Carpet Maintenance

Maintenance Fundementals

Carpet is the third most expensive single item in your home! Any thing of value (automobiles, your health, relationships…) must be maintained. This is especially true of textile floor coverings. There are appearance and health reasons for this.

Managing your carpet’s appearance is accomplished by regularly removing dry particle soiling and prompt spot removal. If ground-in soil is not removed on a regular basis, traffic areas will wear excessively. Soil is extremely abrasive and attacks carpet at the fiber level. Moreover, “spots and spills” must be dealt with quickly before they become “stains.”

CONSUMER INFORMATION BULLETIN #2

RESIDENTIAL CARPET CLEANING FREQUENCY CHART

CLEANING FREQUENCY

The use-life of carpet can be greatly extended with proper care. Carpet owners or maintainers must perform vacuuming, spot cleaning, and damage repair routinely. The charts on these pages provide general recommendations for frequency intervals for activities commonly undertaken by carpet owners and maintainers (vacuuming, spot cleaning), as well as activities that should be performed by trained professionals (interim maintenance, restorative, cleaning). They consider traffic, soil rating, vacuuming schedules, spot-cleaning schedules, and professional interim and restorative cleaning. Variations in the manufacture and use of carpet may require deviations from the frequency recommendations provided herein. Residential carpet should be professionally cleaned at least annually. Carpet that is subject to extreme soiling or heavy use, particularly high-traffic areas, or carpet installed in homes occupied by persons with allergies or respiratory problems require increased cleaning frequency. Carpet in low-traffic areas, such as formal living and dining rooms, needs less frequent cleaning.

Homeowners must not wait until carpet looks soiled before beginning a planned program. Significant soil accumulation at the base of carpet fibers occurs long before it becomes visible. In addition, the greater the soiling, the less likelihood of restoring the original color, appearance and texture of the carpet, and the greater the adverse affect on Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ).

Source: IICRC Standard & Reference Guide for Professional Carpet Cleaning (IICRC S100), pp 13-17.
Used with Permission.
Traffic Soil
Rating		 Carpet Owner / Maintainer Professional Carpet Cleaner/Restorer
Vacuuming Spot Cleaning Heavy-Use Area Cleaning Restorative Cleaning
Light Soil 1x per week Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic areas every 12 to 18 months Every 2 years or per manufacturer warranty
Normal Soil (families with children, elderly) 1 to 2x per week Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic areas every 6 to 12 months Annually
Heavy Soil (families with pets, smoking) 2 to 4x per week Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic areas every 3 to 6 months Semi-Annually (2x annually)
Extreme conditions (large families, multiple pets) Daily Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic lanes every 2 to 3 months Quarterly (4x annually)

Warranty Information

Copies of specific warranties on your carpet purchase may be available from your carpet retailer. Warranties such as stain resist, wear, matting and crushing, etc., can vary considerably. However, ALL STAIN RESIST WARRANTIES REQUIRE REGULAR CLEANING AND IMMEDIATE SPOT REMOVAL.

Shoe Removal & Walk-Off Mats

The single most important step you can take to maintain any type flooring is to remove shoes before entering. If you consider all the soils, insecticides, pesticides, etc., that accumulate on your shoes, it just makes sense. Carpets in homes where shoes are removed prior to entering are usually well maintained.

Professional cleaning firms often stress the importance of removing soil before it enters your home. This is best accomplished by arranging walk-off mats in stages. Initial stages aggressively remove abrasive particle soil and final stages remove moisture. Choose matting that is easily cleaned so it stays on the job.

Vaccuming

Eighty percent of carpet soiling is dry particulate. This can be removed most effectively by vacuuming.Vacuum your carpet at least once or twice per week. Vacuuming removes the sharp soil that can cut and slice the fiber, causing premature wear. Much of this soil is not visible to the eye. Vacuum before the carpet looks soiled.

Carefully consider proper equipment. Whole-house systems are best because they are easier to use, versatile, and exhaust outside the indoor environment. Next best are powerful up-rights with HEPA filtration. These are preferable to canister systems.

Vacuum traffic areas thoroughly and concentrate on entry areas. Don’t neglect dust pockets under and behind furniture.

Professional Cleaning

As a general rule, professional cleaning by a reputable, certified firm should take place about once per year. For extremely heavy traffic areas, areas where children play, and/or areas where pets frequent, cleaning is required more often. Professional cleaning removes the damaging water and oil based soil that vacuuming alone is not able to remove.

What You Can Do  > Carpet Maintenance