How Often Should A Carpet Be Cleaned?

Do you wait until the carpet starts to look dirty before calling a professional carpet cleaning company to perform 'restorative carpet cleaning?

Waiting for a carpet to look dirty before calling in the cleaners is what most people do but, is that leaving it too late?

When you leave a carpet so long that it looks dirty, lots of permanent damage has already occurred. You will have been walking on a carpet, with lots of trapped dirt, cutting away at the fibres, causing premature wear. This same dirt will have ground its way into the fibres and permanently changed the colour of the carpet.

Leaving the carpet to look dirty before cleaning means, your carpet has already worn down and permanently discoloured. How can you prevent this from happening?

Professional carpet cleaning is the only way to guarantee removal of deep down dirt, that causes wear and discolouration, but how often should you perform professional carpet cleaning?

If you leave carpet cleaning to once a year, you can expect the level of appearance to be as follows

(The values change depending on variables such as number of children, number of pets and frequency of vacuum maintenance.)

On average, you can expect a carpet to look 50% of what it did, when new, after just one year. By having professional carpet cleaners in, you can restore the appearance to 80% of what it was when new. Leave the carpet another year and, the carpet deteriorates to look 30% of what it looked like when new. Having your carpet professionally cleaned at the end of year 2 restores the look to 50% of what it looked like when new. At the end of year 3, the carpet falls to look 20% of what it did when new and professional cleaning of the carpet at the end of 3 years improves the look to 40% of what it did when new.

Have your carpet professionally cleaned once a year and, after 3 years you can expect it to look 40% of what it did when it was new!

Having carpet protection applied at the same time as professional carpet cleaning, improves the level of appearance significantly.

Can You Have Your Carpet Professionally Cleaned Every Month?

The level of appearance improves dramatically, if you can have your carpets professionally cleaned on a monthly basis. Have your carpet professionally cleaned once a Month and, after 3 years you can expect it to look 80% of what it did when it was new! In fact, the level of appearance only drops a small amount and, if the carpet also had carpet protector applied on a regular basis. The carpet would still look almost like new after 3 Years of use!

You now know that you should have your carpets cleaned as often as possible but, how often should your type of household have professional carpet cleaning?

Below, is a carpet cleaning maintenance plan, which is the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification) guide to carpet cleaning frequencies. "The Clean Trust S100 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Carpet Cleaning".

The IICRC (or The Clean Trust as they are now known) is one of the world's foremost authority and examining board for professional carpet cleaners.

When looking at the following carpet cleaning frequency guide, please consider factors such as:-

Amount of traffic
Soil levels
Vacuuming schedules
Spot cleaning methods
Professional periodic cleaning frequency
Restorative professional carpet cleaning
Please note: Follow the carpet manufacturers cleaning schedule to maintain your warranty.

Carpet Cleaning Maintenance Plan

Should your household have...

Light Soiling

Vacuum once a week
Spot clean as and when required
Professionally clean 'tracking areas' every 12-18 Months
Restore - Professionally clean all areas every 2 Years or as manufacturer's warranty

Normal Soiling (families with children or elderly staying at home)

Vacuum twice per week
Spot clean as and when required
Professionally clean 'tracking areas' every 6-12 Months
Restore - Professionally clean all areas annually

Heavy Soil (families with pets or smokers)

Vacuum 2 - 4 times per week
Spot clean as soon as spots appear
Professionally clean tracking areas every 3 - 6 Months
Restore - Professionally clean all areas twice a year

Extreme Conditions (large families, multiple pets etc.)

Vacuum daily
Spot clean immediately spots appear
Professionally clean tracking areas every 2 - 3 Months
Restore - Professionally clean all areas quarterly every 3 - 4 Months)

I hope this information has helped you understand the necessity for regular carpet cleaning, so that you can keep your carpet looking good for many more years to come, compared to not having carpet professionally cleaned.

Do not let your carpet look dirty before calling a professional carpet cleaner. But, do have your carpet cleaned as often as possible.Have carpet protector applied often, to extend the time your carpet keeps looking good.

