How To Care For your New Carpet

Your new carpet flooring represents a substantial investment in your home. An investment that you’ll want to keep looking its best for many years to come.

No flooring lasts forever, but by following the maintenance tips outlined below, you’ll extend the life and beauty of your floor. 

Use Entrance Mats  

Place floor mats inside and outside entrances to trap soil before it is tracked into your home.

Clean Spots & Spills Immediately

For best results, give prompt attention to spots and spills. Use a spoon or dull knife to remove solid materials. Blot up liquid spills with a white towel. Never rub, scrub or use a brush. This may cause damage to the carpet fibers. Use a cleaning agent and procedure appropriate for the type of stain being removed. 

Apply all cleaning agents to the cloth rather than directly to the stained area to avoid saturating the carpet when spot cleaning. Clean the fibers, not the backing. 

Deep stains might require repeat cleaning because they can “wick” back up after initial cleaning. 

Work from the outside to the center of large stains. This prevents spreading. 

Beware of Color Destroying Substances 

The chemical ingredients contained in these substances can cause your nylon or nylon blend carpet to become permanently discolored.  

• bleaches
• furniture polish
• oven cleaners
• plant foods, fertilizers and insecticides
• acne medication and skin creams
• toilet bowl cleaners
• tub and tile cleaners
• drain cleaners
• bathroom cleaners 

Vacuum Regularly

You can’t vacuum too often. Using a vacuum with a beater bar or rotating brush will loosen the dirt making it easier for the vacuum to remove soil.

Carpet with thick loop pile construction (Berber) may be sensitive to brushing, rubbing or scrapping of the pile surface which may cause fuzzing and pile distortion. It is recommended that vacuums with suction action only be used on these styles. 

Carpet sweepers and electric brooms are useful for picking up crumbs and surface soil, but it’s important to know that they will not deep clean.

Easy as 1-2-3

Most household stains can be removed using the “Easy as 1-2-3 method”.
Oil-based stains, however, will require the use of a dry cleaning solvent prior to using this cleaning method. 

Step 1:

Use a spoon or dull knife to remove solid materials. For a large stain, work from the outside of stain to the center to prevent spreading. Blot up liquid spills with a white towel or paper towel. 

Mix a solution of ¼ teaspoon of clear hand dishwashing detergent with 1 cup of water. Stir gently. Apply detergent solution directly to a white cloth. Dampen the carpet fibers in the stained area with the cloth. Avoid saturating the carpet. 

Wipe gently. Turn cloth frequently. Never rub, scrub or use a brush. This may damage carpet fibers. If necessary, use your fingertips to work the solution to the base of the stain. Wet the stained carpet fibers with clear, lukewarm water to rinse. Cover the spot with an absorbent white towel or paper towel and apply pressure to blot. 

Repeat the rinsing and blotting procedures until you are sure all traces of detergent have been removed. 

If the stain is gone, place an absorbent white towel or paper towel over the area cleaned and weigh towels down with a heavy, color-fast object such as a weighted plastic wastebasket. 

Change towels or paper towels until carpet dries. If the stain remains, proceed to Step Two. (For coffee, tea or urine, skip Step Two & proceed to Step Three.) 

Step 2: 

Do not use on coffee, tea or urine stains. 

Mix 2 tablespoons of non-bleaching, non-sudsing household ammonia with 1 cup of lukewarm water. Apply ammonia solution, rinse & blot as outlined in Step One. Do not dry with paper towels. Proceed to Step Three to neutralize the ammonia solution. 

Step 3: 

Mix 1 cup of white vinegar with 2 cups of water. 

Apply the vinegar solution, rinse and blot as outlined in Step One. Most household spills and stains can be removed using this easy method. For best results, always clean up spots and spills immediately. Locate your stain on the chart and follow the cleaning steps until the stain is removed. 

It is not unusual for stains to reappear after spot cleaning. This is referred to as “wicking”. Wicking can occur when a liquid is spilled on the carpet (usually a large quantity). Cleaning can remove only the stain from the carpet fibers. Liquid still remains in the carpet backing or padding. Through capillary action, the stain can “wick” back up into the carpet fibers. These stains are not permanent and typically can be removed by simply repeating the appropriate step-by-step directions listed here. It is important that you place paper towels weighed down by a heavy object over the area while the carpet is drying to absorb any remaining stain substances. 

Important: Although your carpet may not look dirty, you are still required to have your carpet professionally cleaned regularly (every 12 - 18 months) to comply with some manufacturers’ stain or soil protection warranties.