Carpet Care – Your Questions Answered

Q. Can I vacuum my new carpet straight away?

A. Yes absolutely, we will vacuum immediately after installation and regular vacuuming early on is key in helping the carpet to keep its appearance.

It is an old wives tale that a carpet needs to settle before vacuuming. The reality is a new carpet, especially a wool one will shed a small portion of its pile over its lifetime. This is simply the shorter fibres breaking away, the sooner you remove all these fibres through regular vacuuming the quicker it will stop shedding them and filling your vacuum bag up. (With man-made fibres this is not noticeable.)

Q. How often should I vacuum?

A. The carpet manufacturers recommend 2-3 times a week. The reason for this is any loose particles of dirt will be sitting near the top of the pile and easier for the vacuum to remove. If regular vacuuming is not carried out these particles can make their way down lower/deeper into the carpet and abrade the fibres of the pile wearing the carpet, and discolour/soil the carpet. This is particularly noticeable with light carpets near exterior doors.

Q. What type of vacuum should I use?

A. For cut pile carpets a vacuum with a beater bar is recommended to lift the pile and help resist flattening of the carpet.

For loop pile carpets a suction type only vacuum (or beater bar turned off) is recommended as a beater bar may damage the loops creating a pilled appearance with a bobbly surface.

Q. What Should I do if I spill something on my carpet?

A. Deal with it immediately, by trying to blot up as much of the liquid as possible with kitchen roll working from the outside in. Then use a damp cloth (warm water) to continue trying to transfer the liquid stain from the floor to the cloth, rinsing as you go. Don’t rub too hard as you may force the stain further into the carpet and end up abrading the pile causing the fibres to burst.

Polypropylene may be sold as bleach cleanable. This relates to a well-diluted solution with water, and again worth blotting the bleach away with just water afterwards, followed by drying the area with kitchen roll.

Wool however can’t be cleaned with bleach as it can remove the colour from the carpet along with the stain, leaving a light patch. We would always recommend starting with a gentle detergent for washing woollens.

Following this specialist advice should be sought and we can pass this on, or put you in touch with a wool safe carpet cleaning company.

Q. How can I prevent my carpets from becoming stained/soiled?

A. Consider doormats in exterior doorways, or if a carpet is already showing signs of staining in a doorway we can look at installing an inset matt well for you.

Perhaps also consider using hard flooring in areas like Hallways, with then a rule to remove footwear before entering spaces like Lounges or Bedrooms that are carpeted. The hard flooring will stand up to people coming in from outside better and the carpet not being installed in traffic areas will keep its appearance much better too.