For many people, the concepts of carpet and vacuum cleaner are opposite poles that should not be touched. There are many half-documented legends, hoaxes, and stories about why it should not be used. But the vacuum cleaner is a tool that can extend the life of our carpet keeping it clean in the process if we use it well.
Of course, the questions arise about how often a carpet should be vacuumed and how it should be done to avoid damaging its fabrics. If you want to keep your carpet for many years, you are in the right place. We tell you when and how to vacuum to leave it as the first day for a longer time.
How Often Should I Vacuum the Carpet?
The frequency with which a carpet is cleaned varies depending on the type of fabric and the occupation of the home. Although it is usually recommended to clean a carpet every two weeks, it will be advisable to do it earlier if small children live in the house playing on it or if we have a pet.
The frequency will also have to be increased if we have a rug under the table where we eat, if it is somewhere humid, or if it is woven with natural fibers. All these factors help to a certain extent to fix the dirt.
Since a general cleaning is usually done throughout the weekend, we can include the task of a couple of minutes that will take us to vacuum the carpet taking into account a couple of tips to avoid damaging it.
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Why Use the Vacuum Cleaner Versus Shaking?
The vacuum cleaner is not an infallible cleaning method, but a preventive treatment to prevent dust, suspended particles, and organic debris from slipping into the tissues, fixing on them, and causing damage or bad odor (such as the one that generates the mold or fungi to growing up).
By vacuuming we are removing the first layers of dirt on the carpet, but not those that are already inside, and that requires shaking it or going through a specialized cleaning service.
Therefore, the less a carpet is vacuumed, the more times it will have to be shaken to remove the dirt embedded within it, with the deterioration it entails. In addition, more trips will have to be made to the dye for cleaning, adding a cost that we could have easily saved.
How to Use the Vacuum Cleaner Without Damaging the Carpet?
However, the vacuum cleaner is not without danger for the fibers of our carpet, and it will have to be carefully carried out if we do not want to damage it. We give you some tips to use it:
For starters, we shouldn’t vacuum before cleaning dust on furniture. Although it does not seem to be related, when cleaning the furniture, we are dispersing a thin layer of dirt on the floor (and therefore on the carpet) that we would then have to remove again if we do not want to leave it dirty until we vacuum again the next time. time.
Similarly, it is recommended to vacuum the house before going over the carpet, leaving it for last. Especially if the vacuum is not a water vacuum, the filter often acts as a hot and dirty air impeller, something that normal filter vacuums have been criticized for.
As we have said, the idea after vacuuming is not to remove all the interior dirt, but to remove the first layers (the most recent ones). If we use the full power of the machine we could damage the fabrics, so the ideal would be to buy a vacuum cleaner with a power regulator, reducing it as it passes, especially for loosely fitted carpets that can fray.
As this type of vacuum cleaners are quite expensive, the alternative is to acquire a separate head looking for two points that help soften the air force on the fabric:
- That the mouth of the vacuum cleaner has a lot of surfaces.
- That it is adjustable in height, being able to move it away from the carpet.
In this way, we will avoid sucking with great force.
The technique is Important When Vacuuming
In the same way as when and with which to vacuum, you have to pay attention to how. The ideal is not to pass twice in a row and in the same direction through the same point, so as not to force the tissues or bend or stretch them too much.
Vacuuming across, Modern Living 101 agrees that diagonally, or changing the pass direction helps the fibers withstand stresses and will clean the carpet without reducing its useful life.
It is important to vacuum with the carpet horizontally on the floor, and not with it hanging (for example from a clothesline). In this way we will avoid forcing the fabrics more than necessary, in addition to removing as much dirt as possible, since vertically or diagonally the dirt will move inside the fabric, sometimes to get trapped.
In addition to all the previous points, it is always recommended to vacuum dry if we do not want the tissues to become caked or even catch dust.
And, of course, if we don’t have the time or the desire we will always have to go to the dye…
