Keeping your carpets and carpet tiles clean and in good condition can add years to the lifecycle of carpets, which can save you money and save the environment. Beyond this, you want to ensure your home, office or workplace looks professional and clean so cleaning carpets really is an essential maintenance above anything else. As part of our core aim to reduce the waste associated with carpet tiles, we have put together a list of 5 life hacks to keep your carpets clean and save you time. We hope most of you will have never even thought of these and will share them with your friends and colleagues, so the collective time saving will be huge!
Disclaimer! Before you do any kind of carpet cleaning, be sure to test your method on a small patch, in an area that is not easily visible. As carpet material can vary and very light or very dark coloured carpet may react differently than you expect.
Number 1: Vinegar is the cheap, easy, non toxic cleaning friend you always dreamed of.
While expensive carpet cleaners certainly do an excellent job, there is a much cheaper alternative that has likely been lurking in your cupboard for years. White vinegar may sound like something your grandma would use to do her cleaning, but it is an effective cleaning solution for a huge amount of household jobs, including your carpet. But remember, it is acidic and has the ability to remove colour from carpet, so it needs to be diluted in a ratio of 3:1 – 3 parts water, 1 part vinegar. It also needs to be removed from the carpet after cleaning, and this can be done with some clean water and blotted with kitchen roll – once this has dried, a vacuum cleaner.
White vinegar can be used to lift stains and marks from your carpets and can be used as part of our steam cleaning solution, up next:
Number 2: You don’t need a steam cleaner to get stains out of carpets.
Steam cleaners are great, and if you can afford one then it is a good purchase. Steam is a chemical free way to get stains out of carpets, but if you don’t have one and you need a stain removing miracle, then grab your iron and a towel and follow this process:
- Once any liquid has dried, vacuum the area to remove any excess material from the carpet.
- Treat the stain with a water and white vinegar solution (3 parts water to 1 vinegar is about right).
- Leave the stain for a few minutes, then place your towel over the area and set your iron to a steam setting (not too hot)
- Run the iron over the area and allow the steam to do its work.
- Leave to dry and then vacuum once again.
Number 3: Freeze chewing gum to get it out of carpets.
Chewing gum is definitely on the list of the last things you would want on your carpet. The nightmare problem with gum is that while it is still wet it is simply too stretchy to remove from the carpet, as it breaks away and leaves even harder bits to remove. And leaving it to dry is not the answer as it becomes hard and melded to the carpet fibres. The answer to this is to freeze the gum before it dries: Grab an ice cube from the fridge and hold it on the gum for 30 seconds to a minute then the gum will become much more firm and will allow you to peel if off the carpet. If there is remaining residue, then wet the carpet with clean water to allow the fibres to become more slippery – the rest should come away. This might take a few goes to get it all off.
Number 4: Baking soda can be used as a carpet freshener.
While commercial or supermarket bought carpet fresheners are great and will come in a variety of smells, if you want a cheaper and easier alternative without the chemicals, you can rely on an old store cupboard favourite – baking soda! Remember that baking soda is different from baking powder and the former will do a much better job. Baking soda acts as an absorbent material that will lift moisture and smells from your carpets: Just sprinkle a fine layer of baking soda on your carpet and leave it for at least an hour (overnight if you can), when you are ready, simply use the vacuum cleaner to get the baking soda out of the carpet. Leaving it fresh as a daisy.
Number 5: Lift furniture marks from your carpet with ice cubes.
Who knew that ice cubes were a carpet’s best friend? Another use for simple frozen water is to remove those indents in shag carpet that are left by heavy furniture being left for prolonged periods of time. When you move your furniture, grab a piece of ice and leave it on the indent – be sure that you use enough ice that when it melts the water covers the entire indent – once the area is dry – the moisture will have lifted and released the fibers and you should be able to pull the carpet fibres up with your fingers. Repeat the process until the carpet is looking good.
We hope that you have found these tips useful and you will be implementing them in the future. As a final top tip, if you have carpet tiles and you get damage, you can always replace them with the same style of carpet – even better – check out our recycled carpet tile shop to see if we have your carpet tiles in stock!
