Carpet Cleaning

Routine Care and Cleaning

    For routine care, a vaccum cleaner is your most important
tool.  Vaccum at least weekly, more often where there is heavy
traffic.  Purists may advise you to go over a section of carpet-
ing eight times to get it completely clean, but if you vaccum
reguarly you will probably find that a couple of swipes back
and forth are sufficient.  You can vaccum a new rug as soon as
it is laid.  It is normal for new carpeting to shed a lot of fluff.

     Move and vaccum beneath furniture every six months or
once a year if possible.  More frequently, use special attach-
ments to reach under furniture and to clean the edges of a
carpeted room.  Vaccum the backs of rugs occasionally.
                                                           
     Set the vaccum to the correct level of suction for your car-
pet.  Deep-pile carpeting needs a different setting than  a flat-
weave rug.  Some vaccums adjust automatically. Some small,
lightweight items-among them pine needles, threads, and
pet hairs- are difficult to vaccum up.  If your vaccum cleaner's
attachments don't do the job, use a lint roller, or wrap your
hand with packing tape with the sticky side out and "blot" up
the elusive materials.  To prevent the fringe on the edge of a
rug from being sucked up into the vaccum cleaner, use an
attachment with an old nylon stocking over the nozzle.

     Change the vaccum cleaner bag when it becomes full.  An
overstuffed bag impairs a vaccum's ability to clean. Don't
reuse bags because old ones don't trap dust, their pores can
plug up with dirt and severely restrict air flow, and they
eventually tear.  Some newer-model upright vaccum clean-
ers have, instead of a bag, a dirt-collection container that
lets you see when it is full.  To minimize mess when empty-
ing the container, place a plastic garbage bag over the open-
ing before tilting the unit.