Do you want to make a house into a home? Then cover the floors with carpeting. It is warm on your feet in the winter, and there is nothing to beat the softness of a carpet in the summer when you are barefoot. It's quite comfortable when you make a pillow fort and you can lie on it next to a heater or fireplace with a book. Buying a carpet gives you the feeling of living in a real home, and their maintenance far surpasses weekly vacuuming. However, we're here to share with you 17 carpet cleaning hacks.
#1: Lint roller rescue
You have a feeling no matter how hard you vacuum, you can never seem to get rid of the crud, crumbs, and hair that just won't go away? When you own a long-hair carpet, even the most powerful vacuum cleaner won't be able to clean the fibers to the level you require.
To solve the problem, you can buy a lint roller for those problematic areas and work until you collect all the stubborn particles. The average time spent per carpet will probably not exceed five minutes depending on the carpet type.
The lint roller comes to the rescue
#2: Remove pet hair with a squeegee
It is notoriously difficult to remove pet hair with a vacuum cleaner alone. Also, lint rollers might not be very useful since we're talking about cleaning the whole surface area, and with some pets the amount of shedding will be overwhelming. Using a squeegee on a carpet with short hairs is your best bet.
Despite its windshield-cleaning purpose, squeegees are designed to dislodge gunk, frost and other substances that adhere to a surface in thin layers, just as pet hair adheres to a carpet with short hair. Use the squeegee as if you were going to clean a window.
With a squeegee, you can remove pet hair
#3: Use an iron to remove stains
Having to remove stains has tested homeowners' willpower and intelligence since carpets became the centerpiece of a room. You will encounter multiple schools of thought regarding stain removal. Let's take a look at a three-step approach right now.
You should vacuum the stained area first to remove hard particles and allow you to concentrate only on the stain. Preparation is essential.
Treat the spots with a 3:1 mixture of vinegar and water. Let the mixture penetrate the stained textile for a few minutes. This should be sufficient.
In step three, apply a heated iron to the stained area and cover it with a towel. In a similar manner to a reverse temporary water tattoo, the stain is transferred into the towel by the pressure and heat.
An iron will help you remove stains
#4: Never blot, always rub
Rub dirt away instinctively. It's the same when you polish shoes, wash dishes, even when a stain persists on sheets, but with carpets, it causes the stain to spread. Also, there is a high possibility of working the stain into the fabric – the surest way to cause permanent discoloration. If you're blotting stains, please be aware that liquid is absorbed into the cloth or sponge when you apply pressure to the spot. Regardless of the cleaning solution you use, please be mindful that only blotting can remove the stain. Pay attention to the direction in which you blot to protect carpet fiber. In order to prevent the stain from spreading, blot from the outside of the stain inward.
Rubbing is always better than blotting
#5: Make your own deep-cleaning carpet cleaner
The answer is yes, especially if you own a carpet shampooing machine, you can buy whatever detergent you want for deep cleaning carpets. You might not want to choose those when trying to live a healthy, organic existence. This recipe will help you minimize the impact you have on the environment, especially if you're on the team of Nature.
Ingredients are: a 34% hydrogen peroxide solution, a 14% white vinegar solution, 5 drops of essential oils, 2 tablespoons dish soap, and 2 tablespoons fabric softener, along with one gallon of hot but not boiling water. The results are the same, but the method is much cleaner than store-bought ones. You're ready to deep clean when you lock and load your shampooing machine.
How to Make a Deep Clean Carpet Cleaner
#6: Baking soda removes oil stains
It is extremely difficult to remove oil stains from carpets. Sometimes water and dabbing aren't enough to get rid of these stains. The best way to remove oils from carpets is with baking soda, and baking soda saves both your life and your carpet. Let the baking soda coat the stain area liberally until the stain disappears and a crust appears, which you can effectively vacuum, leaving you with a much lighter stain. The stain can then be dabbed after the oil has mostly been absorbed.
Oil stains can be removed with baking soda
#7: Accidents with baking soda
Baking soda also works well when you're trying to housebreak your pet, which may sound like an endorsement for baking soda in this article. Accidents will occur, and pet owners will agree that animal urine is not easy to remove. Discoloration and smell are present, but baking soda absorbs the odor and allows you to blot away the rest. When you're trying to teach a very energetic puppy to wait until you take him for a walk, you'll find this is a lifesaver.
#8: You Can Remove Nail Polish With Rubbing Alcohol
Rubber alcohol might damage carpet dye and lead to bleaching when applied to carpets, especially when staining is caused by nail polish. Nevertheless, nail polish remover and other types of clear rubbing alcohol are not strong enough to bleach carpets. Let the nail polish dry before cleaning. With a blunt tool, such as a butter knife, chip off as much of the dried nail polish as you can, and then dab with a cloth or a paper towel until the nail polish dissolves and is absorbed.
