6 Simple Tips to Keep Your Carpet

Looking Cleaner and Smelling Fresher

This image shows a woman relaxing an a carpet.

Keeping your carpets fresh and clean is essential for any home with carpet flooring. It makes your entire house have a warmer, more welcoming ambiance.

However, carpets are notorious for attracting dirt and other allergens, easily staining and holding odors. So, how do you keep your carpet clean and smelling fresh?

The answer is quite simple! We’ve compiled a list of easy-to-follow tips that will leave your home carpets looking cleaner and smelling fresher for as long as possible! Continue reading to learn more!

1. Leave the Shoes at the Door

Probably the easiest tip on this list to follow is to leave your shoes at the door. Try to make it a habit for yourself and your family to remove your shoes as soon as you come through the door. You should also encourage any guests to follow suit and leave their shoes too.

Wearing shoes inside your home increases the amount of dirt and debris that gets tracked in over your beautiful, clean carpeting. Shoes also have stiffer rubber soles compared to sock feet or slippers. This isn’t as immediately noticeable as dirt tracks, but it will wear your carpets out much faster than walking without shoes on.

So, by leaving your shoes at the door, you’ll have cleaner carpets and increase the lifespan of your floor!

2. Sprinkle Some Baking Soda Before Vacuuming

When you’re doing your maintenance cleaning, you don’t just want your carpets to look clean; they need to smell clean too! Sprinkling baking soda over your carpets before you vacuum is an easy trick to keep your carpet smelling fresher for much longer.

Merely sprinkle a light dusting of baking soda across your carpeting, let it settle on the carpet for about 5 minutes or so, and then vacuum as you normally would!

3. Remember to Vacuum Regularly and Slow Down!

We understand that unless there’s a noticeable mess on the floor, it’s easy to forget to vacuum regularly. However, if you vacuum at least three times a week, you’ll notice a significant difference in the cleanliness of your carpets! When you vacuum regularly, you’ll be cleaning up the smaller dirt particles, dust, and other allergens that are hardly noticeable to the naked eye.

Now for the critical part, when you’re vacuuming, remember to slow down! When you’re vacuuming the most frequented areas of your carpet, you need to vacuum slowly and steadily. This will allow the vacuum to pick up as much debris as possible.

If you’re trying to squeeze in a quick cleaning and speed through the vacuuming, you won’t pick up all the dirt that’s hiding in your carpets.

4. Change Vacuum Filters or Bags Regularly

No matter if you’re running an upright or a canister vacuum, with filters or a traditional bag model, keeping it maintained properly will help you make the most out of your vacuuming. Be sure to change the filter or bag regularly.

If you forget to do this, your vacuum may lose suction and won’t effectively pick up debris. Keeping your filters and bags changed will help you keep your carpets much cleaner.

5. Clean up Spills as Soon as They Happen

The longer a spill is left to soak into the carpet, the harder it’ll be to clean, and the more likely it’ll leave a stain. You can prevent these hard-to-get-out stains by cleaning up any spills as soon as they occur.

When you clean these spills, remember to blot the stain. Scrubbing can actually work the stain deeper into the carpet fibers and make it even harder to get out.

If you’re cleaning up a solid staining material, such as spilled food or tracked-in mud, gently scrape the debris with a plastic putty knife or a dull knife to avoid damaging your carpet.

6. Have Your Carpets Cleaned Professionally Twice a Year

Regular, professional deep cleaning is one of the best ways to keep your carpets looking clean and smelling fresh. Don’t wait until your carpets are filthy to bring in a pro. Make a note to call a professional carpet cleaning company about two times a year to give your carpets a proper deep cleaning.

Summing Things Up

Having clean, fresh-smelling carpets are the best way to keep your home comfortable and more inviting. Just follow our simple tips by leaving your shoes at the door, sprinkling baking soda before vacuuming, vacuuming regularly, changing vacuum filters or bags, cleaning up spills immediately, and having your carpets cleaned professionally twice a year. These tips will keep your carpets looking cleaner and smelling fresher for much longer!