How to Keep your Carpets Looking Great for Years to Come

 One of life’s simple pleasures is the feeling underfoot of walking on soft, new carpet. Its springiness, that lovely ‘new’ smell, how pristine and perfect it looks when it’s just been fitted. It’s no wonder that many home-owners invest in getting new carpets fitted almost as soon as they move into a new property.

However, after a few weeks or months that ‘new carpet’ look begins to fade. This post will offer tips on how homeowners can keep their carpets and carpet runners looking and feeling fabulous for years to come.

Vacuuming

The easiest and cheapest way to maintain your carpets is to make sure that you hoover them thoroughly and regularly. As your carpet is ‘lived on,’ dust and grime becomes embedded in the carpet fibres and changes the way the carpet reflects light, making it look dingy and old before its time. Hovering removes dirt before it can pit and scratch carpet fibres and it is recommended that you vacuum your carpets two to five times a week, depending on how much ‘foot traffic’ the rooms in your house sees on a daily basis. Hallways and stairs will typically see a lot of foot traffic in a day, so frequent hovering of your new carpet or hallway runner is very important. Invest in a good quality vacuum cleaner, as good suction will also not only remove dirt but also ‘fluff up’ the fibres, making your carpet look and feel newer for longer.

Shoes off Rule

A ‘no shoes in the house’ rule is an easy and sure-fire way to ensure that minimal dirt from outside is brought into your home and trodden into your lovely new carpets. Even if you think your shoes are clean, tiny flecks of debris may still be present which will damage and age your carpets, so to be on the safe side, provide visitors to your home with a doormat and shoe rack by the front door.

Remove Stains

Spills happen, so always make sure that you tend to any accidents as soon as they occur, to stop any stains from setting into your carpet for good. Here at runrug.com, we have our very own multi-purpose stain removing fluid, which can tackle a wide variety of stains from red wine to ink. But also always make sure that you follow the carpet manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning, to ensure that the carpet cleaning chemicals you use are not likely to damage your carpet fibres further.

Annual Deep Clean

The most effective way to bring your carpets back to looking ‘as good as new’ is of course to deep clean and shampoo them. Ideally, this should be done at least once a year to maintain the look of your carpets. Shampooing gets deep into the fibres and eliminates built up dust, dirt and oily residue (a constant presence on the soles of bare feet) that can start to build up in carpeting over time.

Fluff Dents

Heavy items of furniture on carpet can push down the fibres and create little dents in your new carpet. To get rid of these dents, take an ice cube and place it over the affected area and wait for it to melt. Afterwards, fluff the little area back up again with either a toothpick or a fork and soak any excess water off of your carpet with a towel.

Remove odours with Baking Soda

If you have a pet or just want to make your carpets smell like new again,  take some baking soda and sprinkle it over your carpets and leave it to sit for at least 15 minutes. The Bicarbonate of soda helps to lift pet hair and eliminate odours. If you can, leave the baking soda on overnight and hoover it up again. The bag will quickly fill up with powder as you do this, so make sure that you empty your hover throughput this process.

If you have any other sterling tips for keeping your carpets looking lovely for years to come, do share them in comments below.

Photo By: Helen Smith