How to Maintain & Clean the Carpet on Your Stairs?
Everyone who has carpeted stairs in their home knows just how fast they can get dirty and start looking worn-out. Stairs get a lot of traffic during the day, so it’s not a surprise that stair carpets get a lot of dirt, dust and stains.
If you want to revive your high-traffic staircase and make your stair carpets look new and clean again, here are some maintenance and cleaning tricks and tips you can try.
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Remove Debris With a Broom
Almost nothing beats a good ol’ broom when it comes to regular maintenance. Use a stiff broom or brush to remove the debris and accumulated dust. This is a simple trick that will prevent your stair carpets from losing colour and help your carpet fibres retain their strength.
It’s always best to start sweeping the stairs from top to bottom. This way, all the dust and debris will gather at the bottom where you can use a dustpan to pick it up easily.
Take Care Of Stains
As stated above, stairs get a lot of traffic, which inevitably means a lot of stains. In order to remove them, it’s best if you dab the stains with a cleaning solution and use a cloth or paper towel to clean it up. Try blotting instead of rubbing the stain.
Rubbing will only make the stain worse because the pressure grinds the particles deeper into the carpet fibres. However, blotting puts a small amount of pressure on the stain and soaks it up. Start blotting from the outside of the stain to stop it from spreading.
Some stains also require pretreatment to loosen the dirt so it can be removed. Oil-based stains are particularly tricky to get rid of. There are special carpet shampoos that create foam that removes stains. Put some shampoo on the stain and scrub it with a brush. Even the most stubborn blemishes disappear when treated this way.
Use a Strong Vacuum
Regularly maintaining you staircase carpet is a good way to keep it clean, but for more serious cleaning, you should use a vacuum. The easiest types to be handled on the stairs are lightweight vacuums with a long cord, and the battery-powered ones. These allow you to move up and down the stairs easily without the risk of tripping and falling.
It’s best if you start your vacuuming with the brush attachment to pick up the bigger particles, and then continue with the hose attachment to pick up all the dirt that is hiding in the corners. Vacuum often, especially if you or someone in your family suffers from allergies.
Carpets can hide pollen, dust, pet dander, dust mites or mould in their fibres, so if you want to get rid of allergens, it’s best to use a vacuum cleaner specially designed to remove those pests from your home and relieve your allergy symptoms.
Deep Clean
Regular maintenance is very important for removing dirt, dust and allergens from your carpets, but only steam cleaning can make your carpet look truly fresh and new. Steam cleaning involves the use of water-jet nozzles that inject cleaning solution deep into the carpet. After steam cleaning you can use a best steam iron for clothes ironing.
The machine then extracts the solution together with the dirt and debris from the carpet. The water jet is so strong that it penetrates the fibres all the way down to the carpet backing, loosens all the dirt, removes oil and grease, and cleans your carpet thoroughly.
If you want to prolong your staircase carpet’s life, experts recommend deep cleaning every six months for an average family of four.
Conclusion
Your whole house will look much better if you have clean and fresh carpets. Now that you know how to maintain your staircase carpets, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start cleaning.