My name is Gerwyn and I've been running Mr Spotless, the leading cleaning company in Cardiff, South Wales for over 25 years! There is a lot more information and articles including links to Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ on my website http://www.mrspotless.co.uk please take a look

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerwyn_Lloyd_Jones

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

9 Wet Carpet Cleaning Myths

Water has damaged your carpets. Maybe you had a toilet leak, maybe your water heater burst, maybe your kid left the faucet running in the sink for hours.

What should you do to dry your wet carpet to minimize damage to your carpet and pad?

First of all, there is some general information about carpets you should know that applies to all the myths .

General Information about Water and Carpets

Residential carpet usually has a pad underneath it. The pad can be anywhere from 1/4 inch to almost an inch thick. The pad provides cushioning and gives your carpet that comfortable, soft feel when you walk on it.

Commercial carpet in offices and stores generally doesn't have pad underneath it.

Carpet pad absorbs water like a sponge: The problem with pad under a carpet is that it is a sponge and can hold many times it's own weight in water.

Pad is designed to cushion your feet, so it is spongy by nature and will soak up water like the cleaning sponge in your kitchen sink.

Carpet doesn't stop or hold much water:

Although your carpet may feel very solid under your feet, it offers very little resistance to water passing through it.

Carpet is actually like a sieve to water. A typical carpet will not hold more than a few ounces of water per square foot of carpet before it is saturated. After these initial few ounces of water have entered the carpet, any further water filters straight through the carpet and into the pad.

Water likes to travel:Water doesn't stay put, it is always on the move. The rule to remember is "Wet goes to Dry". Water will automatically move towards a dry building material.

Water at the center of a room will flow through the carpet and across the pad to the walls. It will migrate to the edges of the room in a matter of minutes or hours depending on how much water was spilled.

When you touch the carpet at the edge of the room, it may not even feel damp, but the pad could be saturated. This can be seen using an infrared camera. An infrared (or Thermal Imaging) camera is useful in finding the real area that the water has damaged, even if you can't see or feel it.

In general I would say that the actual wet area in any flood (found with professional water damage meters) is about twice the size of what the home owner reports.

An infrared camera will show how water travels under the carpet through the pad. Even in a 'small' flood, water can migrate through walls and end up 2 rooms away within 12 hours.

Bearing the information above in mind, here are some common myths about wet carpets and how to dry wet carpets

Myth #1. The carpet will dry by itself

This is actually true, just like it is true that you could win the lottery with one ticket.

Yes, the carpet will eventually dry by itself. However, will it smell bad or have mold on it by the time it is dry? What other damage will occur while the carpet dries by itself?

Unless you live in someplace like Arizona or the desert where you have high temperature and low humidity, there is VERY little chance that the carpet and pad will dry before mold starts growing or bacteria start creating that wet carpet, damp smell. Typically you have about 72 hours to dry wet building materials before they start growing mold.

Even if the carpet itself dries, does that mean the pad is dry? There is very little chance that the pad is dry. The pad holds more moisture than carpet and is prevented from easily releasing the moisture due to the carpet above it and the sub-floor below it. So even if your carpet is dry, the pad is probably not dry.

Which brings us to another point. What about the wet sub-floor? Remember that carpet is like a sieve, and the carpet will pass water down to the pad very quickly. A saturated pad can then release water into the sub-floor.

Drying Sub-floors

Sub-floors are usually either wood or concrete.

Concrete sub floors are sponges too, except they are very slow sponges. They absorb water surprisingly quickly, but release it very slowly. So even if the carpet and pad are dried quickly, the concrete sub-floor could still release moisture for weeks.

Wood sub-floors hold water too. If they're made of chip-board/particle board/press-board (small chips of wood held together with glue) and they are wet for more than a few hours they absorb water, expand, and lose their structural integrity.

When wet particle board dries it has almost no strength and you will find yourself stepping through your floor if you're not careful.

Plywood or OSB (Oriented Strand Board) are much more hardy choices for a sub-floor than particle board. If they get wet, you can dry them, as long as they haven't been sitting wet for long enough to warp. This falls loosely under the 72 hour rule. Another concern is dry rot which is a bacterial deterioration that takes 21 days to manifest at lower moisture levels.

