Carpets Etc - The Finest in Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning

IICRC Certified Firm

Carpets Etc.
Located in
Pittsburgh, PA

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Care Tips

These tips will keep your floors looking beautiful for a long time.

You made an important investment by putting carpet in your home. Carpet adds warmth and comfort to your environment. There are three simple, but necessary, steps to expert carpet care to keep your investment looking beautiful and lasting a long time.

Step 1. Regular Thorough Vacuuming

Regular thorough vacuuming using a well-maintained vacuum can remove as much as 79% of dry soil. Dry soil is gritty and abrasive and can lead to early wear. Studies have shown that if a bag is 25% full, you can lose up to 80% pickup ability. Make sure you replace the vacuum bag before it fills up too much. Bagless vacuums should be emptied before being used.

Step 2. Prompt Clean Up of Spills

The longer you wait to remove accidental spills and spots, the harder they are to remove. In fact, the longer you wait, the more likely they can cause permanent staining.

Step 3. Periodic Professional Cleaning

Manufacturers require periodic professional cleanings. But, more importantly, when you have your carpets professionally cleaned by CARPETS ETC., you will rid your carpets of contaminants causing aggravating allergies and soils that cause damage to the fibers.


Filtration Soil		Carpet Selection
Entry or Walk-off mats		Berber Carpets
Odor Problems		Vacuum! Vacuum! Vacuum!
Over-The-Counter (OTC) Spot Removers		Ceramic Tile Floors

Filtration Soil

If you notice those grayish to blackish-looking lines around the perimeter of your rooms, then you have what is known as, filtration soil. This is a type of soil that can easily stain the fiber. Soil particulates are so microscopic, that it can take time for the staining to occur. It is not easily removed by normal cleaning. It requires specialized spot removal techniques that CARPETS ETC. offers. The good news is that you can do something to help prevent this from occurring!

Whether you see dust or not, always vacuum the edges of all the rooms in your home with a crevice tool at least every other month.

Keep your HVAC filters clean. Check your filters weekly to determine when you need to replace them.

Consider the investment of using electrostatic filters for your HVAC system.

Homeowners should purchase and use true HEPA vacuums, with disposable bags, that prevent the dust and soil from reentering into the room causing the airborne contaminants to filter through the edges of the carpet.

When you close off a room's air supply duct, try blocking off that same room's cold air return. If you do not, the return can draw in soils from other rooms that can create filtration soil. Or, simply leave that room's door open.

Encourage smokers to outdoor activity.

Entry or Walk-off mats

Proper walk-off mats can reduce a high percentage of soils from entering a home or business. All soil is abrasive and can lead to early wear. Mats or carpet remnants should be placed in front of entry to the carpeted surface, and if at all possible, never on another carpet, because it can cause early wear. Vacuum and shake walk-off mats periodically to remove buildup of soils. If you do not do this, soil transfer can occur on your carpeted surface rendering your preventative measures useless!If you need to place a mat on top of a carpet, a soft cotton rug is recommended. They can be thrown in the wash and kept very clean.

Odor Problems

Avoid using over-the-counter carpet deodorizers and aerosol products for carpet. These products contain baking soda. Once in the carpet, these products are hard to remove. Problems associated with products containing baking soda include:

Draws moisture to affected area.

Moisture activates urine salts causing unpleasant odors.

Damp urine salts can delaminate the carpet backing-system causing seams to come apart and in some cases, carpet buckling to occur.

Damp carpet can cause other types of bacterial growth.

Over-The-Counter (OTC) Spot Removers

Warning! TV infomercials never tell you the whole story! Be very careful. Improper use of these products can result in damage, soil-attracting residues, and/or both. To name a few examples:

Squirt, squirt, scrub, scrub is the typical use of OTC spot removers. Unfortunately, the foam is never fully removed from the carpet fibers leaving soil-attracting residues that, in a short period of time, create larger spots and even cause color loss in some fibers.

Did you know that products containing pH levels of higher than 10 will void a manufacturer's warranty for stain-resist nylon?

Oxy(genated) products contain a pH level of 10.5

Oxy(genated) products are not for use on wool, they will cause permanent damage.

Some people even use hard surface cleaning chemicals to rid spots from carpet. Very bad and very easy to permanently damage fibers!

CARPETS ETC. gives a Carpet Care Guide & File Folder For Cleaning Receipts to each of its first-time customers. This guide is loaded with valuable information for proper carpet care and spot removal and Do-It-Yourself Spot Removing Procedures for immediate spotting problems.

Carpet Selection

A lot can be said for choosing the right carpet. That is why CARPETS ETC. only recommends the right product for the right circumstance.

There are two popular fiber types. Olefin and Polyester fibers are both oleophilic. That means they both absorb oily soil. So if you are constantly walking on asphalt parking lots and driveways, and you have carpets made out of these fibers, be prepared to have, yellow, brown, or blackish-looking walkways. Asphalt track-off is high. If you can, try to stay away from these fibers. Stick to 100% nylon carpets.

Berber Carpets

When moving furniture on a berber carpet, or any residential loop carpet, consider purchasing and using furniture sliders, such as Moving Men. They are relatively inexpensive and will make sliding furniture a breeze without furniture legs grabbing hold of loose loops and causing damage to the rows of fiber. You can get them at your local home improvement stores.

Vacuum! Vacuum! Vacuum!

Whether it's carpet, furniture, drapes, floors, etc., regular thorough vacuuming will remove harmful, abrasive soil and aggravating allergy-causing contaminants.

Ceramic Tile Floors

If you just put in a new ceramic tile floor, check with the grout manufacturer for proper cure times. Use a professional strength grout sealer to protect against soil and stains. Or, if you had CARPETS ETC. clean your ceramic tile and grout floor and apply sealer to the grout lines, you are ready to maintain your floor. It's simple.

Sweep your floor first.

Use liquid cleaning agents. Stay away from gritty powders

Clean with the mixture ratio at 50%. That is; if the directions suggest to mix 1 cup/gallon, then you mix ½ cup/gallon.

Damp mop floor with plain water afterward, even if it is a no-rinse formula.

Stay away from products using the word orange or citrus in it. Oily residues will attract soils to the floor.

There you have it! Education is the answer! Now you can work smarter
and relax harder!