Steam Cleaning Your Carpet: What You Need to Know

Most carpets are usually manufactured to resist stains. However, the fibres of your carpet will trap oils, bacteria and dirt, all of which besides discolouring your carpet, are unhygienic. Carpet cleaning is therefore extremely essential. There are various carpet cleaning methods but steam cleaning proves to be more effective. While it's often done by professionals, steam cleaning is something you can do on your own provided you have the steam cleaners, which you can easily rent or buy. You also need to follow the right procedure during your DIY carpet steam cleaning for the project to be beneficial. For this reason, here are a few tips to help you with steam cleaning your carpet.

Vacuum First

Start by vacuuming your carpet. This is because grime and loose dirt often hides in your carpet. Steam cleaners are usually designed to pull up only the small particles of dirt that are down in the fibres of your carpet. If you don't vacuum the carpet, steam cleaning will only push the dirt further in your carpet, defeating the purpose of you cleaning the carpet in the first place. When vacuuming, make sure you are a little more thorough than usual because you want to get as much ground-in dirt as possible out of your carpet. Therefore, run your vacuum cleaner repeatedly and more slowly over a single area at a time. You can even go over the carpet twice to ensure you are getting rid of as much debris as possible. Besides removing the large dirt particles in your carpet, vacuuming fluffs your carpet up, which enables your steam cleaner to clean the fibres of your carpet more efficiently.

Take Care of Stains

Once you have vacuumed your carpet, treat any stains. This is because while steam cleaning may be an effective carpet cleaning method, it does not always lift the tough stains. Carpet stain removers are usually the best to treat the stained spots on your carpet. Remember not to scrub at the stains because you could work them deeper into your carpet. The best way to remove stains is to use a piece of cloth to dab the stain remover at the stained spots.

Know How to Operate the Steam Cleaner Effectively

Even with the above preparations, your carpet cleaning project won't be of much benefit if you operate the steam cleaner improperly. Usually, when you push the cleaner forward, it lays down the steam and when you pull it back, it extracts it. The best way to operate the steam cleaner is to pull it as slowly as you can. This will help extract as much of the steam as possible. This is important because if you leave too much water in your carpet, you could just be creating the perfect environment for mould and mildew. Besides, you may have to deal with some odour.