Carpet cleaning isn’t one of those subjects that we give a lot of thought to. If the truth were known, most people don’t even “see” the state of their carpets until it’s time to have some important visitors – such as during the holiday season. You probably think that only a guy, living alone, would be guilty of such neglect of his carpets. Be that as it may, everyone needs to give their carpets some attention from time to time throughout the year. You do not need to shampoo your carpet every month, but you should vacuum every week. It should be part of your weekly cleaning routine to vacuum your carpets and, if this isn’t automatic for you, you should add it to your cleaning chores.

Carpet Shampoo

No matter what kind of carpet you have, always vacuum very thoroughly before doing any carpet cleaning such as shampooing. This is fundamental carpet care if you want to take the best care of your carpets. If you don’t bother to vacuum first, before you shampoo, your rugs will turn out worse looking than they did before you shampoo. The way rug shampooers work is the reason you may end up with worse carpets.

Part of the dirt in your carpet will be dissolved, in spite of the fact that the shampoo will get a lot of the dirt. Unfortunately, you will only get a portion of the dirt. The dirt that gets dissolved will end up drying deep in the fibers of your rug. One of the dangers of shampooing your own carpeting is failing to remove as much liquid from the carpeting as possible. So many times this results in black mold that grows very fast when the carpet is left wet. When the mold growth reaches a certain point, it can begin to affect the health of the folks in your home. Not only will it grow in your rug, it can spread to your walls and will be almost impossible to get rid of. Bleach is about the only chemical that will kill off the growing mold. After washing your walls with bleach, they will need to be repainted. This expense could have been prevented.

Chemicals and Fragrances

As a rule, most of the commercial rug shampoos you buy will have both chemicals and a fragrance. It’s not hard to find rug shampoos that are based on natural products and are fragrance-free. Keep in mind that whenever you switch to an unfamiliar brand of rug shampoo that there may be an allergic response if someone in your home is sensitive to fragrances. You will probably have to shampoo the carpet a second time – using another shampoo without any fragrance – if there is an allergic reaction to the shampoo used the first time. Anyway, keep this problem in mind when you are shopping for a rug shampoo if you, or any family members, are sensitive to fragrances.

Protect yourself and your friends and family from allergies by keeping to a regular carpet cleaning schedule. When you are tempted to skip vacuuming, keep this fact in mind. It’s really a no-brainer. You set up a simple schedule for vacuuming and shampooing and you stick to it. So develop the right kind of healthy habits so you will be breathing easy into the future.