How to Make Your Carpets last Longer

Because carpet looks clean doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be vacuumed. Dust accumulates in the carpet on a daily basis. The dust in the air is ever present and even though it is invisible, it is constantly falling down into the carpet. Every step taken on the carpet mashes the dust down into the carpet yarn. Even if the carpet is never walked on, the dust is still falling into it, attaching itself to the carpet yarn, eating away at the fiber of the yarn and reducing its durability and endurance, until the carpet becomes visibly soiled and has to become professionally cleaned. It is surprising to see how much longer carpet would last if it was vacuumed on every scheduled cleaning date.

Doing preventive maintenance on the vacuum cleaner will not only prolong the life span of the machine itself, but also of the carpet as well. This includes replacing the brushes when they wear down, changing the belts when they get worn and stretched, and emptying or replacing the bag before it gets too full. If the vacuum cleaner has an air leak, dust is being redirected back into the air and it will eventually find its way back into the carpet, so air leaks should be fixed by replacing rubber and plastic seals. The following tips give information about how to prevent the unraveling of the carpet yarn.

The most effective commercial cleaning techniques

One is to install a six inch long magnet across the front of the vacuum cleaner. This magnet will pick up metallic objects like paper clips before they have a chance to intertwine into the carpet yarn, working the carpet yarn loose every time it is stepped on, until eventually a strand of yarn breaks and the loose ends stick up out of the carpet.

The second tip is to take scissors and cut off these loose ends of carpet yarn that are sticking up out of the carpet. This is important, because when the vacuum cleaner passes over these loose ends, it will suck up the loose end and unravel the entire strand the loose end is attached to, which could be a foot or two long. If that happens there will be a visible empty space or gap in the carpet, and the entire strand will have to be unraveled from the beater bar, and glued back into the empty space, which is difficult to do.

Coffee and soft drink spills, chewing gum, grease from shoes, and other retardants (such as dust) need to be removed as soon as possible because these retardants erode the protective fabric of the yarn. If they have been left too long, the retardant will eventually break down the protective fabric of the yarn. When the carpet is professionally cleaned, the soiled visible spot in the carpet is only temporarily removed.

As soon as dust and other retardants reattach to the area where the fabric of the yarn has already broken down, the carpet will become visibly dirty again, and the carpet will have to be professionally cleaned again, until eventually, professional cleaning will not remove the visible spot, and it becomes a permanent stain.