How to Clean Carpet - DIY Carpet Cleaning

Save time and money. Remove stains and odors from your carpet. Make your carpet look, smell and feel professionally cleaned.

Genesis 950 is available on Amazon.

Step 1: DIY Carpet Cleaning

Maintaining a clean carpet is important for several reasons. The most obvious is to maintain a pleasant looking home. Nobody wants guests coming into their home and put off by a dirty carpet. It is also important to keep your carpet clean to promote the longevity of your carpet. A clean, well maintained carpet will last longer than a carpet left alone. Dirty carpets can increase the chance of bacteria growth. Moisture trapped in the padding can deteriorate the carpet from the underneath. Mold and mildew from moisture can cause a carpet to lift, create uneven carpeting, or cause illness. Illness can also come from pollen and dust buildup in carpeting. Particularly for allergy sufferers.

There are several options when it comes to cleaning carpet. Professional carpet cleaners are abundant. They can also be costly. One room can cost anywhere from $80 to $100. There might be added fees for various cleaning add-ons. Scheduling can also cause problems in having a professional carpet cleaner visit your home. You have to work around their availability and make plans to be home when they arrive. Another issue could be in the actual cleaning product used. Is it strong enough to remove stains? Is it watered down? Will it prevent mold growth? Is it green? What happens in the event that stains treated reappear? Phantom stains can be very common in carpeting. If a stain seems to be gone, but then reappears days or weeks later, will the professional carpet cleaner come back to treat it again, and if so will they charge?

Carpet cleaning can actually be done quite easily and cost effectively on your own. Using the right equipment and cleaning solution, you can properly clean your carpets for a fraction of the price it costs to hire a professional, and in most cases get a better clean. This can be essential in maintaining your home, preparing a home for sale or for ensuring you get a security deposit back from a rental unit.

Carpet cleaning machines have become quite affordable, and easy to store. Manufacturers like Hoover and Bissell produce a wide range of carpet cleaning machines. These machines range from upright units to hand held tools. Various features are available to enhance the cleaning experience. Various brush types and bristles help to agitate the carpet to break apart stained surfaces. Heat features allow the user to increase water temperature for deeper cleaning. Attachments of machines make it easy to not just clean carpets, but rugs, upholstery, curtains, steps and more. These types of machines are perfect for families with children and pets. The availability of having this type of machine in the home makes it easy to take care of stains as they happen.

Carpet cleaning machines can also be rented. They can be found at local grocery and hardware stores for hourly or daily use. Generally, these machines have larger tank sizes than machines that are sold to retail customers. With a larger tank size, these machines are great for cleaning entire homes. The are also idea for cleaning carpet prior to moving into a new home or apartment. Likewise they are excellent for cleaning after moving out of a home. This will help make the carpet more appealing to a new prospective buyer, or ensure that you do not lose any of your security deposit as a result of carpet stains.

Choosing the right cleaning product for cleaning carpets is crucial. There are a number of products available. From household cleaners to enzymes, the market is saturated with various types of cleaners. There are a number of factors to consider in ensuring you use the right cleaner.

The vast majority of carpet cleaning solutions are soap based. Soap based cleaners are not necessarily the best types of cleaners for carpeting. Soaps are designed to attract dirt, grease and so on. When soap is introduced into carpet, it can create areas under the surface where the dirt gets collected. When this happens, phantom stains can become prominent. A phantom stain is a stain that seems to be removed only to appear later in time. This is a result of dirt and grime not being properly removed below the surface of the carpet. As time passes, humidity or moisture in carpet can bring the stain upward. This type of stain is most common with soap based cleaners as the soap creates areas where the dirt may be left behind. Other problems can also arise from soap based cleaners. The foaming and suds make it very difficult to rinse. As more water is added to rinse, the soap cleaner foams more. In turn, it becomes harder to remove and leaves an oily film throughout the carpet.

Some household cleaners also can contain chemistry that is damaging to carpet. Most carpet has it's own chemistry. This is common in the synthetic fibers used in manufacturing carpet. Chemistry is also used in carpet protection. Various carpets are treated with stain proof coating and other elements to enhance the life of the carpet. While the carpet generally comes with instructions as to what can and can't be used to clean it, those instructions often get misplaced, lost or forgotten about. When cleaning with household cleaners, the wrong product can destroy your carpets color. Cleaners that do the most damage are those which oxidize the carpet. Oxidation is a process in which electrons are added or removed from a surface or object. In carpeting, if an oxidizing agent is introduced to treated carpet, the result is a pinkish or orange tint to the carpet. If using a household cleaner, you should always test a small area first to ensure that the chemicals will not damage your carpet.

