subject: Protecting Your Carpet: Simplicity and Forethought Extends Life [print this page] Protecting Your Carpet: Simplicity and Forethought Extends Life
Now that you have your carpet installed, and it looks fantastic, you want to finish decorating the room. Will you always leave that couch against that wall and that table under the window or might you change furniture or move it around one day? How will you protect your carpeting from everyday living today?
One step is protecting it from heat and fading. Draw curtains against sunlight when the room isn't in use and avoid trapping heat near the floor's surface by keeping furniture away from heat vents. The carpet fibers become brittle and break easily if exposed to trapped heat for long periods of time. Also, if furniture is left in place for long periods of time, moving it will reveal just how faded carpeting can become, just as moving a long-hanging picture still presents a silhouette on a wall.
Comprehensive cleaning helps maintain the carpeting's appearance and durability. Removing trapped dirt, hair, and inevitable mites avoids the trapped material from cutting the fiber and contributing to wear patterns.
When shampooing carpeting, be sure to shampoo all of it, not just the open areas. Air flow through a house, whether through open windows, air conditioning or heating, or natural traffic, can cause dirt and hair to travel under those pieces of furniture and embed themselves into the fibers; if allowed to stay, they can build up and cause matting and quick damage when furniture is rearranged later.
Use as little water as possible when shampooing a carpet. A quickly drying formula prevents water from soaking through the surface and into the under-padding where mold and mildew can flourish.
When using a new product or when shampooing it for the first time, always test the compatibility of the formula with the fibers. You may want to keep a few scraps specifically for that purpose.
When arranging furniture, whether it's a couch, chair, or table, consider one additional level of protection for your carpeting. Because weight of what rests on it also plays a part of the longevity of your carpeting, consider placing carpet guardshard plastic platforms with a toothed undersideunder the legs of your furniture. For those pieces that have long rails that rest on the floor, consider a larger mat under the piece. The guards will not prevent all indenture from the weight of the furniture, but they do help prevent catastrophic crushing of the fibers.
If you move furniture under which you used carpet guards, you will still see some indents. However, a quick fluff and thorough vacuuming often revive the spots fairly easily. You'll often see additional improvement over time as each cleaning further encourages the fibers to stand up again.
In hallways and doorways, using a coordinated area rug or runner can help protect the appearance and life of your carpeting. The extra padding eases the pressure on the piling, and the rugs are easily moved for efficient cleaning of the hallway or entryway, further extending the life and appearance of your flooring.
