Everyday carpet care in high-traffic areas
Most of a carpet's life is decided between cleanings: vacuum often, keep grit out at the door and blot spills at once. WATERFALL's carpet cleaning is for the deeper clean, priced per room, and the prices page lists the prices. WATERFALL cleans carpet at your home from $60 a room: call (747) 214-6199.
How do you keep carpet clean in high-traffic areas?
Keep grit out, vacuum often and clean the lanes before they set. Put a mat at each door, take shoes off, use runners in the busiest lanes and vacuum slowly, because the dirt is mostly gritty soil carried in on feet.
How do I keep hallway carpet clean when everyone walks through it?
Stop the grit before it reaches the hallway and vacuum it daily. Put a mat outside and inside each door and shake out or wash the mats often, so they do not become dirt stores; take shoes off, lay a runner on the busiest stretch and blot spills at once. Have the hallway deep cleaned with the rest of the carpet, once a year in daily use and every 6 months with pets or small children, or sooner when the lane goes dark.
Do carpet runners help protect carpet in high-traffic areas?
Yes: a runner catches grit before it reaches the carpet and takes the wear in a hallway or in front of a door. Pick one that lies flat with a pad that will not stain or stick to carpet, check your carpet's warranty before using a rubber- or latex-backed runner, and vacuum and wash the runner itself, because grit under it grinds into the carpet. Lift it now and then to vacuum underneath and check for color transfer.
How do you clean high-traffic carpet?
Vacuum thoroughly, treat the lane with a cleaner made for carpet and finish with extraction on the whole area, so it does not look patchy. Cleaning only the dark lane leaves a clean stripe next to dull carpet.
How often should I vacuum high-traffic carpet?
At least once a week, and more often the more foot traffic the carpet gets, as the Carpet and Rug Institute advises. Use slow, overlapping passes, go right to the edges and empty the vacuum before it is full.
What happens if you never vacuum your carpet?
Gritty soil settles to the base, wears the fibers as people walk on it, and the pile mats down. Dirt that sits for long is harder to take out, and the carpet ages faster.
What can I do to maintain my carpets after they have been cleaned?
Keep people, pets and furniture off until it is dry; a rug or carpet usually takes longer to dry than a couch, and the pile, the pad, the weather and the airflow decide it (drying times). Put furniture back with plastic or foil tabs under the legs and lay area rugs back only on dry carpet. Then vacuum weekly and daily in busy lanes, blot spills at once, keep mats at the doors and book the next cleaning once a year in daily use or every 6 months with pets or small children.
What is Scotchgard and how does it work on carpets?
Scotchgard is a brand of protector, a spray that coats the fibers so spills sit on top for a while and can be blotted. It gives you time, and it does not make carpet stain-proof.
Should I add carpet protector after cleaning?
It can help in a busy home, because it is applied to clean, dry carpet and slows the soaking in of spills. WATERFALL does not apply a protector: it needs a fully dry surface, so it cannot be done well during a cleaning.
Does Scotchgard replace carpet cleaning, and why do I need protectant?
No. A protector slows the soaking in of a spill and does not stop dirt from collecting or wear from happening, and it wears off with use and cleaning. You need it only if you want more time to blot a spill.
Questions and answers
What happens if you never vacuum your carpet?
Grit works down into the pile and cuts the fibers as people walk on it. Dull, matted lanes appear sooner.
What is carpet ghosting?
Dark lines or shadows on carpet, often along walls, under doors, at stair edges or over the beams under the floor. It is fine dust and soot carried by air and caught there, so it is dirt and not dye; cleaning often lightens it, though it may return.
How often should carpets be vacuumed?
At least once a week, and more often the more foot traffic there is, as the Carpet and Rug Institute advises. Slow passes lift more than fast ones.
How to keep carpet clean in high traffic areas?
Use mats at the doors, take shoes off, vacuum often and blot spills at once. Runners and a vacuum on a schedule do more than a rare deep clean.
Why does carpet near my doors look darker?
Because dirt comes in on shoes and settles where people step in and out. Dark lines along walls and under doors also come from fine soot and dust carried by air; mats at the doors and regular vacuuming slow both down.
What is carpet shedding?
Loose fiber ends coming out of a new carpet, which is normal. Vacuum them as they come, and the shedding fades over the first weeks and months.
How can I maintain my carpet after professional cleaning?
Vacuum when dry, blot spills at once, use mats and keep shoes off. Rotate furniture so wear is shared.
Can you get dog hair out of thick carpet?
Mostly: drag a rubber broom or a squeegee over it, or wear a damp rubber glove, to pull the hair into a pile, then vacuum. A vacuum alone leaves hair woven into a thick pile.
Prices and booking
More guides
- Carpet care: all guides
- How often should carpet be cleaned? — Clean carpet about once a year, sooner in busy rooms; replace it when the backing, the pile or the smell has failed, not by its age.
- How to clean wool, Berber and stair carpet — Synthetic carpet is the easiest to clean; wool needs gentle products, Berber needs a light hand and natural fibers need very little water.
- Pet hair on a couch, and care with kids — Vacuum often with the right tool, blot spills, and book a professional cleaning when the fabric looks dull.
- Scotchgard for couches and rugs: what it does — A protector gives you time to blot a spill; it does not make a couch stain-proof and wears off with use and cleaning.
Sources: The Carpet and Rug Institute (The carpet and rug industry's trade association, for how carpet is made, cared for and cleaned.)