How Often Should I Vacuum Carpets?

05 Jun How Often Should I Vacuum Carpets?

How Often Should You Vacuum Carpets?

Vacuuming doesn’t rank high on most people’s favorite activities, but it’s the best thing you can do to keep your carpets and area rugs looking their best.

Most carpet manufacturers recommend vacuuming your carpet at least once a week and vacuuming high-traffic areas more frequently. Those are good basic guidelines, but what about your house? How often should you vacuum your rugs and carpets?

Dirt is Damaging

As soon as dirt gets on your carpet, the damage begins. Dirt begins to tear at the delicate carpet fibers, unraveling them and making them hard. Dirt and dust may feel soft to your touch, but they are extremely abrasive to the carpet.

Over time, dirt that’s trapped in carpet fibers makes the fibers look old and worn out. That’s why it’s important to pick up dirt as often as possible.

Who Lives In Your House?

If you have a large family, and especially if you have pets and children, your house gets a lot of outdoor dirt and debris. Dirty particles stick to pet’s feet and children’s shoes and spread easily all over the house.

In this case, you should plan to vacuum five times a week. You should also consider using doormats at the front and back entryways. Don’t forget to clean the doormats on a regular basis, too.

Pets and Pests

Pets bring another problem to your house. If your pets bring in fleas, these pests can quickly reproduce and take over your home. Daily vacuuming controls flea populations and also removes dust mites.

If you use flea treatments on your carpet and upholstery, you’ll need to vacuum daily for at least three weeks to ensure that you’re picking up flea eggs and flea larvae as well as fully-grown pests.

What’s the Season?

Every season brings its own form of dirt to your house. You may want to pick up the pace of your vacuuming during these seasons.

Winter: This means lots of mud and ice. It also means toxic chemicals like ice melt entering your home and damaging your carpet. Winter is a good time to step up your vacuuming and to consider getting your carpets professionally cleaned.

Summer: Hot, humid summers like the ones our area gets tend to create damp spots in carpets that hold on tightly to dirt. High humidity can also lead to mold problems. Take extra care to keep humidity low in your house. Professional carpet cleaning can help you get rid of mold.

Controlling Allergies

Vacuuming helps you remove allergens. If someone in your family suffers from seasonal allergies, use the changing seasons as a signal to fire up your cleaning routine. Daily vacuuming keeps allergens and toxins out of your carpet and upholstery.

Can Vacuuming Hurt Your Carpet?

If you’re concerned that you might vacuum too much and harm your carpets, don’t worry. There are only two ways vacuuming can hurt carpet fibers.

1. You use the wrong type of vacuum or vacuum setting for your carpet. For some carpet styles, you need to remove the beater bar before you start cleaning. Others need higher or lower suction levels. For best results, check your carpet manufacturer’s warranty or manual to make sure you’re cleaning it properly.

2. Your vacuum cleaner is very old or isn’t working properly. Some older vacuums don’t allow you to make the right adjustments to the cleaning settings. A vacuum cleaner that isn’t picking up dirt is probably just moving around the dirt, doing more harm than good.

Beyond Dirt and Dust

If your efforts to keep your carpets and area rugs need a little help, contact Carpet Keepers today. We can pull dirt, dust, and grime out of carpet fibers that your vacuum can’t reach.

Our patented, nontoxic PureScience method eradicates dirt, grime, allergens and dust mites and leaves your carpet as soft and fresh as new. Keep your carpet looking its best with help from CarpetKeepers.