Keeping carpets fresh and spotless isn’t tough but you need to care for them extensively. Stained or odored carpets leave a very bad impression and ruin the overall interior decor. Such carpets do not offer maximum longevity and reflect poor maintenance.
Make your carpet free from any kind of dust, stains, and spills to have an appealing carpet appearance. To help you with that, Carpet Centre decided to publish this article. In this guide, we’ll discuss expert carpet cleaning hacks to make your floor covering spotless and fresh.
And here we go!
Save Your Carpets With Our Top Cleaning Hacks
Below, we’ve picked some top methods of cleaning carpets experienced by our experts. They’re 100% working, genuine and cost-effective. Let’s discuss them one by one in detail.
1. Eliminate Stubborn Stains With Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide has a simple working phenomenon. It acts as a bleaching agent that breaks down the chemical bonds of organic materials in a stain by releasing oxygen. There are two expert methods of using it for stain removal.
- Apply directly to the stained area using a cotton swab
- Soak the stained carpet in hydrogen peroxide solution
We recommend soaking for a maximum of 30 minutes because the above can lead to colorfastness. Keep in mind that the solution must be of two parts water and one part hydrogen peroxide regardless of what carpet type you’re cleaning. Whether it’s your living room, drawing room, or bedroom carpet; inappropriate or toxic solutions can damage its appearance.
2. Prioritize Enzymatic Cleaners Over Others
The enzymatic carpet cleaners are safe and eco-friendly. In terms of functionality, they don’t mask stain or odor molecules with just fragrance, although they digest them for a deep clean and genuine freshness.
They are widely prioritized for carpets with textured loops such as sisal carpets because they trap stains in their fibers. While, enzymatic cleaners have properties to break down certain organic matters like fats, carbohydrates, and proteins found in stains.
3. Carpet Raking Before Vacuum
Promoting the carpet raking before vacuuming is such an effective decision. With it, you can loosen stubborn stain molecules in the carpet fibers for easy trapping during vacuum cleaning. You can especially implement this hack with office carpets where you need quick results and don’t have enough time for cleaning.
But the same as a squeegee, its aggressive rubbing can damage the fiber structure of your carpet and make it look dirty.
4. Try Lemon Oil To Lift Sticky or Oily Residue
It’s quite tough to eliminate oily residue from any fiber because of its greasy and sticky nature. Especially in the case of outdoor carpets that are prone to high-foot traffic. But you can try lemon oil to lift it because it contains natural citrus solvents that break down the greasy substances.
Get a clean piece of cloth and dab a few drops of lemon oil on it. Then, blot gently on the sticky spot and leave for a few minutes. It will loosen the residue and make it easier to be wiped out or vacuumed. In fact, it leaves a fresh scent behind and promotes airy vibes.
5.Use Laundry Detergent Mix For General Stain Treatment
Laundry detergents not only remove stains from clothes, but they are also effective for eliminating stains from carpets. They contain surfactants as the best cleaning agents and readily target alkaline substances and mineral deposits to create compounds. The detergent loosens the dirt & debris, stains & spills, which can be rinsed with water.
- Mix the 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent with 1 cup of warm water
- Dip a clean piece of cloth into the solution and blot the stained area
- After a few minutes, rinse the area with water and dry with a clean towel
- Repeat the procedure if you don’t get satisfactory results at once
6. Activated Charcoal For Odor Neutralization
Activated charcoal has odor-neutralizing properties and is a perfect carpet freshener. We recommend it because of the non-chemical nature – meanwhile, a great choice if you have kids and pets at your space. It can be used for all floor coverings, but we especially recommend it for carpets with intricate textures like Persian, Arabic, and Turkish Carpets. As they’re more likely to trap debris in their weave structures.
The activated charcoal has tiny pores that act like sponges to trap odor particles. Simply, place it on the smelly area and let it sit for 8-20 hours. However, if you’re using loose charcoal, make sure it’s on the paper towel to prevent carpet staining. After the period, remove it and vacuum the area if you observe any stains.
7. Squeegee For Pet Hair Removal
Pet hairs are thin and embedded deeply in the carpet fibers. However, if your pet is shedding, it causes a visible fur buildup that might ruin the overall carpet look. In this case, you need a super-working tool like Squeegee that can withdraw thin hairs from deep fibers of floor covering without any complexity.
Upon dragging the rubber blade, it easily gathers pet hairs into clumps that you can pick and dispose of. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s a perfect carpet brush over lint rollers. But we don’t recommend you solely rely on this because it is sometimes unable to penetrate the fibers deeply to remove ingrained dirt. Plus, its aggressive scrubbing can damage fibers too.
8. Use Salt & Lemon For Tough Beverage Spills
Salt and lemon both contain acidic properties, which help them eliminate stubborn spills by loosening their substances and molecules. In fact, they brighten up your carpets and make them look fresh. Whether you have tea, coffee, or wine stains, this particular cleaning hack is all you need.
The procedure for applying this method is quite simple. Blot up the spill first and then squeeze the fresh lemon juice on the affected area. After that, sprinkle salt over the lemon-soaked area and leave it for 15-20 minutes. Scrub the area using a soft-bristle brush or a piece of cloth. Simply wipe clean and you’re good to go.
9. Steam Cleaning With Hot Water & Towel Method
Do you need a steam-cleaning effect and lift dirt and odor easily? Here’s how the hot water and steam cleaning method can help you with that. Beyond water and a towel, you’ll need an iron to loosen stains and dirt deep into the rug or carpet.
Damp a towel well with hot water and place it over the stain to allow steam to break the stain molecules. After that, run a hot iron over the towel for 10 minutes and lift the towel back. You’ll see the spill is transferred from the carpet to the towel. Repeat the process the same and let the air dry your carpet for a clean appearance.
The Bottom Line
That was all about expert carpet cleaning hacks to ensure fresh and spotless floors. If you’re fed up with visible pet hair accumulation on your carpets, use a squeegee over the lint roller. Similarly, you can use baking & club soda, vinegar solution, and hydrogen peroxide to remove stubborn stains by breaking their chemical bonds.
You can also use the shaving cream or an enzymatic cleaner for the purpose. However, promoting carpet raking is also a good option to loosen the dirt for easy vacuuming. For removing gums, we recommend using ice cubes to make them harder first, and then remove them. If you follow these hacks, you’ll surely get pristine carpeting all the time.
