Tag Archives: vacuuming

Keeping a clean, healthy home during the holidays

Deck the halls and fire up the oven! Holiday season is upon us. It’s time for gatherings, finger foods, beverages, decorating, and laughs. It’s also time for spills, drops, tracks, and less time to clean them all up! Tis’ not the season for much stressing over messes and stains. Here are a few tips for a cleaner stress-free holiday season:

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  • The welcome mat does more than just welcome. Put area rugs down in high traffic areas to protect your wall to wall carpeting and hard floors. If soiled or spilled upon, you can pick up the area carpet, bring it to be cleaned, or clean it yourself and hang it to dry. Cleaning your wall to wall is not as quick, and hard wood is still exposed to the additional soil and debris tracked in by company. Protect busier areas from all of the extra traffic this season and place a few area carpets down, primarily at entrances and busy hallways.
  • The best policy: No Shoes! Hands down, the best way to avoid wearing in traffic areas is to ask guests and family to remove their shoes at the door. Less soil will be tracked into and throughout your home. It’s another way to say “come on in, stay a while, and relax” in a maintainable, clean and healthy environment.
  • Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum. Break it out before and after each gathering. Vacuuming daily is ideal, but for those of us thinking this is highly impractical for the holiday season, do it at least before and after guests. It’s one extra step to do it both times, but it’s definitely worth it to the life of your carpets.
  • Emergency! Emergencies get your immediate, fast attention. Gently blot spills and splatters as soon as you are aware of them. The best results we’ve seen to remove spots starts with a spray of Chem-Dry’s carbonated spot remover and blotting with a cloth towel. No spot remover? Dab the cloth in lukewarm water, but not too much because it can cause the stain to sink deeper. If you’d like a can of spot remover, stop by our office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and pick one up! Take caution with which spot removers you do trust on your carpets because some can actually set the stain rather than help remove it.

Last but not least: have fun! Don’t stress too much about any one thing. Stressing along with the holiday rush opens opportunity for more accidents. Select simple guidelines to follow, prepare as much as you can in advance, and don’t forget to stop and smell the holiday swag. We wish you the happiest – healthiest holiday season.

Clean your vacuum!

The very best thing you can do for your carpet is to vacuum it regularly. When using your vacuum often, you may eventually find that it isn’t performing at its top capability. A little maintenance can go a long way to keeping it functioning at its best. You may also save hundreds on repair costs or replacement.  Here are a few guidelines on how to clean your vacuum.

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Have you checked the vacuum bag recently? Even though the bag may be less than half full, it might be time to change it. The more debris in the bag, the harder your vacuum has to work to get the air to pass through it. Some bags have “full” lines, or you can check it with a quick squeeze. If it’s about half full it’s time for a new one. Make sure you have the correct size and type of mag for your model vacuum. To find which size you need, contact the manufacturer. Many brands have easy online search tools.

If your vacuum doesn’t require a bag, there are other steps for you to take. Make sure to empty the bagless canister often if not after each use. Gently tap the canister to try and release any held debris. If you have an air compressor handy, you should blow out the air diffuser holes inside the canister. Try and make sure no small grits of sand or dirt are still stuck in the corners.

Now it’s time to clean out the beater bar which also known as the brush roll. This is the head of the vacuum that makes contact with the carpet. Each model vacuum is different, but some have a cover around the bar that is held in by screws. After the cover is off, be careful removing the roll as there should be belt around it that’s responsible for turning the roll. Once free of its housing, clear the roll with a seam ripper or scissors. Make sure to get all of the tightly wound debris. If you can unscrew the sides of the roll, gently remove any debris from the bearings. You may need to either lubricate or replace these bearings if you find they are worn.

Before putting the beater bar back in, check the belt you found around it before you removed it from the housing. You’re looking for any cracks, loss of tension, alignment, and wear. Vacuum belts should actually be replaced about once a year if not more. When replacing, it should slide right off the pulley or drive shaft. While these areas are exposed, clean up any caked on dirt with a rag and make sure the air passage ways are clean. Slide the new belt back on the pulley or drive shaft, reinstall the beater bar, check the alignment of the new belt, and screw the cover back on.

Proper airflow is key to a vacuum’s performance. Filers in and around your vacuum will keep the unit from blowing the super fine particles back into your home. Check your owner’s manual for the locations of your vacuum’s filters. Plastic filters and usually be rinsed off. Paper or fabric filters should be replaced when found full or very dirty.

Last but not least, make sure the wand and hose are clear. Gently thread a broom stick or wire hanger through the hose. If you find a clog, be sure not to pack it in. Try to remove the clog in bits until it loosens enough to clear it out entirely. Be careful when clearing the hose not to poke a hole in it.

Voila! Your vacuum is now fresh, clean, and ready for all the use it’s going to get keeping your carpets at their best. Removing dirt, sand, and debris from the carpet fibers is a major factor in avoiding those dark traffic areas. Try to do this about every 6 months or at the very least don’t exceed a year. Pat yourself on the back for the money you saved on a trip to the appliance maintenance facility. Happy cleaning!

Traffic areas and your carpeting

After having your carpets cleaned, have you ever noticed areas that look as if a stain still remains? Perhaps they didn’t clean up as well as you hoped. It may not be that the cleaner didn’t do a great job, or that the product is not very effective, but that the area that remains dark is not simply soiled; it’s a traffic area. The fibers in that spot have been permanently damaged by carpet sanding. Just like a cloudy piece of Plexiglas that has been weathered and scratched, light is not being reflected the same off the carpet fibers, making the area appear dirty. This happens when debris and soil settles between the carpet fibers and grinds them down with each step they endure. There may not be much you can do about it now, but you can learn how to prevent it from worsening, happening in other areas, and prevent it on new carpeting.

My first suggestion in preventing these traffic areas is to make sure you vacuum regularly. Although you may not see very much sand or soil, it is still easily tracked in and settles right into the carpet pile. The less soil you allow to remain in the carpet, the easier it is for your vacuum to be more effective in removing it. Focus most on the areas that you walk through or enter in each room, along with the areas you may sit the most. Without the buildup, your steps won’t have much to grind against your carpet fibers. It also never hurts to enforce the old “no shoes in the house” rule, especially if the main gathering areas are carpeted.

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Along with regular vacuuming you should be having your carpets routinely cleaned with a non-detergent based solution. Cleaning the carpets will get most of the soil that your vacuum just can’t touch. Not only will your carpets last longer, but your home will be healthier. More than just dirt, sand, and soil settle into carpet fibers. Cleaning also reduces allergens like pollen, dust, and dust mites. I suggest a non-detergent based cleaning solution because soaps and detergents may remain on the fibers after being “cleaned”. They can actually attract more dirt, leaving your carpets looking dirty much quicker than before.

While you’re at it, have the carpet cleaners apply a coat of protection immediately after cleaning. This will help avoid those traffic areas immensely. Imagine it as a clear shield that will take the wear from soiling before allowing it to start grinding down the carpet fibers. Protection is also fantastic defense against stains as the fine waterproof coat delays liquid from being absorbed, allowing you ample time to easily blot the spill with a rag. Even if your carpeting came with a protection already on it, the factory supplied protector is only temporary and a new one will need to be applied. Read more on this available protection HERE on a previous article.

So if you have your carpets cleaned and an area doesn’t look as clean as the rest of the carpeting, consider the placement. If it’s in a highly traveled area, or an area of great use, it’s probably a traffic lane caused by soiling that ground the carpet fibers with the help of your feet.  Vacuum and have your carpets cleaned routinely to avoid them, and apply a barrier of protection for best results.