How to clean your carpets yourself

Cleaning carpets is a task that nearly every home owner must do on a regular basis.  If you don't then you either don't have any carpet or you don't have a home.  Daily cleaning is usually not required unless you are in a business environment and the office carpets are vacuumed on a daily basis and steam cleaned or chemically cleaned once or twice a year.

Carpet cleaning usually starts with a good vacuuming, which we probably already know. What you want to know about is how to deep clean or steam clean your carpets yourself.  There are several options to you, manual or machine assisted.  I am going to tell you now that cleaning your carpets by hand is not the most efficient way to do it, although probably the cheapest, it is not the easiest or most effective either.  Yes, some manual cleaning is usually required in some way for spot cleaning and stains, but for the most part you are going to use some sort of machine for the job.

Cleaning your carpets with a steam cleaner

A steam cleaner used heated water and soap solution to clean the carpet fabric.  Most heavily soiled and stained carpets that do not look their best from regular vacuuming can be steam cleaned. The water cleaning process the steam cleaner uses basically injects hot water into the carpet then sucks it back up right away. This process is quick and easy and produces great results, making your carpet look new in most cases.  Odor removal is part the cleaning process as most odors come from set in stains.  Steam cleaners are available in many places for both rental and purchase.

To use a steam cleaner you will need to follow a few simple steps ( which is probably written on a label if you rent a steam cleaner from your local hardware or department store ).  These are basic steps and each model of steam clean may or may not require all the steps listed, but most will.  First, remove the water container from the steam cleaner and fill it up to the "full" line with hot or room temperature tap water, whichever is recommended. Make sure that you purchase the proper steam cleaner soap and add to the water or soap dispenser for the steam cleaning machine. Most any other non-specific soap will ruin the cleaner and not work at all, steam cleaner specific soap has a very low to no suds property. Make sure you put in the required amount for the cleaner you are using. You also have the option of not using any soap at all and clean with just the hot water, it is not as effective, but may work in some cases without using the soap chemicals on the fabrics.   Some carpets may also react differently to different soaps and detergents, it is a good idea to test it ahead of time.  Using the proper amount of soap will increase the cleaning ability of the steam cleaner and be the most efficient way to clean soiled carpets, using too much or too little will often have a negative effect.

After filling the water tank and soap dispenser, place them into the appropriate locations in the steam cleaner.

The next step, if you have not already done this.  I should actually say this is the first step, but I will put it here anyways.  It is to make sure that you have vacuumed the carpet or area you plan to steam clean.  Making sure that you have picked up any of the loose dirt and material from the targeted area will allow for a better clean from the steam cleaner.  This may actually be a good time to do this step after you have filled and prepared the steam cleaner.  Some models required a setup and heating up cycle to pre-heat the water within the machine itself, the hotter the water, the better the clean.  So, while it is heating up, might as well run over the area with your vacuum again.

The next step is optional, but it is recommended by most steam cleaning machine manufacturers and professionals to pre-treat any larger or noticeable stains.   You must use a product that is designed for carpet cleaning and pre-treating.  Using the wrong product may react to the soap solution when you use the machine or make the stain worse.  Again, you should test it on a hidden spot or a spare piece of carpet if you happen to have some lying around.  Test both the pre-treater and the soap solution on the same spot to also ensure that there is no adverse reaction between the two.  Make sure you check the labels and treatment time, some require more time then others and some products suggest you steam clean within a certain amount of time after application of the pre-treat chemical as well.  If I have not said it yet, read the manual, or read the labels.

The next step is the actual cleaning part with the steam cleaner.  Although there is no real rule, you should use some technique and plan when operating the machine.  Start at the far end of the room and work in small sections at a time.  You will want to ensure that you run the machine smoothly and evenly across the entire floor or target area the same way.  What I mean by this is that you should be spending the same amount of time and speed on each pass of the cleaner in small, easy to manage strokes.  If you have a heavily soiled carpet, then make sure that if you go over each pass 3 times, that you do the same for the entire area.  This will ensure that you get an even look and clean throughout.  The last thing you want to see when it is done is one area cleaner then the rest, you'll end up having to do it all over again.  You can go over stains and stubborn areas more then others, especially if you can still see a stain.  Once the carpet is clean, the color should not change and it should not matter how many times you pass over it.  You do have to remember that the least amount of time or passes you do, the faster the carpet will dry in the end.

Lastly, you need to allow time for the carpet to dry and depending on how many times you went over it will make a difference in the drying time.  So, you have to balance both the drying time required with the amount of passes that you do on the carpet.  Make sure that you do not place any furniture, wooden or painted materials on the wet floor, you will risk color bleed into your carpet or damage to your furniture.  You can also use fans to help dry the area and/or use foam or Styrofoam blocks to prop up your furniture if you need to move it.

Once you are done, make sure to clean and empty all containers of the steam cleaner.  Ensure that there is no left over water in the collection or other tanks.  Follow all cleaning and storage instructions that came with your machine.  Proper storage and clean up will help keep your steam cleaner in working order.  If you forget once and go to use it again and find that you forgot to empty to collection tank, you will be in for a nasty, smelly surprise.  You may also find that the stagnant, smelly water can and will stink up your entire house over time.  Best is to just clean it properly when you are done.

That is about it.  Remember that any steam cleaner will, just that some will work better then others.   I don't want to list which ones are better then others, I have not tried them all.  But you should look for one that has an internal water heater.  As I mentioned earlier, the hotter the water the better the clean.  Also, a machine that has a powerful suction motor will help to extract the water and soil out of the carpet and reduce drying times.  The more water you can remove, the better it will clean as well.  Often, store purchased, retail steam cleaners work for light duty and lightly soiled carpets.  The professional and other rental steam cleaners you can find often perform better in my opinion.  Renting also saves on storage space, maintenance and the cost of purchase too.

You also have the option to hire a professional cleaner as well.  I also recommend this option over purchasing your own steam cleaner because the cost is minimal and usually a lot less then buying your own machine.  They also have better machines then what you can buy in a store anyways and often do a better job.  Which ever way you decide to clean your own carpets will work.