Top Tips for Carpet Care and Maintenance: Keep Your Floors Looking New

Once you’ve chosen the ideal carpets for your home or rental property, you’ll want them to look their best for as long as possible. But, in a busy household with pets, children, and multiple people, how do you protect your floors to keep them looking pristine?

There are some tried-and-tested ways to help preserve your floors, whilst still enjoying the space. In this article, we’ll look at expert-recommended carpet care for UK homes, including maintaining carpets to help them last longer, through to carpet cleaning tips for when the inevitable accidents occur. If you’re wondering how to clean carpets yourself, or want the lowdown on professional carpet maintenance, Online Carpets’ easy-to-follow guide will help prolong your carpet’s look and feel, no matter what your family and friends manage to throw at it.

Why Carpet Maintenance Matters

By maintaining carpets and keeping them clean, you’ll not only enjoy the full aesthetic appeal of the room, but you’ll relish the softness underfoot every day, and help prolong your flooring’s lifespan. You’ll also enjoy the peace of mind that your carpets are hygienic and smell fresh, for all the family to enjoy. A clean-looking carpet helps a room to look relaxing, inviting, and provides a calm space to retire to after a long day. Carpets should also feel luxurious to weary feet, complement your colour scheme, and provide an insulating layer to help keep the room warm in the winter. By taking a few simple steps, you can protect your carpet’s appearance – and performance – for even longer.

Common Causes of Carpet Wear and Staining

Carpets are soft and cosy underfoot, but they can accumulate dust and marks, which is why regular carpet care is essential to keep your floors looking flawless. We’ve all seen mud and debris trodden in from outside, muddy paw marks from pets, spilt drinks and food, furniture dents, worn areas from heavy traffic, little accidents courtesy of kids and animals, and even sandpit sand or felt tip pen marks from the little ones’ activities – which can all put your carpets to the test. If you have very light coloured carpets, black socks can also leave marks over time. Even pet-friendly carpets and stain-resistant carpets will need a little care and attention, but the good news is that it’s possible to avoid stains from soaking into fibres in the first place, as well as efficiently clean up any that do manage to make their way through.

Daily and Weekly Carpet Care Essentials

The simplest of our carpet cleaning tips is to vacuum your floors at least once a week to pick up any debris, dust, or dirt. If you have furry pets or suffer from allergies, this may need to be more frequent, as well as more often in high-traffic areas such as hallways and stairs. You may wish to shampoo carpets in heavy traffic areas, living rooms or dining rooms, where the majority of footwear, food and drink stains may occur.

It’s important to spot-clean any spills or accidents as soon as possible to prevent stains from soaking into the carpet. Scrape away any solid mess and blot (rather than rub) using a special carpet cleaner solution. Avoid steaming the stain if it’s fresh, and if you have a polyester, polypropylene or polyamide carpet, you may be able to go over the mark with a dilute bleach solution before leaving it to air dry. 

How to Clean Carpets Properly

If you’re wondering how to clean carpets yourself, this may vary with different carpet styles and materials. Twist pile, Wilton, and Saxony carpets are generally pretty hardwearing and can be vacuumed with a rotating brush or beater-style vacuum cleaner, and treated with a carpet cleaner solution as soon as any stains or marks are visible. Try vacuuming in a criss-cross style to agitate the carpet fibres, no matter which direction the pile sits, and use the vacuum attachments to reach edges and crevices. Loop berber and 100% wool carpets may need to be vacuumed a little more gently, carefully going against the pile direction, and cleaned using a special wool-safe solution. 

Maintaining carpets correctly is all about treating spills and marks as quickly as you can, to avoid the stains from being deeply absorbed into carpet fibres. Blot stains carefully, and only use cleaning products containing chlorine on synthetic carpets which are approved as bleach-safe.

Recommended Products for Carpet Care in the UK

Effective at-home carpet maintenance means having a carpet cleaner spray or shampoo on hand in case of emergencies. Choose a product which is compatible with your carpet material and always perform a patch test in an inconspicuous place to test for colour-fastness before using it more widely. If you have pets or young children, be sure to only use a non-toxic and pet-friendly carpet cleaner. Otherwise, you could try the old-fashioned homemade remedy of water, baking soda and white vinegar before vacuuming the area thoroughly once fully dry.

