Cleaning your carpets might only seem like a way to get them looking their best, but the truth is that there are many other reasons to clean them. Dirty carpets can impact your home’s indoor air quality and, by extension, the health of you and your family.
On top of maintaining them on your own, you’ll also want to make sure that you hire carpet cleaning services to come from time to time. But how often should you do that?
Keep reading to learn about how often you should have a professional carpet cleaning, as well as the factors that can affect that time.
How Often Should You Hire a Carpet Cleaning Service?
If you’re looking for a quick answer to this question, the Carpet and Rug Institute suggests that you have professionals come and clean your carpets every 12 to 18 months.
However, depending on how dirty they are and the conditions of your home, you might need to clean your carpets more often. On the other hand, certain households might be able to get away with hiring carpet cleaning services less often.
Factors That Affect That Time
The reality is that every home is going to need the deep clean that a professional carpet cleaning service provides at different intervals. That’s because there are many factors that affect how dirty or clean your carpets are.
Here are some of the most important ones.
How Often You Clean
Are you someone who makes time for a vacuuming session once a week? Or are you struggling to remember the last time you even turned on the vacuum?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the more often you vacuum, the longer your carpets last.
When you vacuum, you remove particles off of the surface, preventing them from sinking down and affecting the fibers of your carpet. By cleaning often, you’ll help improve the quality of your carpets, allowing you to put off hiring a cleaning service for a bit.
How Well You Clean
It’s important to point out that there’s a difference between flipping on the vacuum for 30 seconds and really taking the time to ensure that your carpets are clean and spotless.
Make sure that when you clean, you get every inch of your carpets. It might be tedious to move furniture and other objects off to clean under them, but doing so can help improve the quality of your carpets.
Whether Your Household Has Any Allergy Sufferers
Do you or anyone you live with suffer from allergies? If so, you’ll need to get your carpets cleaned more often. Carpets are notorious for holding on to different allergens, with dust and pet dandruff being some of the biggest culprits.
If you don’t remove these particles from your carpet, they’ll fly back into the air as you walk on your carpets. Removing them by hiring a carpet cleaning service is the best way to give allergy sufferers the relief that they crave.
Whether You Have Children or Pets
If you have pets or children in your home, understand that you’ll probably need to clean your carpets at a more frequent interval. Both can impact the quality of your carpets in different ways.
Aside from shedding hair, pets can also leave other unpleasant surprises on your carpets. If you’re wondering how to get rid of carpet odor caused by pets, know that the best solution is a professional cleaning company.
Many children, especially young ones, are notorious for leaving messes wherever they go. From fruit juice to other more sinister spatters, don’t let these spills damage your carpets for good.
Your Carpet’s Warranty
Did you know that your carpet’s warranty might require you to clean it at a certain interval? If you don’t, the warranty may no longer protect your carpet. This means that you might have to pay full price for repairs or maintenance later on.
You’ll also want to ensure that you save any carpet cleaning receipts. Doing so allows you to show the manufacturer that you correctly cleaned the carpet.
The Color of Your Carpet
Lighter colored carpets are an excellent way to make a room feel warm, and in some cases, even larger. However, they also show dirt and other particles much easier than darker shades of carpet, meaning that you’ll need to clean them more often.
While lighter colored carpets can be annoying to clean and maintain, they do make it easy to see when dirt begins to accumulate. Once it does, and once your vacuum fails to do the job, you know that it’s time to hire a professional carpet cleaning company.
Your Shoe Policy
When guests visit your home, are you laissez-faire about whether or not they wear their shoes around the house? You might think that you’re being nice, but you’re also dirtying your carpets faster than you otherwise would.
Excess shoe traffic not only brings in more dirt but also wears down your carpets. Make a point to clean and maintain them as often as possible. If you don’t, you’ll quickly notice a decline in carpet quality.
Don’t Put off Getting a Professional Carpet Cleaning
Cleaning is something that many of us hate doing, but don’t put off maintaining your carpets. By taking good care of them, you’ll enjoy them for longer. You’ll also ensure that they don’t impact your health in any negative ways.
How often should you clean your carpet? We recommend vacuuming it once a week and having professional carpet cleaning services come to give it a deep clean at least once a year.
If you enjoyed reading this article, remember to check out some of our other posts more cleaning-related tips and tricks.