Determining whether the sub-floor is wet or not can only reliably be done with a penetrating moisture meter. Different building materials have different acceptable levels of moisture, so you use the meter to tell you if the material is acceptably dry or not.

Depending on the region you live in, plywood is dry at around 20% Equivalent Moisture Content (EMC). In as little as 4 days, mold can start growing on wet plywood if not dried correctly.

So, we know that the carpet and pad are unlikely to dry quickly enough by themselves. But even if they did, is that all you have to concern yourself with when your carpets are wet? No, it's not.

Like I said, WET goes to DRY. What this means is the water keeps spreading outwards from the source.

On one flooded carpet job we did, the carpet first got wet about 12 hours before we arrived. During that time the home owner used her wet vac to suck up as much water as possible from the wet carpet - about 100 gallons.

She just wanted us to dry her carpets. However, using the infrared camera and moisture meters, we found that her walls were wet, in some places to almost 12" above the carpet.

Wet drywall, is that a problem?

The problem with wet drywall is the usual 72 hour problem.

In as little as 72 hours mold can start growing on that wet dry wall. Mold especially likes dark, warm places with no airflow. That describes the wall cavity - the perfect place for mold to grow.

So that's the problem - wet carpet creates wet drywall which can create mold. Below is a picture of a wall after water had been standing for a long time.

To summarize. Yes, the carpet will eventually dry by itself. But you'll more than likely have mold and smells by the time it is dry, and then you'll be ripping walls and carpet out to fix the problem

Myth #2. You have to remove the wet pad underneath your carpet

There is a myth that you can't remove water from a wet pad, even with commercial extraction equipment. People who say this are talking about the standard carpet cleaning 'wand' shown on the right. It is what is commonly used to clean carpets. It sprays hot water onto the carpet and then sucks it back up again.

The wand is designed to pull water out of the carpet fibers, not the pad and it does a good job at that. So if you have water damage on commercial carpet without a pad, the wand is a good tool to use.

However, on residential carpet with a pad, it extracts almost none of the water from the pad.

So how do you get water out of the pad so you don't have to remove and discard the pad?

There are a number of new commercial extraction tools that will remove water from the pad. Our favorite is the FlashXtractor. It is a wonderful piece of equipment, probably my favorite tool. (We have no affiliation with the makers of this tool, and receive no compensation for mentioning it)

The FlashXtractor will pull buckets of water out a carpet that has been wand extracted to death!

Before tools like the FlashXtractor came out, there was a technique called "floating the carpet" which was used to dry carpet and pad due to the poor job the wand did of extracting water from the pad.

To float a carpet, you pull up a corner of the carpet and stick an air mover or carpet fan under the carpet to blow air under the carpet and onto the pad. While this method still works it is slower, less effective, and often stretches the carpet so that it doesn't fit properly when restretched.

Floating the carpet is an old school technique that is unnecessary if you have the right tools, ie a deep extraction tool such as the FlashXtractor.

To complicate matters, bear this in mind. While you can dry wet pad, it doesn't always mean you should.

If you have contaminated water in the pad you can dry it, but you will be leaving at least some contamination in the pad and over time, it will start to stink and rot. In contaminated water situations you will have to remove the pad because you can't effectively decontaminate it while it is underneath the carpet. In the water restoration industry, contaminated water is called Category 2 (gray water) or Category 3 (black water).

Myth #3. You can't dry a wet pad under a carpet

The truth to this myth is the same as for the question above. Basically, you can dry a wet pad, even without floating that carpet, but that doesn't mean you always should. See the answer above for details.

Myth #4. You have to lift the carpet and 'float' it using blowers

The answer to this question is in the answer to question 2 above. To summarize, you don't have to float carpet if you have a deep extraction tool and know how to use it.

Myth #5. You have to remove and discard wet carpet.

Sometimes.

If you have a black water situation (Category 3 water - contaminated water such as sewage, toilet leak or rising ground water), according to the industry standard IICRC S500, you have to discard the carpet. I believe this is because there is no EPA registered disinfectant for carpet.

