Carpet Care and Cleaning Tips
By Brian Berson,
The first step towards carpet care and cleaning is never buying store-bought spot cleaners. Most of these cleaners are detergents and will leave a soapy residue on your carpet. Yes, it appears clean at first. As time passes, however, you will start seeing dark spots everywhere you use it. If you never use these store-bought spot cleaners, there should be no reason to have reoccurring spots on your carpet. A straightforward test is to pour a small amount of the spot remover into your hand and agitate it with your finger. If you see soap, don't use it.
If you have previously spot-cleaned with a store-bought spot-cleaning product, some invisible residue may still be there after we come out and professionally clean your carpets. When you wash dishes, think about how much water it takes to rinse off a plate. A plate isn't even a porous surface. Picture how much water it would take to flush the residue out of your absorbent carpet fibers. It may require a couple of professional cleanings to extract all the residual cleaners.
Be careful of other "professional" carpet cleaners
Most cleaners still use detergents that will leave a sticky residue on your carpet and attract dirt. If you had another company clean your carpet, and afterward, it seems to get dirty faster, they likely fall into the category of cleaners using detergents. We will do everything we can to remove the soapy residue and return your carpet to like-new condition.
Spot cleaning recommendations
When there is a stain on your carpet, the first step is to figure out where the stain came from. For instance, coffee comes from a coffee bean, a natural source. Blood, vomit, urine, and wine are all natural substances, while something like grease is not. Knowing if it was from a natural source or not will aid you in how to handle the spot correctly.
How to clean spots from a natural source
Mix 1 ounce of clear ammonia with 3 ounces of peroxide. Do NOT use water! Using a spray bottle, spray the mixture on the spot and cover it with a dinner plate or coffee saucer. After letting it sit for 24 hours, the spot should be gone. Repeat the treatment process if the spot is still visible.
Spots that are not from a natural source
We recommend our own soap-free spotter available for purchase at our Mokena, IL, and Highland, IN, stores. If the spot is dry, apply our soap-free spotter. If the spot is wet, blot it with a cotton towel first. Now, agitate the spotter gently with your finger into the area and wait about 1 minute. Next, blot with a cotton towel. The spot should absorb into the towel. If not, repeat the process until it does.