Ensuring that your carpet is properly clean can take a fair bit of work, and will only happen every now and again in most households. For the most part, vacuum cleaning is fine, as it gets off the layer of dirt and dust that accumulates on the surface of the carpet. However, you need to deep clean your carpet to really get the color back, and this is where you may need some guidance. being in the know about how your carpet should be cleaned is half the battle, but doing the proper research can be time consuming and often confusing, so a cheat sheet on the different pros and cons of the various methods of carpet cleaning available to you can be extremely useful...

First off, home shampoo. You may think that shampoo is reserved for hair, and cars if you are that way inclined, but it can do a similar job on your carpet. You need to purchase the right sort of carpet shampoo for your carpet, which involves working out what material it is made from. Most man made carpets will be fine with most cleaners, but it is worth checking out first. As with any product, you should always test the cleaner on a small and hidden patch of the material, so that should it go wrong, you have not ruined the whole carpet! Shampooing is great because you can do it yourself, no professional help required, though there will be professionals who can shampoo your carpet more effectively. Start by spraying the shampoo foam directly onto the carpet, and then scrub it into the pile by hand in an even manner. Try to get the foam as deep into the pile as you can for the best results. The foam and scrubbing will pull the dirt from the fibers in the carpet, and this will be what leaves your carpet looking cleaner. The foam will need some time to do it’s magic and then it will dry up, leaving a dusty powder on the surface of the carpet, which can be hoovered up. The only issue with this technique is that there can sometimes be residue left in the pile, which can attract dirt rather more quickly than the carpet would have in the past, so you may find yourself repeating the process more often than you would like.

Dry cleaning is the most popular form of professional carpet cleaning; you will find that it works just as well on carpets as it does on your delicate clothing, but it can be similarly expensive unfortunately. You may well want to get specific stains sorted by dry cleaning, or it may be a whole carpet that needs doing, it is up to you. The dry compound if scattered over the offending area, and mixed with a small amount of solution, which forms a chemical reaction, the result of which is extremely good at attracting dirt from fibers. You will find that machine scrubbing the compound in will give you a thorough clean, but be sure that your carpet can stand up to the abrasion.

Steam cleaning involves blasting hot water through the pile whilst simultaneously sucking it back out. The result is a vigorous clean that will get your carpet looking excellent. The only issue with this process is that it can leave some water in the pile, which can cause damp and mould, so be sure to get a good service in to do this job for you, as you don;t want to have to get rid of the carpet after!