Vacuuming Tips: How Often Should You Clean Your Carpets?
Carpets are an indispensable part of our homes because they keep us warm and comfortable, especially in the cold months. However, they can be a big nuisance when they become dirty. That’s why you need to vacuum your carpets as frequently as possible. But how often should you clean your carpets?
How Often Should You Clean Your Carpets?
Carpets gather dust, pollen, stains, and other impurities over time. So, if they are not cleaned regularly, they can be a major source of bacteria, mold, allergens, and other impurities that expose you and your family to the risk of falling seriously ill. Vacuuming your carpets regularly helps to prevent the spread of allergens and bacteria.
A deep-cleaned carpet makes your house or office look nice. Regardless of how clean your house is, it will appear unclean if the carpet on the floor is dirty. A dirty, stained carpet will make your living room appear very dirty and uninviting.
Therefore, you have to come up with a practical schedule for cleaning your carpets and have the discipline to follow it religiously. It is part of your efforts to give your house good aesthetics and build an inviting atmosphere for your family and visitors. Cleaning your carpets regularly helps to keep the interiors of your house smelling good.
Dust, food, drinks, and other types of debris stuck on your carpet will eventually produce a stale, musty smell that will leave your house smelling like a garbage truck. Cleaning your carpets regularly will improve their lifespan because you’ll get rid of any impurities that might destroy the carpets. It also ensures that your carpets remain new for a long time.
You’ll save a great deal of money when you keep your carpets clean because they won’t get stained or damaged. If you allow dirt and other substances to accumulate on your carpets, they’ll deteriorate and become unusable within a short time, forcing you to spend money replacing them. When cleaning your carpets, do it properly so that you don’t destroy them in the process.
If you prefer to take your carpets to the local carpet cleaner, make sure the cleaner has the necessary skills, experience, and equipment for cleaning carpets thoroughly and safely. Poor quality carpet cleaning equipment will leave your carpets soaking wet, providing mold and mildew the perfect environment for rapid growth. Also, some cleaners use harsh cleaning detergents that can damage the fabric of your carpets or cause them to attract dirt easily.
So, poor carpet cleaning will also shorten the lifespan of your carpets, causing you to spend money repairing and replacing them. Therefore, even as you think about when to clean your carpets, consider how they’re cleaned. But how often should you clean your carpets? Here is a breakdown of how often you should clean them.
The schedule for cleaning your carpets depends on several factors. The rule of thumb is to clean your carpets at least once a year. This ensures that your carpet’s warranty remains effective and dust, dirt, debris, and allergens are kept on a tight rein.
8 Factors That Determine How Often to Clean Your Carpet
1. Traffic on the Carpet
As people walk on your carpet, they leave dirt, dust, and other impurities on it. These scums will build up over time, causing the interiors of your house inhospitable. So, the more traffic your carpet is exposed to every day, the more regularly it should be cleaned.
2. Young Kids at Home
The dust, dirt, and allergens stuck on your carpet can cause serious respiratory infections and allergic reactions, especially in young children. So, if you have young kids who often play on the carpet, make sure it’s cleaned more frequently to make it less hazardous.
3. Pets at Home
Since many homeowners spend time with their pets indoors, they have to deal with large amounts of fur and dirt on their carpets. Common pets like dogs and cats shed fur and dander continually, which can get stuck on your carpet and pose a serious risk of respiratory infections and allergic reactions.
Therefore, the more pets you have in your house, the more frequently you should clean your carpet. You should also try to vacuum the carpet as often as possible to get rid of the fur and dander.
4. Wearing Shoes Indoors
If you’ve allowed your family members and visitors to wear their shoes in the house, prepare yourself for a more frequent carpet cleaning routine. Shoes carry large amounts of dirt, dust, and other impurities that will eventually accumulate on your carpet. So, you have to clean your carpet regularly to get rid of these impurities.
5. Smoking Indoors
Smoking indoors causes an accumulation of fumes in the house that eventually land on your carpets, creating a build-up. These fumes will pollute the air in your house, exposing you to respiratory illnesses. So, if you, a relative, or a friend smokes in the house regularly, you have to clean your carpets more often to get rid of the fumes.
6. Highly Allergic Occupants
Since most of the dirt and scum stuck on your carpet are potential allergens, you should clean your carpets regularly, especially if you or any other occupant of the house has allergies. These allergens come in many forms, including dust, fur, dander, fumes, pollen, etc.
7. The Color of Your Carpet
If you have a light-colored carpet that can easily be stained, you have to clean it frequently to keep it looking new. For instance, if the color of your carpet is white, it can easily be stained by simple drops of coffee, juice, and other types of impurities. A stained carpet in your house will make the entire house appear untidy. It will also have a negative impact on the overall aesthetics of your home’s interior.
8. Your Carpet’s Warranty Requirements
If the warranty of your carpet is still valid, you have to follow its requirements when considering how often to clean your carpet. Many carpet manufacturers require their clients to follow specific guidelines when cleaning their carpets to avoid increased deterioration. So, if you still intend to use the warranty in case your carpet is damaged, you have to adhere to the cleaning instructions provided by your manufacturer.
With these factors in mind, you should be able to create a viable carpet cleaning schedule that will help you to keep your house clean and comfortable while prolonging the lifespan of your carpet.
For instance, if there’s low traffic in your house, you should vacuum your carpet once a week and give it a deep clean once a year. If you have medium traffic, perhaps with a small family with young kids, you should vacuum your carpet once or twice a week and give it a deep clean every 6 to 12 months.
But if your house experiences heavy traffic throughout the day, especially if you have pets, kids, and frequent visitors, you should vacuum your carpet twice or thrice a week and give it a deep clean at least every three to six months. Large families with heavy traffic, several pets, and kids should vacuum their carpets daily and give them a deep clean every two to three months. They should even clean their carpets more frequently if they allow people in with their shoes on.
