Carpets are great which is why they are such a popular choice and can be found in so many people’s homes.
But there is one issue that you experience with carpet that you do not get with other types of flooring, and that is dirt.
Of course, all flooring will become dirty as it is walked upon, but with carpet, this dirt always appears to be ten times worse. And this is only made dirtier if the carpet in your home is of the thicker variety.
This is partly influenced by the fact that carpet is much more difficult to clean than some other types of flooring, and it is because of this that it is easy for your carpet to become heavily soiled very quickly.
In this guide, we’re telling you everything you need to know about cleaning heavily soiled carpet so that you can get your flooring looking like new in no time.
Preparation is Key!
Before we take a look at how you can clean your heavily soiled carpet, let’s highlight one thing: preparation is key!
Cleaning a soiled carpet isn’t as easy as just diving in with a scrubbing brush and some soapy water, as the method you should follow will depend on how soiled your carpet is and how long it has been like that.
So before you get out your brush, you should take a look at the area which you want to clean to see how bad the damage is. Most of the time, you will be able to get pretty much any type of dirt up from your carpet, but your ability to do this rests on you using the right tools.
But remember that one type of cleaner will not get up all of the stains on your carpet, and different stains will require different cleaning fluids. Most carpet stains are caused by dirt, urine, or grease, and while one type of cleaner will be able to get dirt and urine stains up, you will need a different type of cleaner to remove grease stains.
So before you sit down to clean your carpet, check out what has caused the stains so that you can get the appropriate type of cleaner to clean that mess.
What is the Most Effective Method?
Seen as you are reading this to find out how to clean heavily soiled carpets, let’s take a look at what the most effective cleaning method for this is.
This type of method requires you to work in stages and also works best when you have a good wet and dry vacuum, so we would recommend purchasing one of these if you want to give your carpet a deep clean. If you cannot buy one of these, it is also common for them to be available to rent, so it is worth looking into this option.
You should begin the cleaning process by thoroughly vacuuming your carpet over a period of 3-4 days to ensure that you get up as much loose material that is lodged in the carpet as possible. Once you are confident that you have got up as much material as possible, you can then move onto the cleaning process.
To deep clean a heavily soiled carpet you have to work in small areas using water, the correct type of cleaner for the mess that you are trying to clean, and a scrubbing brush. You should always follow the instructions for the specific cleaning product that you are using, but most strong carpet cleaners require you to let them soak into your carpet for 5-10 minutes.
After this time is up you should then rinse the carpet thoroughly with water and scrub it clean with your brush. You can then use your wet and dry vacuum to soak up all of the water left by the rinsing process.
These cleaners are almost 100% guaranteed to get up any dirt and mud from your carpet, but depending on how soiled your carpet is you might have to repeat this process a couple of times.
It requires a lot of effort but if you use these cleaners regularly then you will almost always be able to get your carpet looking like new again, even if it was heavily soiled before.
The process is the same for dirt, urine, and grease stains, the only thing that changes is the type of cleaner that you use. Most dirt and urine stains can be lifted with a simple alkaline cleaner, but grease stains require an anti-grease solution to get all of the dirt up from your carpet.
If you feel like the original cleaner that you have used hasn’t done a good enough job and you want to try something new, you should leave about one week between each type of cleaner.
If you use it immediately after there is the risk of the chemicals of the two types of cleaner having a negative reaction and damaging your carpet, so it is best to be patient and wait.
What is that doesn’t Work?
If using a cleaner on your carpet a couple of times doesn’t work, there’s no need to worry because there are some other methods that you can use to clean your carpet.
But before you try this, we would recommend using a different brand of cleaner first as the lack of results may be due to the brand that you are using.
If that doesn’t work, we would recommend trying a steam cleaner next. As you have already tried cleaning your carpet there shouldn’t be any loose materials left in there, and so you can then use a steam mop or carpet cleaner to try and get rid of the dirt that remains.
Steam mops and carpet cleaners utilize heat to try and loosen the chemical bonds which have sealed the dirt to the fibers of your carpet. It is because of this that both of these tools can remove dirt from your carpets that your liquid cleaner might not have been able to.
If this still doesn’t work, there is one other option that you have. That is to hire a professional carpet cleaner to come out to your home and lift the stains which remain. This is a lot more expensive than the other options that we have looked at, but as this is their job, most professional carpet cleaners will be able to get your carpets looking like new, even if you couldn’t.
So this is always an option if you are unhappy with the results of your cleaning attempts.
Is my Stain Permanent?
When you are cleaning your carpet, it is common to find yourself asking ‘is my stain permanent?’. Especially if your attempts to clean stains from the carpet appear to be doing absolutely nothing.
But you mustn’t give up after cleaning your carpet once, claiming that the stains are permanent, because more often than not they aren’t. If your carpet is heavily soiled, then it is going to take a lot of time and effort to reverse the damage that has been done by all of the dirt and grime that is lodged in your carpet.
However, if multiple attempts to clean your carpet are having no effect then it might be time to admit that they are damaged beyond repair.
You could always get a professional carpet cleaner to attempt to remove the stain, but sometimes it is simply better to buy a rug to cover the stain or give your carpet a full renovation if you have the cash to do so. Unfortunately, not all stains can be removed, no matter how hard you try.
Summary
In short, most of the time no carpet is beyond repair, and simply cleaning your carpet with a good stain remover a couple of times is enough to get it looking as good as new.
If this doesn’t work you could always try a steam mop or hire a professional cleaner to help get the job done.
