When it comes to maintaining a carpet, most people start at vacuuming.
When it comes to carpet cleaning tips, it is true that vacuuming once a week is a good place to start, but that's not where carpet care should end.
Every few weeks, it's advised to take a little bit of extra time and use the crevice tool for cleaning around baseboards and other hard to reach places.
One of the best home cleaning tips is to divide wall to wall carpeting into quadrants, vacuum an entire quadrant first before moving onto the next.
This ensures you've vacuumed your carpet completely and effectively.
Dirt buildup is one thing, spots and stains are quite another altogether and even though they happen to just about every carpet, they can be very hard to remove.
Thankfully, there are some good carpet cleaning methods that you can use that will help you get those tough stains out.
Rule number one, clean any spill immediately.
Blot or scrape the entire area before applying any kind of cleaning solution, and do not rub! Rubbing will only spread the stain around, instead work from the outside of the stain toward the middle, blotting continuously.
A clean, white bath towel is the perfect accessory to cleaning up a spill and drying the area.
What if you have pets and they have an accident on the carpet? There are some hints and tips on carpet cleaning when it comes to pet accidents as well.
You can mix 1 teaspoon of a mild detergent, 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 1 quart of warm water.
Gently apply the solution to the affected spot and let it dry.
If the stain remains, repeat the procedure and then vacuum lightly once it is dry.
If red wine is accidentally spilled, dilute it with white wine then clean the area with cold water and completely cover the area with table salt.
Wait ten minutes and then vacuum up the salt.
There does come a time when you've tried all the carpet cleaning methods possible but you just can't restore your carpet to its "like new" appearance.
This is when you may need to hire a professional to come in and do a deep cleaning.
The good news is that when you hire a professional carpet cleaner company, they will remove and replace all the furniture for you, and once they've finished you can follow the carpet cleaning tips above to keep your carpet looking newer, longer.
Or you could try renting some commercial carpet cleaning equipment.
This might get those tougher jobs done.