How Often Should You Have Your Carpets Professionally Cleaned?

Some people do it once every 3, 6, or even 18 months. There is always a variant of carpet cleaning frequencies.

The answer is that it depends, some factors to consider include how much foot traffic the room gets, whether a family member is allergic to dust or pet hair, or whether you have a pet that sheds.

General carpet cleaning usually requires a good vacuuming once a week, and deep cleaning every 12-18 months. Here’s why.

How Often to Clean Carpet

A good vacuum for carpets and a weekly pass may be fine for a small house, or a family that’s rarely at home during the day. Ma twice a week provides the best balance for high-traffic areas and homes with pets, children or family members who have allergies.

Have your carpets professionally cleaned at least every 12 18 months. Deep clean aids in pulling dirt and soils up and out of carpet fibers. The most common deep cleaning method is hot water extraction or steam cleaning, absorbent pad cleaning and rotary shampoo.

The process will involve some serious elbow grease, but the big thing is making sure it gets thoroughly wet so it doesn’t reek of mildew in a couple days’ time, said Jolie Kerr, an author who writes a housekeeping advice column for The New York Times. You should not walk on wet carpets as this will re-soil them and the fibers won’t have enough time to adequately dry.

What factors decide how often to deep clean?

Several things affect how often carpets need to be cleaned. They include:

• Foot traffic: Houses with lots of foot traffic, or those with dog or cat allergies, should clean more often, ideally every six to 12 months.
• Pets: Furry friends carry dirt and germs into the house on their paws. Accidents happen, even with indoor pets. Spot cleaning pet messes or spills is important to protect against stains and odors, additionally, there are surfaces under pets shake that can cause odor and dander to build up. So consider a vacuum designed for pets. It will be upgraded to addressing hair and shedding.
• Allergies: Dirty carpeting can exacerbate allergic symptoms, asthma and hay fever. HEPA filters on vacuums can be effective at keeping allergens under control. However, frequent dry vacuuming can have a way of kicking up allergens, so to speak, whisking them into the air where they can be inhaled, and making reactions before they have a chance to improve. If anyone in your home has allergies or respiratory problems, you might want to shampoo or steam-clean carpets every three to six months. The concept of direction the dust mites and the allergens into a water receptacle (rather than a dust or air filter) helps because my doggy is allergic to allergens.
• Smokers: If you or a family member smokes, you will need to clean carpets and exhaust fixtures more often to prevent buildup of stale tobacco smoke. Household hacks such as baking soda, fabric sprays and plug-in air fresheners, may not actually make that lingering smoke smell disappear. Why not run an indoor air filter all the time and move smoking outside to spaces not near to windows and doors? For the necessary professional carpet cleaning on every 3-6 months regularly instead would be better, but if you’re removing deep stains of mass then you should replace it.
• Heaping, Fibers, & Color: Just the materials themselves may require cleaning often. Dirt shows up fast on light carpets. In the other hand: Stains are discouraged by color in dark-colored carpets. And the type of carpet fiber can also dictate how much dust it collects. Every rug and carpet has its own unique specifications, and it just might be the case that your carpet requires more frequent cleaning than others on the market.

When is it time to replace the carpet?

With regular professional cleaning and routine maintenance, a carpet can last between 5 and 15 years.

But if they do wear, mat, fray, get peed on by pets or incur a stain that cannot be removed, it may be time to replace them sooner than that.

Professionally cleaning, which can only remove surface dirt, allergens and stains, does not solve the problem as the carpet begins to age, he explains, noting that if water and allergens get trapped beneath the padding, where mold and mildew can breed, it is then time to replace.

If a carpet goes too long without being cleaned, it will quickly get to the point where it will have a lot of bacteria, dirt and germs. You may well smell the damage even if you don’t see it. Worse still, you’ll feel it.

Carpets may seem dirty or sticky underfoot, or people with respiratory problems might experience more health issues. With routine carpet cleaning and sanitization, you can extend the life of your flooring and enhance the quality of life for your entire household.

Although that’s a broad range for deep cleaning, you’ll have the best sense for what works for your carpet and home. Robotic vacuuming once a week for dry soiling can help minimize carpet maintenance.