Common Carpet Problems-Vacuuming

Soil is the enemy of your carpet and rugs, upholstery and draperies. One of the most important aspects of proper maintenance is to vacuum often and to vacuum correctly.

Ground-in dust, dirt, sand or grit are the enemy and it is your vacuum's job to remove them. But did you know an excessively soiled carpet can hold up to one pound of dirt in each square yard? This can occur especially at entrance ways and in heavily trafficed areas that are seldom vacuumed properly and not cleaned frequently enough.

Few people really know how to vacuum efficiently with minimum effort. Most of the damaging soils and oily or gritty particles collect wherever there is most usage or foot traffic. These are the areas which require most of the vacuuming. If is far better to vacuum ONLY the heavy traffic areas much more frequently or repeatedly than it is to cover everything or everywhere with a once-over-lightly vacuuming.

Residential carpet and rugs should be vacuumed according to the amount of traffic and abuse they receive. Vacuuming should be done at least once every 2 weeks, preferably once each week and even twice per week if heavily trafficked or soiled. The best way to remove ground-in soil is to vacuum against the nap of the carpet. It removes soil and helps to improve the carpet's appearance. A light vacuuming could be defined as covering the same carpet or upholstery areas with three or four overlapping strokes. A more thorough vacuuming could be 6 or even 8 strokes over the same, heavily soiled areas. Contract or commercial carpet needs to be vacuumed thoroughly at least 3 to 5 times per week. In high traffic areas, i.e., traffic lanes and entranceways, commercial carpet should be vacuumed nightly.

Please note: When vacuuming oriental rugs and other area rugs with fringe, vacuum from side to side (opposite the fringes). This will save the fringes from being pulled up into the vacuum which can damage the fringes and even the vacuum. We have fringe rakes for sale in our plant, which can be used to remove soil from the fringes and also straighten them.

Well-maintained vacuuming equipment helps both in overall soil removal and better long-term appearance. Do not allow the dirt collection bags to become more than 1/2 full. This greatly reduces suction power and vacuuming efficiency in most machines. If your vacuum has a cloth bag, make sure to turn the bag inside out at least every third emptying and sweep it off. This allows for better breathing of the bag and greater soil pick up. Canister or backpack vacuums are versatile and convenient, but they may not have a beater bar, thus requiring more effort (passes or strokes) than upright vacuums to achieve similar soil removal. Canister vacuums used on carpet should preferably have a separate motor driven beater bar. We recommend the use of an upright vacuum with beater bar for carpet, and canister type vacuums for upholstery, draperies, blinds, light dusting, etc. Commercial pile lifters and heavy duty dual motor vacuums are the best machines for portability combined with maximum power and effectiveness in vacuuming carpet. Rugs brought to our plant are pile lifted to remove as much of the particulate soil as possible before cleaning. For rugs with excessive particulate matter, we use a special device for dusting.

Some vacuums require they be adjusted to match the pile heights of the carpet. Higher pile and loosely textured carpet may show shading marks where the vacuum last passed over. For the most even surface appearance after vacuuming, keep the final vacuuming strokes all in the same direction. You may also purchase a grooming rake at our plant. This rake can be used before vacuuming to loosen particulate soil and after vacuuming to improve the surface appearance after vacuuming.

Good vacuuming is equally important for upholstery and draperies. There are special accessories and hand tools to vacuum these fabrics. Some machines come with suction lowering adjustments to keep the fabric from binding or being drawn up into the nozzle during vacuuming. Do not let the dust and soil build up. In higher soiling conditions or where there is heavy usuage, vacuum every few weeks or more if needed.

You usually cannot vacuum too much and it is more likely your furnishings are suffering from insufficient vacuuming. It's the ground-in soil that dulls, discolors and damages your valuable textile furnishings, never the vacuuming. The loose fibers that are vacuumed out of new carpet are normal, and no reason for concern. Remember to vacuum often, vacuum properly and well. It's worth the effort.