10 Steps to “Green” and Easy Carpet Cleaning
Whether you have children, pets, or you’re simply guilty of walking in your house with shoes all too often, your carpet is bound to get dirty. Sooner or later it’s going to have to be cleaned. While you could call professional carpet cleaners to do the job, many tend to use toxic chemicals that aren’t good for your health, or the environment. Plus, they can leave it soaking for a long period of time, which can cause mold and mildew growth. If there was a way to effectively clean your carpet that wasn’t hazardous to your health and the planet, would you do it? Well, here’s how:
Step 1: Purchase/Rent Your Carpet Cleaning Device
Whether it be a steam cleaner or carpet shampooer, purchase or rent an effective and reliable carpet cleaning device. Since you won’t be cleaning your carpet all that often, it’s probably best to rent. It’s important to note that you won’t actually be filling this device with regular cleaning solution (as they are filled with harmful chemicals, and it defeats the whole purpose of “green” cleaning). The job of this cleaning device is simply to suck up any excess cleaning solution that might be present.
Step 2: Purchase a “Sprayer”
You know, the kind you’ve used for gardening and staining? This is what you’ll be putting your water and “green carpet cleaning” solution in, to eventually spray on your carpet.
Step 3: Purchase a Green Carpet Cleaning Solution
You can usually find these at all major grocery stores - you’re looking for an all natural carpet cleaner like Seventh Generation or Bi-O-Kleen.
Step 4: Move Your Furniture Off the Carpet
Move your furniture to an uncarpeted area like the kitchen or garage.
Step 5: Vacuum
The first step to an effective and eco-friendly carpet cleaning is to vacuum it. Ideally, you ought to use a vacuum with a HEPA filter that can suck up and trap all of the dirt and dust that’s lurking in the depths of your carpet. Vacuuming your carpet every so often isn’t enough, you must do it regularly to keep debris to a minimum.
Step 6: Combine the Green Carpet Cleaning Solution with Hot Water (follow directions on bottle)
Pour into your pump sprayer.
Step 7: Spray the Eco-friendly Carpet Cleaning Solution on Your Carpet
It ought to be wet, but if it’s drenched, you sprayed too much. Nevertheless, spraying an extra amount of specific stains is encouraged.
Step 8: Let the Solution Soak in for About a Half Hour
Step 9: Use Your Carpet Cleaning Device or a Wet/Dry Vacuum to Suck Up All Excess Cleaning Solution From Your Carpet
Step 10: Enjoy!
…until you have to do it again in next year. It’s important to note that your local carpet cleaners can probably do a more thorough job at cleaning your carpet, and it’s recommended that you have them take care of it every so often. And, if they have green carpet cleaning options available, you might want to think about calling them regularly!
If you’re interested in having your carpet cleaned, don’t hesitate to contact Atlanta Carpet Cleaners, you’re premier Atlanta carpet cleaning service!
There is no doubt that dogs and cats make wonderful pets, but their failure to become house broken, combined with whatever else that might have rolled around in outside, can definitely leave nasty stains and odors on your beautiful carpet. Particularly, with potty accidents, it’s important to choose a carpet cleaning service that will do away with the stain on a molecular level, instead of using a mild cleaner that will just mask the odor or the appearance of the spot. Since your pet’s sense of smell is stronger than yours, they might still be able to pick up this odor, and will then think that it’s okay to “go” on the carpet again.
Step 1: Remove any accessible waste material from the carpet
This refers to any material that might be settled on the top of the carpet, and has yet to get embedded in it. Put on rubber gloves, and use paper towels to avoid spreading this waste in future cleanings. Never rub the waste material. Instead, use a blotting motion so you don’t spread the stain.
Step 2: Use an enzymatic carpet cleaner to treat the spot
You are likely to find these carpet cleaners at your local pet store. Make sure you closely follow the directions on the bottle, and clean in a larger area than the stain itself appears, as pet carpet stains tend to spread.
- Apply a small amount of the carpet cleaner to a paper towel first, and then apply it to a sample piece of carpet, or a small piece of carpet in an inconspicuous area, to see if their is any adverse reaction.
- After a few minutes have passed, apply the recommended amount to the stain.
- Leave it to dry for several hours.
Step 3: Follow-Up Clean
- Mix 1 TB of borax into a quart of water. (An added benefit of borax is that it helps with flea control.)
- Apply this solution with a clean paper towels to remove product residue and alleviate any remaining stain.
- Rinse with water
- Dry with wet/dry vacuum
It’s very important never to mix different cleaning agents of chemicals, as the result can be extremely dangerous, not only to the carpet, but more importantly, to you and your family. Just like the pet solution, test a small amount of your “follow up” carpet cleaning solution in an inconspicuous area. In addition to rubber gloves, wear protective eye gear and open the windows to allow for maximum ventilation. Keep the area clear from traffic until the stain in completely dry.
Step 4: Contact your local carpet cleaners
If you’ve followed the above steps exactly, and there’s still a visible pet stain or odor, this might be a job for your licensed carpet cleaning contractors. Chances are, they’ll have a great deal of experience dealing with pet carpet stains, and you won’t have to risk doing greater damage to your carpet, than is already present.
If you’re having difficulty dealing with pesky carpet stains from your pet, don’t hesitate to contact Atlanta Carpet Cleaners. We’re a premier Atlanta carpet cleaning service, ready to handle your worst stains, and get your carpet looking brand new.
