Carpet Maintenance at Edenside Carpets
Carpet care at Edenside
Contact us for Carpets Maintainance Advice, Cleaning Products and Insurance Claims
Maintaining and extending the life and appearance of your Fitted Carpets
Carpet maintenance is a necessary part to keeping your carpets in great shape. This section will help you get out hard to remove stains, patch up damaged spots, and advise you on general cleaning recommendations that will prolong the attractive life of your carpet.
If the worst happens and your carpets are destroyed Edenside can assist you with your insurance claims by providing a prompt inspection and accurate valuation for replacement to your insurance company or supplying replacement flooring.
Proper care of your carpet means preventing damage to extends its life and keeps it looking new for years. Things to consider are prevention, protection, cleaning and stain removal;
- Outside Dirt - Kick your shoes off at the door. Train your dog to expect to have his paws cleaned before entering the house. Guess what's on the bottom of your shoes? This sand and dirt grind away at the fibers in your carpet, leading to an early death of your carpeting. Do wear slippers or socks inside. The oil from the bottom of your feet can also stain the carpet. Invest in door mats and ensure they are regularly cleaned or replaced.
- Remember where your old flooring became worn and consider extra protection in these areas by either investing in carpet protectors, available from Edenside, or we can turn your carpet off-cuts into: RUNNERS, MATS or RUGS using our whipping - edging machine. These can always be hidden when you are entertaining.
- Food and Drink - the next largest contaminant. Retrain your kids and pets not to bring meals and juices into you newly refurbished room.
- Vacuum your carpet regularly using a well maintained vacuum cleaner ensuring that it is set to the correct height for your pile height. Check the beater bar for nicks and sharp edges that could damage your carpet.
- Place glides under heavy furniture to combat crushing. Rotate furniture to give carpet a rest.
- With loop pile carpets snip snags or pulls with a pair of scissors rather than pulling them out. It is advisable to avoid loop pile if you have a cat.
- To prevent fading, avoid long hours of direct sunlight on carpet. Close blinds or shades periodically. Select a lighter colored carpet in sun-drenched rooms to minimize fading.
- High humidity and heat can cause wall-to-wall carpet to ripple. Call a professional to restretch it with a power stretcher.
- Do not use spray on carpet shampoos to clean them. The shampoo can't be completely rinsed out, leaving a sticky residue to trap even more dirt from the bottom of your shoes.
- Consider getting your carpets deep cleaned at least once a year but check if this will weaken the stain protection. When renting a wet carpet cleaning machine that cleans with approved cleaning solutions take the time to repeat the process without shampoo, mix 1 cup vinegar per 2 ½ gallons of water and clean according to directions. Finally go back over the carpet with warm water only. The vinegar pulls out the old shampoo, cleaning the carpet as well. It may take a time or two, but your carpets will be much softer and freer from grime.
- Stains in carpet can be a hassle to remove. Never rub a stain, just blot with white absobant material so that there can be no transference of dye. Rubbing breaks down the fibers and spreads the stain.
- Burns - This problem is minimised with carpets made of wool, because wool is more flame retardant then other carpet fibres. If a cigarette has scorched the pile of a wool or wool rich carpet rub the damaged ends of the pile, with for example the edge of a coin, gently to remove the burnt tips of the pile. If the carpet is light-coloured, any remaining discolouration can be removed by rubbing with sandpaper, or failing that with a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide.
- For removal of semi-solid stains, gently scrape them up with a spoon or spatula. Do not use a knife or other utensil with sharp edges because it could damage the carpet.
- Oops, the dog had an accident and the stain and smell refuse all attempts at removal. First try an active oxygen or enzyme product. Use enough to saturate to the underlay and treat an area twice as large as the stain. Urine hits the underlay and spreads. You'll find the enzyme products at pet stores. If you see red spots on your carpet where your pet just lost its lunch, switch food to a neutral colored food. The red dye in pet food is the culprit behind those spots. Dogs and cats are colorblind, so they can't tell the difference.
- Oil, grease, magic marker and ink can be the dickens to remove. Most Supermarkets carry products called DeSolvit. Woolite Carpet products or Orange Clean these can work wonders at removing these stubborn stains. Rubbing alcohol removes ink. Blot on, allow to set 30 minutes and blot to remove. Rinse with sudsy water. Magic marker is generally permanent and you may not be able to remove it.
- Gum - Freeze gum with ice cubes and chip off what you can with the blunt side of a kitchen knife. DeSolveit removes the rest.
- Wax - Freeze with ice and chip off what you can with the blunt side of a knife. Wax needs heat for removal. Some of the newer carpets are quite sensitive to heat and scorch easily, so test an out of the way spot first. Take a white paper towel or paper bag with no writing on it (the dye will transfer to the carpet) Put the towel down on top of the wax and iron the towel for no longer than two seconds. Move the towel and redo if necessary. Generally once is enough.
- If you find these procedure too daunting let Edenside Carpets advise you on professional carpet cleaning companies. Your professional cleaner should know and follow these guidelines: Use professional methods such as steam cleaning. Regardless of method, immediate maximum residue removal is critical. If solvents or pre-spotters are needed, your professional cleaner should first do a general clean and then a spot clean if necessary.