How Often Should You Get Your Carpet Cleaned?

Close-up Of A Person Cleaning Carpet With Vacuum Cleaner

Did you know that there is most likely an army of dust mites living in your carpet? Depending on how old and beat up your carpet is, it may also be filled with other types of insects such as carpet beetles. This is not to mention other things that can start living and growing within carpets such as mold and fungi.

Even if you take relatively good care of your carpet, it is still likely to be covered in dust, pollen, and other materials that may irritate your allergies. So, how often should you get your carpet cleaned by a professional? To answer this carpet cleaning question, let’s take a look at the different factors that can determine how often your carpet needs cleaning.

Consider How Well Trafficked Your Carpet Is

You might not think about it this way, but some of the carpets in your home are likely not as popular as others. Traffic refers to how often you and the members of your family walk over a certain carpeted space. For example, if you have carpet at your front door, then this carpet will have seen a lot of traffic because you will have to step over it every time you enter your home.

If you have kids, they might forget to take off their shoes and track dirt and mud all over the carpet. Even if you walk over your carpet with socks on or bare feet, you can still track all sorts of dust, skin cells, and sweat over the fibers of your carpet. And if you have a pet such as a dog or a cat, you can expect that your carpet will be infused with countless pet hairs as well.

You will notice that a trafficked carpet will usually not look all that great. The carpet fibers may be frayed or matted and the color of the fabric may look dirty or washed out. Your carpet may also emit an odor if it hasn’t been cleaned in a while or if it’s old.

A carpet that doesn’t see a lot of traffic, on the other hand, will remain in great condition. For example, the carpet in your closet looks new compared to the carpet in your living room or hallway. For a trafficked carpet, you’ll need more than a vacuum cleaner to get the job done.

That’s why professional carpet cleaners exist. Fortunately, it isn’t hard to find a good carpet cleaner like Chem-Dry of Fort Worth. Getting your well-trafficked carpets steam cleaned every quarter is always a great idea.

Pets, Allergies, and Smoking Habits

While carpets that don’t receive a lot of traffic naturally won’t need as much cleaning, the question of how often to clean your carpet still can depend on a variety of other factors. In this carpet cleaning guide, you will find that traffic is only one of many things you will need to consider when it comes to carpet cleaning advice. You will also need to consider if you or your family members have any allergies.

Your smoking habits are important as well, along with whether or not you have pets. If you have allergies, then you know that anything that irritates them can make you feel seriously unwell. People with allergies tend to experience more allergy problems from dirty carpets than they realize.

This is because, even though a carpet may look clean, it can still hold on to dust, pollen, insects, mold, and plenty of other microscopic debris. As you spend time in your home, you breathe in everything that your carpet may be harboring. This, of course, is not ideal for your lungs or your allergies.

For that reason, if your allergies are a real problem, you should have a professional cleaner clean your carpet every quarter. This will ensure that there will be no excess dust or mold piling up unseen within your carpet. If you have pets, you should also consider steam cleaning your carpet every quarter.

This is because pets, even if they’re clean, can bring mites and other insects into your home if they have been playing or walking outside. If you smoke, you might want to think about having your carpet cleaned as often. This is because smoke has a tendency of sticking to carpet fibers and leaving an unpleasant smell in your home.

Consider the Color of Your Carpet

The color of your carpet can determine how often you should clean it because, with some colors, dirt may show up easier. For example, a white carpet can make your home look bright and clean. However, its downside is that it can easily get dirty.

For that reason, you might need to have a white carpet cleaned more often than a carpet of a different shade. Carpets that are black, brown, or another dark color tend to hide dirt more compared to carpets of a lighter color. On white carpets, even the slightest scuffs can be prominent and make your carpet look older and dirtier than it really is.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t wash colored carpets too much because the color may start to fade. This is especially true with brightly colored carpets such as red or orange. You can clean a lot of scuffs off of your carpet on your own, but if you find that there are some marks that you can’t get out, it may be time for a deep clean.