Carpet Care Through the Seasons
Expert Cleaning Tips for a Fresh Home All Year Long
As the seasons change throughout the year so do the type of soils and pollutants that are tracked inside your home. Being diligent with seasonal carpet care ensures your carpets stay clean and free of abrasive particles that can degrade carpet fibres. It also makes periodic professional deep cleaning services more effective. Here’s an overview of seasonal cleaning best practices for protecting your carpet investment year-round:
Spring Cleaning for Carpets
Spring is an important season for deep professional carpet cleaning after a long winter of tracking in outdoor pollutants. As temperatures warm up and you open your windows to fresher air, it’s the perfect season to clean away built-up winter grime.
1. Vacuum Vigorously
As winter transitions to spring, vigorously vacuum carpets to remove salt, dirt, dander and other grimy buildup from the past seasons. Cleaning lifts out dry particulate soil before it works down into the carpet pile. Be sure to vacuum beneath furniture and in heavy traffic areas around doorways.
2. Deep Professional Services
Hire professional cleaners to perform hot water extraction cleaning in early spring before the summer heat sets in. Truck mounted steaming uses powerful suction to deep clean carpets by lifting out oils, soil and residues that regular cleaning leaves behind.
3. Clear Away Indoor Allergens
During spring cleaning, take extra effort removing dust that contribute to indoor air pollution and seasonal allergy misery. Clean ceiling fans, radiators, behind furniture and utilise HEPA filtered vacuums.
4. Let Carpets Dry Thoroughly
After professional services, keep windows open to allow fresh airflow across your carpets. Use fans to accelerate drying in humid climates. Slow drying encourages mold growth in carpeting.
Summer Carpet Care Tips
In summer, outdoor pollutants like soil, pollen and grass easily transfer from bare feet and shoes into your home. Kids and pets tracking in debris makes constant cleaning a priority during summer.
1. Daily Thorough Vacuuming
The key to summer carpet care is diligent, daily cleaning when children and pets are active outdoors. Target high traffic areas around entryways to remove visible dirt before it migrates deeper into carpet fibres.
2. Clean Up Spills Quickly
With more activity like outdoor dining happening inside the home, promptly clean up food spills before marks have time to set. Use a clean, damp white cloth to blot the area and rinse with cool water until you’ve removed as much of the marks as possible. Then sprinkle baking soda or carpet cleaner powder over the grime while waiting for professionals. Vinegar can also help remove marks.
3. Watch Humidity Levels
Use dehumidifiers to prevent dampness and high humidity inside your home during summer’s heat. Damp carpets are breeding grounds for bacteria and dust mites. Proper climate control keeps carpets dry and indoor air quality healthier.
Fall Carpet Preparation Tips
Autumn brings falling leaves, mud and heavy soil that can really grind debris into carpet fibres. As seasons change to cooler Fall temperatures, focus on removing this abrasive grit from carpeting before winter sets in.
1. Shampoo Traffic Areas
Once leaves start falling, give heavy traffic areas around entryways and hallways a pass with carpet shampoo to prevent soils from becoming deeply ground in. Shampooing breaks down greasy residues that vacuum cleaners skip over.
2. Clean Gutters and Walkways
Prevent leaves, twigs and roof grit from being tracked inside by cleaning debris from gutters and walkways regularly. Repair damaged landscaping to prevent soil erosion near home entryways as well.
3. Deal with Rain and Mud
Place absorbent, non-staining walk-off mats outside each entryway during autumn’s rainy months. Switch out wet mats for clean, dry replacements frequently to prevent muddy buildup at doorway transitions from soil erosion outside.
4. Clean Under Doormats
Check beneath exterior doormats to ensure mud and debris isn’t grinding away against threshold surfaces and then being tracked inside. Hose down area routinely to keep clean.
Winter Cleaning Tips
Salt, snowmelt, pet dander and other dry indoor pollutants take their toll on carpeting during winter. Stay diligent with cleaning to keep soils from scratching fibres or melting down into the carpet base.
1. Deal with Salt and Snowmelt
Use interior mats at entryways to soak up melting snow residue, sand and deicing salts tracked inside. Vacuum mats regularly so they don’t grind salt crystals further into carpeting.
2. Banish Pet Dander and Grit
Winter means pets and kids spend more time indoors, increasing dander and debris buildup on carpeting. Use HEPA filtered vacuums designed to remove allergens and carefully target high pet traffic areas.
3. Add Humidifiers
Alleviate dry indoor air quality and static electricity inside the home by adding humidifiers. This helps minimise dander and dust circulating through forced-air heating systems from attaching to carpet fibres.
4. Spot Clean Spills and Messes
Cold entertaining leads to more food spills and stains on carpeting. Having an effective mark removal cleaner on hand lets you get to grime while they’re still fresh and easier to extract out of carpeting.
Ask the Cleaning Experts
Still have seasonal carpet care questions? Connect with professional carpet cleaners in your area to learn more cleaning tips and schedule cleaning services. Trained technicians have deep expertise keeping carpets fresh year-round.
Frequently Asked Seasonal Carpet Care Questions
What’s the best seasonal cleaning schedule to follow?
Aim to deep clean carpets at least once in early spring and again in early fall. In summer and winter, focus on diligent weekly cleaning to deal with seasonal debris and indoor pollutants.
Will carpets get ruined if I only clean them seasonally?
No, following these seasonal cleaning tips in combination with yearly professional cleaning will keep carpets in great shape. The key is dealing with seasonal soils before they permanently damage fibres.
Can I rent cleaning machines and do it myself?
Rented machines can’t match the regular cleaning power of professional steam cleaning. Technicians also have specialised tools to deal with high traffic areas and stubborn stains rental units can’t tackle.
What are signs it’s time to just replace carpeting?
If carpets remain dingy and matted after professional cleaning, or if there are extensive pet urine stains and odours that can’t be remedied, it’s usually more cost effective to just replace old carpeting.
Conclusion
Keeping carpets clean is an ongoing process that requires diligent seasonal attention. By following these best practices and integrating professional solutions as needed, you can effectively filter out soil from your home’s floors year-round. Addressing carpeting care by season allows you to stay proactive against damage, so your house remains inviting no matter the weather outside. Being consistent with regular vacuuming, cleaning and drying ensures carpets withstand heavy use day after chaotic day.