However, if you have Category 2 water (gray water such as washing machine waste water, shower runoff,etc) you have to discard the pad, but you can clean the carpet and keep it.

Category 1 water (clean water - toilet supply line, fridge ice maker, etc), and it hasn't been sitting for more than 48 hours, then you can extract the water and keep the carpet and pad.

The other reason water damage restoration technicians sometimes believe they should discard wet carpet is because the backing of the carpet will de-laminate when it is dried. The backing is the lattice webbing on the back of the carpet that holds the carpet fibers together. It is glued on. If it gets wet and stays wet for a long time it can separate from the carpet fibers and start to disintegrate.

How long is a long time? It's hard to predict - depends on the carpet, the temperature, how wet it was, etc. Normally by the time the carpet de-laminates you've got a black water situation anyway, so the carpet has to go.

Myth #6. Professional Carpet Cleaning will dry your carpet and pad

No. Not unless they use a deep extraction tool that is designed specifically to remove water from the pad. A regular carpet cleaning wand will not remove significant water from the carpet pad.

Myth #7. To remove the wet carpet smell, you should have it professionally cleaned.

Yes, with a 'mostly' attached to it. The carpet cleaning machines and methods available to most home owners aren't very effective. Compared to commercial carpet cleaning equipment, the carpet cleaning machines you rent from the local supermarket are like a moped is to a Harley. They're the same thing, but not really.

Getting anything other than a light smell out of a carpet requires the high pressure and suction of a commercial machine. It also requires the expertise of a trained and experienced carpet cleaner. There are many causes and solutions to different smells in a carpet and knowing what to do and when to it requires training and experience.

If baking soda and vacuuming don't work, your best bet is to call an trained and experienced carpet cleaner, preferably one that is also an IICRC certified Odor Control Technician.

Myth #8. If you dry a flooded carpet, you will not get a moldy wet carpet smell

Depends. If a carpet is dried quickly and properly there will be no smell. In fact, if anything, there will be less smell because the carpet has effectively been cleaned.

If the carpet and pad are not dried quickly and properly you will probably have a problem with lingering musky smells and mold.

See myth #2 for more details.

Myth #9. You have to use a truck mount carpet extractor to dry or clean a carpet properly

False. This is an ongoing debate that I don't think will ever be resolved completely. Portable carpet cleaning machines have the advantage of short hose runs while truck mounts have the advantage of high power.

What it comes down to is really the technician holding the wand. A good technician on a bad machine will get a better result than a bad technician on a good machine.

Summary

If you've had more than a few gallons of water spilled on your carpet, you're better off calling a professional water damage company to properly dry your home if you can afford it, or if you have insurance. As you leaned above, the problem is that if the carpets and walls aren't dried quickly you could face a mold situation which is much more expensive to fix than drying the carpets.

Paul Drayton
Owner/Operator
Paul Davis Emergency Services of Camden, Georgia
Water, Fire, Mold, Biohazard Services
http://www.pdescamden.com
IICRC Certified in Fire, Water and Advanced Structural Drying (FSRT, WRT, ASD)

We have Carpet Cleaning training, and over 10 years real world experience cleaning carpets, drying flooded carpets and removing smells from carpets in all sorts of situations - residential, commercial, thick pad, thin pad, no pad, berber, cut pile, area rugs,etc. This article was based on my training and experience that backs up the training

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_W_Drayton

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

Cleaning Your Carpet

Carpet stains are annoying, and they are sure to get you riled up. We've all been there, and I think I'm safe to assume that if you're reading this then time might be against you and you have already stained your carpet. Let's face it, not many people go online and search for carpet cleaning tips when they have a pristine, clean carpet. So we're going to continue this article with the safe assumption that you need to remove a stain from you carpet right now.

So where do you begin? Let's start by trying to absorb as much of the fluid from your carpet as possible. It's probably best to use some sort of dry cloth for this to maximize absorption. You could opt for more traditional carpet cleaning formulas, such as Vanish, but if you don't have time to run to the shop and buy a load, here's a few more ideas.

