has just occurred, except make sure it doesn’t spread or get entrenched in the fabric of the carpet. Fish out some blotting paper (kitchen, facial, or toilet tissues will do as well), put it on top of the spill very gently, and let it soak up the liquid.

Spray some water onto the spill, and soak it up again with the paper (do not rub the area at any cost). Keep doing it till the spilled contents have been fully mopped up. Just remember to be very gentle in your clean-up procedure.

If it is water that has been spilled onto the carpet, you can dry the area with a blow dryer; choose a cold setting for this purpose. Try not to ever leave your carpet damp.

Don’t Let Your Kids Eat on Carpeted Areas

Ridding a large carpet of odor can be an onerous task. Especially when it has just rained outside, it’s still very humid, things are not drying fast enough, and you want everything in your house smelling like the roses. Do not use talcum powder to clean your carpets by the sprinkle-and-smell method. It’s a myth!

Try baking soda instead. Almost everybody has it in their house, so grab a packet of the fine white powder and sprinkle it (ever so slightly) on the offending areas. By that, we mean areas that have witnessed baby or pet “accidents”. Leave it in place for a few hours and vacuum it up. That should do the trick!

Get Professionals to Clean Your Carpet Once a Year

This is extremely important to keep your carpet hygienic and looking good for a long time. While the ideas suggested above will go a long way in preserving its looks and keeping it clean, there is only so much one can do to care for something as big and absorbent as a wall-to-wall carpet.

So do your bit by being responsible towards your carpet on a daily basis, but don’t think it can replicate the effect of a professional clean-up. They tend to use the best methods to clean carpets. We recommend getting it done once a year or even every two years. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes!

Consider Big Red’s Carpet Cleaning Services. We are accredited, and one of the few who are in Singapore, by the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, Restoration Industry Association, Carpet and Rug Institute, and the like.