Cost effective tips to clean and protect your carpets

The carpet in your home never seems to stay clean no matter what you do. From pets to kids, to accidental spills and general wear and tear; these can leave your carpet looking dull and dirty. To make matters more frustrating, hiring a professional carpet cleaning company is expensive and more than likely, if you go down this route, the carpets will need to be cleaned more than just once a year.

So how do you keep your carpets clean without breaking the bank? Here are a few cost effective tips to clean your home’s carpets!

1. Prevention is essential to clean carpets, but of course accidents happen. However, by simply keeping drinks and food items away from carpeted areas, you can cut back on a lot of cleaning. This can be difficult with kids or when you have guests over, but it truly is worth it if you want to avoid cleaning later on.

2. If a stain does happen, get to it right away and don’t let it dry. Take a cloth or towel and blot whatever was spilled. The most important thing to remember is not to rub or scrub the stain! Doing so will spread the stain outward and will also make it penetrate deeper into the  carpet fibres. With your cloth, apply pressure and lightly push down on whatever was spilled. Once the cloth is full, either rinse it, or get another cloth and keep repeating the steps until all of the stain is lifted from the carpet.

3. There are times however that you can’t get to a stain right away and you’re left trying to get a dried stain out of the carpet. If this is the case, you have a few options to try to remove the stain with products you already have in your home. Before you try any of these, remember to test whatever you are using in a hidden spot in order to make sure it will not damage your carpet; try dish soap or detergent mixed with water, vinegar mixed with water, or a little hydrogen peroxide with water. Again, it’s best to blot the stain rather than scrub it, to stop spreading the stain deeper into the carpet.

4. In high traffic areas, put down area rugs to cover up the carpet. This may seem counter-productive but it’s cheaper to replace smaller area rugs every couple of years as they get worn or stained then it is to replace all the carpet in your home.

5. If your carpets are not stained but they have a smell stuck in them either from pets or other sources, sprinkle the carpet with baking soda and let it sit awhile, then vacuum as usual.

Carpet can be hard to maintain, but with a little effort, you can keep them looking fresh and new for years. If however you are looking to upgrade your home’s carpets or flooring, why not check out our mini loans which are perfect for small projects. You can borrow up to $5,000 and once a loan is approved, the cash is generally deposited into your bank account within a few hours - so you can start talking to your flooring specialist today!