Take proper of your carpet from day one, and you'll enjoy its beauty for years to come. A few simple steps - cleaning up spills promptly, vacuuming regularly, and periodically giving your carpet a thorough cleaning - guarantees your carpet's long-lasting beauty, warmth, and comfort.
Since sturdy man-made fibers like nylon and polyester have become the standard carpet pile materials, appearance retention has overtaken abrasion resistance as the central concern in carpet maintenance. Still, several factors can damage even these resilient fibers - soil accumulation, crushing of the pile fiber, and accidental damage like burns, stains, and rips continue to threaten the beauty of your carpet.
Appearance retention is affected by several factors:
- Soil Type - Dark, oily soil precludes the use of light colors, and light clay and cement dust shows easily on deep tones.
- Soil Amount - Soil will accumulate most visibly at junctions between the carpet and hard surface areas. Grates and doormats can help to reduce the amount of soil brought in by foot traffic.
- Carpet Color and Texture - Consider pile texture, color, and fiber optics carefully when selecting your carpet - matching carpet color to ambient soil can conceal soil buildup.
- Carpet Construction - Pile density is the key to good crushing performance. A quality carpet can be made of almost any fiber if enough of that fiber is used.
- Quality of Maintenance - The most crucial factor in appearance retention, careful maintenance ensures carpet's long and useful life.
Where Dirt Comes From
- Soil Deposited by Exposure to Foot Traffic - Tracked-in soil is typically an oily type found in streets and parking areas or a dry dust from sidewalks and paved areas. Soil accumulated indoors consists primarily of wax and dust from adjacent hard floor areas and cooking oils carried by foot traffic or air. Soil color varies according to geographic location and urban or rural surroundings.
- Soil Transmitted by Air Flow - Ventilating and heating systems as well as open doors and windows transmit soot and dust particles.
- Spills and Household Debris - Carpets regularly absorb elements like lint, crumbs, tobacco, coffee ashes, pencil shavings, hair and water.
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE - Maintaining the look of your floors
EQUIPMENT - Selecting the right equipment to care for your floors
CLEANING - Various methods for cleaning your floors
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