Assuming that this is a heavy stain, you could then put a touch of isopropyl on the cloth and very gently rub the affected area, blotting will help too. We stress that you do this gently, because if the alcohol from the isopropyl gets too deep into the yarn then the backing of your carpet may become affected. If this doesn't work you could try a dishwashing detergent that is bleach free and lanolin free, and mix with water. Use the same methods mentioned before where you gently rub and blot this mixture into the stain to try and remove it. We advise that you take extreme care while following these steps, as you don't want to worsen the stain or make it more permanent that it already is, some ways you can do this is by scrubbing the stain too hard for too long, leaving the stain alone completely or drowning the stain in cleaning product. If this is the case, it might be time to call a professional carpet cleaner much to your disappointment.

If the carpet you have stained is irreparable, then you may have to call in a carpet specialist, who will suggest ideas such as replacing the stained area's carpet or a patch cut from somewhere else from the carpet.

To try and avoid any of this chaos in the future, we advise that you initially follow the cleaning instructions supplied to you from the carpet manufacturer, ensure that you treat it in a specific way suited to the material and colour of the carpet, and the last tip...be careful. Just trying to do smallest things like picking your drink up off the floor, or keeping food out of carpeted rooms all help towards giving your carpet a long and happy life.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Rowe

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

Professional Carpet Cleaning - Clean Carpets and Improved Air Quality

Unclean and dirty carpets can drastically affect the quality of indoor air and make it ten times worse than that of outdoor air. Carpets which are not cleaned regularly can harbor germs and become breeding grounds for a variety of microorganisms, all of which can affect the health of your family. Professional carpet cleaning services are thus necessary to ensure that your carpets are thoroughly cleansed which will not only improve the indoor air quality but also prolong the aesthetic appearance and life of your carpets.

Germs and bacteria embedded within the carpet fibers can cause different types of allergies; children and older people are more prone to developing problems due to these. Regular vacuuming only removes the dust from the outer layer of the carpet and not the dust and germs trapped inside. Only professional carpet cleaning methods can clean the entire carpet as they use techniques and chemicals to remove the trapped particles cleansing the carpet thoroughly.

Professional methods can also help to restore the original quality of the carpet fabric preserving its looks, softness as well as increase the lifetime of the rugs and carpet. There are several different methods that are employed by professional carpet cleaners and this depends on the type of carpet or rug that you have. It is best to seek a professional consultation as they will be able to assess the type of fiber and thus suggest the best cleaning technique for the same. Though there are many do-it-yourself cleaning kits available in the market for cleaning carpets, none of this function like the professional techniques which make use of specialized reagents and equipment for the cleaning process.

When you move into a new home or planning to purchase a new residence, it is always best to call in a professional carpet cleaning service to assess the real state of the carpets and rugs. Sometimes, the previous owner would have done a good job of cleaning the exteriors which will make the carpet appear sparkling but there could be a lot of dirt and dust trapped inside. In this case, you will have to spend extra bucks to clean the entire carpet once again. Calling in a professional carpet cleaning service will enable you to assess the real state of the carpets and negotiate your price accordingly.

Regular cleaning and maintenance of your carpets can ensure not only good looks but improve the air quality within your home.

Want to find out more great Stain Removal Secrets?

Click below for some great Carpet Cleaning Melbourne Tips.
Get the best tips and advice for all your cleaning needs. The only place for Cheap Carpet Cleaning Melbourne.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davies_Grainger

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

Carpet Cleaning: Using A Vacuum Cleaner

Most of us feel that carpet cleaning is a huge load of work but it really isn't. In fact, if one cleans and maintains it on a regular basis, the work is like a piece of cake! The carpets found in the market these days are made with new fibres and they have the ability to resist any kind of staining and soiling. So, in case you have just bought one, you're saved.

To make sure that the cleaning is correct, the vacuuming needs to be done properly. For carpet cleaning, it's important to be orderly and punctual as this will help you increase the life of your carpet and also, it enhances its appearance.

Experts recommend that carpets should be cleaned at least once a week but this is practically not enough especially if there is more than one carpet and too many rooms. Hence, it's really good if you can clean your carpets at least twice a week. In fact, there's a whole new math for carpet cleaning schedule! For instance, if you have two members in your family, the carpet should be cleaned twice, and so on.

