Carpets are classic decor accessories that can be placed in every room to give them a royal makeover. As much as they style the room with a classic look, along with them comes the difficulty in having the carpets cleaned. Steam cleaning the carpet is necessary to remove the dust, odors, and stains from it. You may hire a pro to steam clean the carpets, but the secret says that you can do it all by yourself and that it is so easy.
Steam cleaning the carpet is an easy task if you know the trick properly and do it without any mistakes to remove stains escaping them staining permanently. The actual method of cleaning the carpet goes easier if you vacuumed properly and clean the room in the right manner.
What do you mean by steam cleaning carpets? Steam cleaning is a water-based method to remove dust and stains from the carpet. Some professional companies use dry chemical methods to clean the carpets. Generally, steam isn’t produced by water, it is the chemical detergent that activates the steam. If you hire a steam cleaning machine or professional cleaners, they usually use a little amount of water along with the detergent. All the renting and the professional team services aren’t needed since this cleaning is so easy.
Steam cleaning requires equipment, water, and soap. Check whether the foot traffic in your place is low, the weather condition is dry and warm, so that you can open up the windows to dry the carpets easily. Before steam cleaning the carpets, make sure that the room is empty and fully vacuumed. Looking into a self-cleaning guide is always a better step.
How to Steam Clean a Carpet?
-
Cleaning the room
Steam cleaning is more effective when you remove all the toys, general amenities, and papers from the room. Try to shift all the furniture and chairs from the room, the room should be empty enough to clean the carpets completely. If some of the furniture is too heavy to be moved from one place to another, place foil paper or wood blocks under the legs of that furniture to avoid the moisture of the steam cleaner getting a deposit in them. It is very difficult to clean the carpets if your room if full of things. If you don’t have any room to move the furniture, then split the room into two areas. Move the furniture to one side and steam clean the carpets on the other side, then allow them to dry completely. Then move the furniture to the cleaned side and repeat the cleaning process on the other side.
You have to dust the baseboards using dust cloth with wood polish or a long-handled dust remover to remove the dust before going for steam cleaning. Make sure to dust the fan on the ceiling and the corners of the ceiling to avoid dust falling on the carpets after steam cleaning. Steam cleaners are meant to remove small dust particles on the carpet. So vacuum the room completely to remove large debris and hair on the carpets. Vacuum it twice and slowly than usual to achieve better results. You can use the nozzle attachment of the vacuum cleaner to remove dust from the baseboards and corners. Vacuuming helps to make the carpets fluffy which is easier for steam cleaning.
Before you start steam cleaning, you have to remove the stains from the carpet. Steam cleaners won’t work for the deep stains in the carpet. The stains should be treated separately by using stain remover solutions or other natural solutions. Use a cloth, dab at the stains on the carpet. Don’t rub harshly on the carpets, stains may penetrate deeper.
-
Filling the steam cleaner
The steam cleaner should be filled with hot water, most of the machines have a heating mechanism. The hot water should be steaming hot without reaching the boiling point. The water should be filled up to the maximum mark on the tank in the steam cleaner. Make sure not to overflow it. On using detergent and hot water, some carpets might shrink or damage. Check for the quality of the carpet before going for steam cleaning.
Every steam cleaner might have different detergent types to be used. Read the manual of the machine before going for the soap. The amount of detergent used is directed in the instructions, make sure it does not exceed the desired level. Some cleaners may have separate slots to put the detergent and some may instruct to mix it directly in the water. A steam cleaner cleans the carpet with the help of detergents, not the steam. If you are allergic to chemicals, then opt for natural solutions such as vinegar.
-
Steaming the carpet
Start the cleaning process from the corner diagonal to the door or entrance. You have to start from the corner and slowly walk out of the room. Make sure you are not stepping into the cleaned area. If the room has more than one entrance, then you have more options to start from. Steam cleaners generally push the water into the carpet and then sucks back the dirty water from it. Some machines have the option to push the valve to spray the water on the floor and to pull the valve to suck the water back. Make sure to read the instructions to operate the machine. Don’t walk on the cleaned carpet to avoid the foot mark.
Steam cleaners are most effective when you take a long pass from the corner to the other end of the wall. The long passes clean all the areas without leaving any carpeted area uncleaned. You can let the water on the forward movement and suck the water on the backward movement. Repeat this process twice for better results. You have to overlap the lines to make sure you cleaned every part of the carpet. Steam cleaners work too slow than that of the vacuum cleaners. You have to move very slowly to suck the water completely from the carpets so that carpets get dried quickly.
A good quality carpet takes around 8 to 12 hours to dry completely, some might even take up to 12 to 24 hours. Allow it’s time to completely dry, don’t walk on the carpet before it gets dried out. If you have any work on the room, wrap a plastic cover over your foot to avoid marks of the foot on the carpet. Carpet drying is more important than cleaning it. Happy Cleaning!
