So perhaps you are like many people and your carpet is dirty! There are many methods to clean carpet, but the method we have found does the best job is called hot water extraction cleaning. This method uses hot water and cleaning agents to rinse the dirt out of your carpet, just like washing your clothes.
Although carpet cleaning is a fairly simple set of steps, most people do it the wrong way, causing excessive residue buildup in the carpet which causes rapid resoiling of the carpet, or what is called "browning".
As a do-it-yourselfer, you can find this equipment at rental stores or the grocery store. Brand names like "Rug Doctor" or "Thermax" are common carpet cleaners you can rent. Although most have basic instructions for cleaning, if you follow our method, you can achieve far better results than average.
Here are the basic steps for you to follow with rental equipment:
1. Decide what areas you are going to clean.
2. Rent your equipment and make sure you have enough time to get the cleaning done.
3. Pre-treat the areas of spots, stains and traffic lanes with a pre-treating chemical, to loosen dirt and make it easier to rinse out of the carpet.
4. Fill the carpet cleaner with hot water, and rinse out the carpet.
5. If you wish, this is the time to add a carpet protector, which seals the carpet fiber and repels spots.
6. Now is the time to dry out the carpet. You can do this by circulating air with fans or air movers, and opening windows and getting air on the carpet to help dry the areas you just cleaned.
Although each of these steps are easy to follow, expect to spend a full day of cleaning if you have an average home of 1000-1500 square feet of carpet. The results you get depend on your effort you put in, and how well you follow the steps outlined above.
Mr. McTighe has been helping people keep their homes clean for over 15 years. He has put together a very detailed web site of instructions on cleaning carpet yourself, including professional tips and product recommendations. Go to: Carpet Cleaning Yourself
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Mctighe
