How Often Should You Be Cleaning Your Carpets and Why?

A tidy home is a happy home and we do our best to keep our homes tidy and clean, but there’s an unsuspecting feature in your property that could be harbouring germs and dirt – your carpet.

We clean our kitchen counters and toilets religiously to eradicate any bacteria, mop floors and ensure that the dusting is done, but how often do you worry about your carpet’s hygiene? Probably not often enough.

Maybe you’ve just had a new carpet fitted and you’re curious as to how you can keep it looking fresh. Maybe you’d like to give your old carpet a new lease of life, or you just want to know how to keep the cleanest and most hygienic home you can. Whatever your reason for asking, we’re here to answer your questions about when and why you should be cleaning your carpet.

There are several ways to keep your carpet in pristine condition, from the everyday mundanity of vacuuming to the rarer and more revitalising deep clean.

How often Should I Be Vacuuming?

Let’s start with the more obvious and common way we keep our carpets clean and dust-free on a regular basis – hoovering.

Most people probably hoover carpeted areas a couple of times per week, just once per week, or whenever the in-laws are popping round. Using a vacuum cleaner at least twice a week is the best way forward. In the average home, hoovering twice per week ensures that any dirt, dust, hair and even bugs are eliminated before they become a problem.

However, how often you need to do it really does depend on a few factors. From whether you have pets or children in the home to how much time you spend there can all factor into the frequency in which you should hoover. Doing the hoovering twice a week is fine for a pet-free home, but those with cats, dogs or allergies may find it needs to be done as often as once a day.

Here’s a rough breakdown of how often you should vacuum based on your household.

– Once per week for homes without children, pets or elderly
– 1-2 times per week for families who have children
– 2-4 times per week for households with pets or smokers
– Daily for households with many pets and/or children

Spot Cleaning

You’re not paying attention, or the cat gets up on something they shouldn’t and before you know it there’s tea all over the carpet. It happens, but how do you fix it? The most important thing to keep in mind is that any spills or messes on your carpet need to be cleaned straight away.

Leaving a spill doesn’t just cause staining, it can harbour the growth of bacteria that can be harmful to you and your pets. It can also attract insects and rodents into your home, which no one wants. Use light and pet-friendly cleaning products, such as baking soda and a specialist carpet stain remover to get rid of the mess after a light dabbing with clean, warm water to ensure that there is no residual liquid or food matter left behind.

The Deep Clean

Now we come to the crux of what this whole post has been about, how often should you deep clean your carpet and why should you do it? Some people don’t really think about ever doing a full, deep clean on their carpets, but they should.

Deep cleaning with a professional carpet cleaner can improve the longevity of your carpet while keeping it fresh and clean. Eliminating allergens, getting up stubborn dirt and grime that’s been trodden into the fibres and leaving you feeling as fresh as your carpet.

So, how often should you do it? At Insta Clean NW, we recommend that you have your carpets cleaned to a professional standard at least once every 12 months. Ideally, every 6 months is best for homes with more people spending time at home, as well as homes with pets.

Here’s a breakdown of how often you should be performing a deep clean on your carpets:

– Once per 12 months in high-traffic areas for homes with no children, pets or elderly
– Once per 6 months in high-traffic areas for homes with children or elderly residents
– Once per 3 months in high-traffic areas for homes with pets and/or smokers
– Once per 2-3 months in high-traffic areas for homes with many pets and/or children

The timelines given are just rough guidelines based on how much soiling is likely to occur. You may need to clean more often than this depending on your individual circumstances. If you notice soiling on your carpets in areas of high traffic, it’s a good idea to have the area deep cleaned even if you’re not due for one just yet. Dirt and grime can build up and cause unsightly patches of dirt, harbour bacteria and animal hair – all reducing the life of your carpet.

Carpet Cleaning in Liverpool

Be sure to use a good quality carpet cleaner and consider getting your carpet professionally cleaned by experts for top results. You can do it yourself with rented equipment, but knowing which products are best for your carpets and which ones won’t harm your pets is vital. Professional carpet cleaners have years of experience with different types of carpets and know how to make your carpet pristine once again.

At Insta Clean NW, we use fast-drying products that are both pet and children friendly, giving you carpet cleaning in Liverpool that you can rely on.

Get in touch with a member of our friendly team today, and discover more about how we can help you ensure your carpets stay clean, hygienic and looking their best – especially when the in-laws do come round.