Rubbing Alcohol Does Remove Nail Polish
#9: Shaving Cream Solves Normal Dirt Stains
Carpets in beige, yellow, white, and pastel shades can acquire dirt patches from high traffic, dust accumulation, or careless accidents. It can be a pain to clean such carpets, especially when kids are around, but not when shaving cream is used. There is no need to spend money when you use shaving cream. When shaving cream is rubbed in a stain and allowed to sit, the carpet becomes soft to the touch and has more fluff. The carpet almost looks more youthful.
Normal dirt stains can be removed with shaving cream
#10: Baking Soda Can Also Freshen Your Carpet
Technically, baking soda is half of what you need to create a light carpet freshener, whether you're entertaining guests or attending a more formal event. For this project, you'll need a bottle of essential oil and a 16-ounce box of baking soda. Choose something fresh like a citrus scent and use anywhere from 10 to 20 drops depending on how noticeable you want the scent to be. Sprinkle the mixture on your carpet, as if you were dusting a cake with sugar, and vacuum after 5-10 minutes.
#11: An effective deodorizer recipe
Are you a parent? Own a pet? Do you want your carpets to smell fresh, but you also want to use products that will not harm your family members? The solution is simple. In a large container, place one to two tablespoons of Borax. Add 10 drops of essential oil to the Borax, but before you decide on one, research how strong the smell is and whether it will irritate your pets, because they have a very sensitive sense of smell. Follow this up with two cups of baking soda.
This hack is basically the same as the previous one, but a bit more potent. Borax kills microbes, kills germs, and keeps your carpets fresh. In these quantities, baking soda absorbs bad odors and oil freshens the carpet fibers.
Recipe for a Strong Deodorizer
#12: You Need to Take Care of Shag Carpets
It might be the case that shag carpets are back as a must-have piece in your home, but that does not mean they have become any easier to clean. Due to the strong suction of most vacuums, these carpets tend to shed as the fibers are sucked in, become frizzy, or just otherwise become loose. As if you have a pet at home. To prevent these shedding episodes, vacuum only with the hose attachment. It penetrates deep into the fibers without damaging the weave.
#13: Vinegar is a powerful carpet-fluffing agent
Almost like baking soda, vinegar has many uses when it comes to carpet care, and one of the more interesting uses is to fluff up high-traffic areas where the fibers are worn out. You spray vinegar on the affected area after diluting it with equal amounts of water. After the material has absorbed the mixture, run a spoon sideways over the carpeting to loosen the fibers and restore their original texture.
The Power of Vinegar to Fluff Your Carpet
#14: Fluff Your Carpet with the Power of Ice Cube
The purpose of this trick is to remove furniture impressions left on carpets, especially when the furniture is both heavy and rarely moved. If you decide on a different arrangement, you will be bothered by these impressions. However, you don't have to despair, because as it turns out, you can restore your carpet to its former glory with an ice cube. Melt a regular ice cube over these dents. To dry the area, blot the excess water and iron through a towel until dry. You can fluff these areas easily by hand once the fibers are almost dry.
How to fluff your carpet with an ice cube
#15: Keep Carpets Clean with Shoe Caps
Are you planning to move? Is there any occasion – such as preparing for an event – that will result in high foot traffic on your carpets? You can minimize any damage by having people wear a pair of shoe caps inside as they will blunt out the imprints of boots, running shoes, and stilettos, as well as prevent people from tracking dirt into the house. A little bit of foresight keeps cleaning to a minimum through prevention.
Keep Carpets Clean with Shoe Caps
#16: Rugs and runners are your friends
As much as you love showing off your fine carpets when you organize gatherings and host parties, foot traffic has no mercy and such carpets wear out faster if not properly cared for. If you want, you can place area rugs and runners in the areas that receive the most traffic, and then when you have guests, simply remove them. By using this method, you save a lot of time vacuuming and keep carpets looking new for a much longer period of time.
#17: Ice vs. Gum
Having gum on any carpet is never a good thing, but just because it seems impossible to remove gum from any fiber doesn't mean it is. Soft gum is the biggest concern. When it stretches, it may cause more damage than good, so you should harden it rather than deal with it. The ice cube should be enough to freeze the gum and allow you to remove it with a spoon with minimal damage to your carpet.
Ice vs. Gum
As far as we could think of at the moment, we have given you all the tips we could. There are so many colors, shapes, sizes, and materials available for carpets that not all of these tips will apply. Therefore, be sure to carefully read what your carpet needs will be before buying them and act accordingly. Feel free to leave us a comment on https://likecleaning.com.au/brisbane/end-of-lease-cleaning/ if you know of a different method to deal with certain types of stains.
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