Natural household cleaners are suggested in many cases to clean carpet. While cleaner like ammonia and vinegar are excellent cleaners, they are not a good idea for carpet. Both are acidic in nature. Because of this, they have a high pH level. This level of acidity is what makes them good at breaking down stains. The issue however comes with the odor, especially if you are a pet owner. When pet owners run into an issue where either a cat or dog repeatedly goes to the bathroom on carpet, it is not necessarily a training issue. Often it comes from a vinegar, ammonia or a cleaning product containing either of them being used on the carpet. Animals urinate instinctively based on scent. The pH levels in ammonia and vinegar are similar to those found in urine. Because of this, when an animal smells it in the carpet, they are likely to think that is the spot where they went to the bathroom last. In turn, they will continue to go in that spot.

Enzymatic cleaners are another available cleaner type suggested for carpet cleaning. Enzymes are quite possibly the least likely cleaner to remove stains. Enzymes are extremely sensitive. They rely on the principal that one compound will interact with another. However for an enzyme to work, the conditions must be precise. Enzymes only become active when introduced to the right compounds. Because of this, it is more likely than not the enzyme will not work as expected. Enzymes are best illustrated in comparison to a lock and key. Not every key works with every lock. The key has to be designed to fit the lock correctly for it to be activated. If there was one lock and a hundred keys, only one specific key will open the lock. Enzymes work the same way. In treating pet stains, there are so many variables that can prevent the enzyme from breaking down the stain. pH levels, diet, health and so on alter the way the stain interacts with the enzyme. Likewise, blood, urine, vomit and other stains all have different chemical compositions. The thought that a general enzyme can be used for all of these is ridiculous. On top of the actual composition of the stain, other factors can prevent enzymes from working. This includes temperature, moisture, interaction from chemistry in the carpet or the previous application of other cleaners.

The best way to properly clean carpets in a machine is by using a surfactant based cleaner. The proper surfactant will work with water to make the stains in carpet and the fibers water soluble. When a stain becomes water soluble, it can then be broken down. Once a stain is broken down, it can be rinsed away. A good surfactant, like Genesis 950 will also disinfect and kill bacteria. This does more than just remove stains, but it kills and destroys odors in the carpet as well as the padding. For pet owners, destroying odors in the carpet stops pets from going in that spot. Allergy sufferers can also breathe easier as pollen and mold are broken down and removed from carpet. Being a green cleaner, and relying on the aid of water, it will not damage your carpet in any way. Nor will it leave behind any soapy suds, harmful chemicals or unwanted stains.

With the right cleaner and machines, carpet cleaning can be an easy task. Machines are easily attainable for consumers as are cleaners that work better than professional's cleaners. Knowing how different cleaners work and what to expect from them also makes it easy for the consumer to properly clean carpet with superior results. The time and money saved by cleaning your own carpets can add up quickly. By cleaning your own carpets, you can clean based on your schedule and needs. With the right cleaner, you also know that the job will be done right.

Step 2: Mix Cleaning Solution & Water in Machine

For the best carpet cleaning, use a surfactant cleaner such as Genesis 950 in the carpet cleaning machine with the proper dilution of water. There are two basic types of carpet cleaning machines. There are machines that have two compartments - one for water and solution, and machines that have one compartment where the water and solution are mixed together. The machines with 2 compartments are the easiest to use as far as mixing the solution and water. Simply pour the solution in the proper compartment and the water in the other. These machines allow the user to select a setting ranging from low to heavy. Your selection will determine how much solution is used. For general cleaning, the low setting is best. For heavy cleaning involving harsh stains or pet stains, the high setting will be best. In machines where the solution and water are mixed, you can select how much solution to use based on your cleaning needs. Genesis 950 for example recommends a mixture of 1 part 950 to 7 parts water for general cleaning. For pet stains or hard setting stains, this can be increased up to a 50/50 mix.

Step 3: Slowly Clean the Carpet Using the Machine

To properly clean your carpet, slowly go over the carpet using the machine on the required setting with the desired amount of cleaning solution. Take your time ensuring the solution is dispersed thoroughly. Allow the carpet to be saturated. In cases where there are odors or heavy stains, be sure the mixture is being released slowly enough that it goes into the padding. This will allow the cleaning solution and water mix to disinfect and deodorize the padding.

Step 4: Rinse the Carpet Clean

After the carpeted areas have been cleaned, rinse the carpet using only water. Generally machines with two compartments have a rinse setting. For machines with one compartment, fill that compartment with straight, clean water. Slowly rinse the areas you have cleaned with the cleaning solution. As you rinse, the clean water will flush out and remove everything that has been broken down and lifted from the carpet. When using a surfactant based cleaner, you will see the return water come up murky and brackish, especially if the carpet had not been cleaned for sometime or if the cleaning is taking place in a high traffic area or where there was bad staining. Rinsing can be continued until the water begins to come up clear, or until you are satisfied with the results.

Step 5: Allow the Carpet to Dry

Once the carpet has been cleaned and rinsed, allow the carpet to dry. Fans and dehumidifiers can aid in speeding the drying process up. One nice thing about a cleaner like Genesis 950 is that as the carpet dries, the antibacterial agents in it will prevent bacteria or mold growth from forming as the moisture in the carpet dries. While drying, avoid walking on the carpet.