It’s true: Most homeowners aren’t interested in rug and carpet maintenance because their busy schedules leave little time to worry about those abrasive soils slowly accumulating – until rug and carpet replacement times arrives. Then, like New Year’s resolutions never kept, we “vow to do it differently this time.”
But what if the job could be accomplished with better results in less time? Janitorial contractors must vacuum quantities of rugs and carpets nightly. If we used their techniques, time spent vacuuming would be cut by one-third to one-half.
First, how often? I’m tempted to suggest daily vacuuming, hoping that some vacuuming will be accomplished every other day. I’ll be practical, however, recognizing that your home is as active as mine, and you’re lucky to get to the carpet twice a week without your teenager accusing you of “getting carried away with this vacuuming thing.”
The point is, you’re better off doing a thorough job biweekly than a halfway job more frequently. Traffic lanes should be vacuumed twice and entry areas four or five times. Twice a year, you should consider hand-vacuuming entry areas with a crevice tool. It’s amazing how this will improve the appearance of your rugs and carpets and extend their life.
Here’s How
To save time, select a vacuum with a 30-feet electrical cord and plug it into an outlet near the center of the area being vacuumed. Begin near that outlet, constantly working away so the cord never gets in front of your vacuum. Develop a procedure, and you’ll be surprised how efficiently the job can be completed.
Finally, clip sprouting tufts as soon as they appear, particularly on loop-pile rugs and carpets. This avoids pulling out an entire row (similar to a run in stockings). Raking or combing the nap of shags or Saxonys in traffic areas is essential to prevent the formation of hard, matted rows of yarn (corn-rowing).
The average rug contains 79% gritty soil, which, at least in theory, can be vacuumed out. Let’s concentrate on keeping the sandbox in the backyard – not in your rugs and carpets where it cuts life-expectancy in half.