If the room gets heavy use, it might be worth investing in a heavy-duty carpet shampoo and/or an electric carpet cleaning tool. You could choose a handheld machine if storage space is at a premium, or an upright carpet washer if you regularly need to clean larger areas.

Seasonal or Deep Cleaning Advice

When it comes to carpet care in the UK, there are a variety of options to tackle thorough cleansing. Experts recommend deep cleaning your carpets once a year to rid the fibres of dust, allergens, pet hair, and other debris. You could invest in a steam cleaner, if it’s safe to use on your carpet, or hire a heavy-duty carpet cleaning kit or machine to treat your floors annually. Simply ask our friendly customer service team for advice before or after buying your choice of carpet. Deep cleaning is also recommended for in-between tenants in rented properties. If you’re short of time, you may want to get a professional carpet cleaner in to give your floors the once-over. It’s recommended to do this in drier, warmer weather, if possible, so that your carpets can dry thoroughly.

DIY Carpet Cleaning Tips

Cleaning carpets yourself can help save you money, as well as preserve the appearance and feel of your flooring. Our top carpet cleaning tips include:

• Regularly vacuuming your carpets to keep on top of dust, dry mud and pet hair.
• Using rugs and mats in high-traffic areas, or in spaces most at risk of spills.
  
• Treating carpets with a stain guard protector, and/or opting for stain-resistant materials.
  
• Always cleaning spills and carpet stains up as soon as possible – particularly stubborn marks such as ink, red wine, or chocolate. Blot or scrape the stain, then use a targeted carpet cleaner solution, such as a carpet cleaner spray, to clean the area.
• Using a high-quality carpet underlay to help support insulation, increase your carpet’s lifespan, and keep your flooring feeling soft.
  
• Insisting on slippers, not shoes, for all members of the household.
  
• Using castors underneath heavy furniture, such as beds, to help preserve your carpet’s shape.
  
• Treating pets using anti-flea and tick medications to prevent infestations.
  
• Opening windows and using central heating to air the room regularly, to prevent moisture and dampness.
  
• Getting a professional clean every now and then, and in between tenants, to remove deeply ingrained marks and stains.

Professional Carpet Cleaning

If you’ve got unsightly stains which won’t budge, or the children and pets have brought in some deeply ingrained dirt which simply won’t vacuum off or blot away, it’s time to get the professionals in for a thorough deep clean. Effective DIY carpet maintenance can certainly keep on top of everyday marks, but after many months of use, your floors can be spruced up to their original shade after a professional clean. Experts recommend a deep clean around every 12 to 24 months, depending on how heavily used the floors are. If you have pets, children, or multiple people in the home, your floors should ideally be refreshed with a hot water shampoo and hygienically cleaned once a year.

Preventative Tips for Long-Term Carpet Maintenance

Avoiding spills and stains is your first line of defence when it comes to maintaining carpets, so it can help to use washable rugs in living areas, large door mats at entrances, and opt for special stain-resistant carpets which can be spot cleaned using carpet cleaner sprays or even dilute bleach solutions. Many households have a ‘shoes-off’ rule to avoid walking mud and dirt into the home, and we recommend investing in some slippers to protect your feet as well as your floors. Carpets themselves can be damaged through the weight of furniture, so it’s best to buy castors and protective pads to help preserve the pile shape, and if it’s possible to move furniture every few months, you can avoid heavy indentations, which can spoil the overall appearance.

Carpet Care That Pays Off

Little and often goes a long way when it comes to carpet care, and by vacuuming regularly, grooming pets to reduce unwanted shedding, and setting a few house rules regarding shoes and spills, it can help to keep your carpets looking their best. Adopting simple yet regular cleaning habits can not only preserve the long-term health of your carpets, but also improve the hygiene, comfort and aesthetic of your home, for all the family to enjoy. If you’d like to speak to an expert about carpet care before buying your new flooring, simply contact our friendly team, who will be happy to help. Browse our flooring range today, and get inspired for your next mini home makeover with our selection of sumptuous shades and perfect patterns.