Carpet care.

To preserve your carpet’s beauty and appearance for a long time, we recommend that you vacuum the whole carpet area at least twice a week.

We recommend avoiding a vacuum cleaner with rotating soft brushes as this will damage the pile. For dense carpets we recommend reducing the suction power of the vacuum cleaner. Some models feature a variable motor speed, while others require the opening of an air gate to reduce the air flow.

Slight dirty marks and stains can best be removed with a carpet cleaning product. Read the instructions for use carefully and always treat stains as quickly as possible.

It is important to use a neutral shampoo – certainly not one that is alkaline, never use household detergents, and don’t use shampoos which smell of ammonia.

To check proprietary carpet shampoos, leave a bit in a saucer overnight, pour off excess and allow to dry to see if it leaves a sticky residue to which house dust could cling.

If you use a shampooing machine, follow the instructions carefully. Remove the furniture from the room, if possible, and vacuum thoroughly before shampooing. Allow to dry overnight before vacuuming and putting the furniture back in place.

There is a range of cleaning powders available which are either solvent-saturated or detergent-saturated. Check the manufacturer’s instructions.

After vacuuming, the powder is sprinkled liberally on the carpet, brushed into the pile and then vacuumed out. It is not necessary to remove all the powder from the pile as it can help minimize future soiling.

The powder method is an easy way of freshening up a carpet. It also distorts the pile less and, because the carpet is less wetted, the room is ready for re-use sooner.

For light cleaning of small areas, aerosol foam shampoos can be used. It is advisable to test the shampoo first for sticky residue which may attract dust.

Foam is usually sprayed sparingly on the carpet and worked into the pile with a moistened sponge or brush. Vacuum after the carpet is dry. In all cases, check the manufacturer’s instructions.

With this method, sometimes incorrectly referred to as “steam cleaning,” the carpet pile can be injected with a hot water and detergent solution under pressure so that the soil is suspended in the water which is extracted almost at once by a high suction, wet vacuum system.

This method is particularly useful for very dirty carpets as it removes deep-seated dirt, but it may not clean the surface as well as other methods. It is also useful for removing excess detergents from successive wet shampooings – and together the two methods can restore a very dirty, flattened carpet.

Professional factory cleaning is ideal for rugs and carpet squares because all the dirt can be effectively removed.

It is not as suitable for wall-to-wall carpet as on-site cleaning because of the inconvenience and expense of removing and refitting the carpet.