How To Extend The Life Of Your Carpets Using A Carpet Washer

It's important to keep your carpets clean. Apart from the fact that they will look much better, they will be odour free and contain fewer allergens - such as dust mites and pollen for example. They will also last longer and you will be able to save money by deferring or avoiding the cost of replacement.

Cleaning your carpets with a vacuum cleaner twice a week - or maybe even three times for the heavy traffic areas - is a good start. However, even the most efficient modern vacuum cleaner can only remove loose dirt and dust from the upper layers of your carpet.

Most vacuum cleaners use rotating brushes in an attempt to loosen the maximum amount of dust but - regardless of how diligent you are and how powerful your vacuum is - it's inevitable that some dirt and dust will be ground in to your carpets where it will be trapped beyond the reach of your vacuum cleaner.

Carpet washers look pretty much like vacuum cleaners. They even come in both upright and canister versions. However, they work in a different way.

Carpet washers inject a mixture of water and detergent deep into the carpet to be cleaned. Many of them also use brushes to scrub the carpet and liberate the maximum amount of trapped dirt.

The dirt is attracted to the detergent which traps it.The water, the detergent and the dirt are then removed from the carpet. You'll be surprised at just how dirty the water can be after this process - even for carpets that looked clean before they were washed.

Washing your carpets twice yearly will breathe new life back into them. They will look as good as new and be odour free. The washing process also fluffs up the pile of the carpet which also greatly improves the look of it.

It's good news for any allergy sufferers as well. Pollen can get ground deep into carpets and dust mites just love modern, centrally heated, double glazed houses. Washing your carpet will remove much more of these allergens than vacuuming alone.

You can find a variety of different carpet washers for rent in large hardware stores and some supermarkets. Normally these are hired out on a 24 or 48 hour rental.

You can even hire professional cleaning firms to visit your home and clean your carpets for you if you wish.

Alternatively, you can now buy carpet washers outright - some of them cost less than a standard vacuum cleaner these days. If you decide to buy then you will always have your carpet washer to hand to deal with any accidental spills that may occur - before they have the opportunity to become established and turn into a stain.

Whether you choose to rent, buy or sub-contract, using a carpet washer on a regular basis will extend the life of your carpets and save you money in the long run.

You will occasionally hear someone say that they washed their carpet using a carpet washer and, although the initial results were very good, it quickly became dirty again. Why is that and how can you avoid it?

There tend to be two main reasons for this:

1. Too much detergent was used in the cleaning process. This resulted in residual detergent being left on the surface and in the fabric of the carpet after cleaning. The detergent then did exactly what it's supposed to do. It acted as a magnet for dirt and the carpet got dirty again.
2. The correct amount of detergent was used but it wasn't fully removed at the end of the cleaning process. The end result is the same as item 1 above.

If you've experienced this problem then try using a little less detergent in future. Manufacturer's recommendations tend to be fairly generous - and they are only an estimate anyway. If the materials of your carpet are slightly different from the norm then you may need less detergent.

You should also be sure to remove as much of the water, dirt and detergent as possible. Pass the carpet washer slowly over the carpet when you're cleaning it. Give any heavy traffic areas an extra pass (or two).

This should help to avoid the problem of your carpet becoming dirty again very quickly.