Now, for perfect carpet cleaning, it is very important to have the right tools and cleaning equipment. If you can get a vacuum cleaner with dual motor feature, there's nothing like it. This type has both suction power and rotation brush. So, while the rotation brush is capable of de-soiling your carpet, it is also capable of sucking out all the dust and soil from the other side of the carpet. Keep in mind the length of the cleaners brush and make sure if it's adjacent to the fibres.

In order to complete the process of carpet cleaning, just 'using' a vacuum cleaner is not enough. It needs to be done appropriately. Hence, while vacuuming the carpet, slowly push the cleaner in a back and forth motion so that it effectively eliminates all traces of dirt and soil from it. In case of very dirty carpets, it's better to vacuum it at least three times by stroking it slowly in altering directions.

Tip: Here's a quick trick to keep your carpet looking as good as new. By sprinkling some salt over your carpet just before you start your carpet cleaning session, you will get a bright, shiny looking carpet instantly!

Carpet cleaning and its maintenance are equally important. But most essentially, your vacuum cleaner should be clean and stored in a proper place after each cleaning session as this assures good service each time it's used. Remember, keep its hoses, brushes and other things clean and replace the ones that wear out.

E-Dry Carpet Dry Cleaning is recognized as Sydney's most highly respected carpet cleaning companies. E-Dry provides high quality, professional carpet cleaning services in Sydney and the surrounding area.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sammy_Thompson

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

Buying Carpet : 10 Tips That Works For You

With all the new types of carpet on the market when it comes to buying carpet it can be a bit of an overwhelming task. Be sure to check out the performance characteristics to make sure the type you are looking at will stand up to your expectations. The wrong choice will not last as long and you will disappointed. Follow these 10 tips to buying carpet that works for you.

1. Twist

Look at the twist in the individual yarn pieces. Several twists may give you good carpet. The number of twists will affect the performance and the density of the pile. Do not confuse density with the height of the pile. Pile height has nothing to do with performance.

Generally the more twists in the individual yarns the more spring in the carpet. Remember the more spring the more footprints that will be hidden. However if you are looking for vibrant carpets you will have to trade off the spring because the more vibrant carpets do not have that crimped texture.

2. Stain Protection

You should look for stain protection , soil protection and static guard. Most home owner only clean their carpet once a year so you will want a carpet to perform well over a three year period. Carpets should be cleaned at least twice a year but if you have a heavy traffic areas you may have to clean them as often as 3 or 4 times a year.

The carpet industry has introduced some amazing carpets with stain protection, soil and static protection these new products are better than ever before.

3. Reputable Dealer

Always buy your carpet from a reputable dealer. Look for a quality and customer service oriented dealer with a special carpet section. Make sure the dealer stands behind the products he sells.

4. Look then Look Some More

Look at all the different types of carpets that are available to you. Also look at the various under pads available for the carpet. Don't skimp on the under pad. Just because it's not visible doesn't mean it's not important. A cheap thin under pad will not do your new carpet any good and will shorten the life of your carpet. An under pad that is too thin will only fall apart under your carpet and damage the carpet over it.

5. Professional Install

You should have your new carpet installed by a professional installer. The dealer will either have their own installation crew or they will be able to direct you to someone they recommend.

6. Prepare The Floor

Remember the floor you place the carpet pad and carpet on will have to be prepared to protect your investment. The better grades of carpet usually need a better grade of underlay or carpet pad.

7. Choosing The Right Carpet

The color and texture will affect the look of the room and lighting conditions will affect the look of the carpet. If the carpeting is smooth or even surfaced it will have a velvety look or plush look like you would want in a formal dinning room. Use an oriental or a tapestry weave style to give a formal look to any room.

To help a room look lighter or brighter a more lustrous carpet fiber should be chosen. Remember a smooth luxurious carpets will show footprints and vacuum marks. If you like this look than ask for a luster fiber but if you do not like the look be sure to tell the sales rep that you do not want lustrous carpet pile.

You can get carpeting in a uneven surface where the looped pile is a bit uneven so it looks to be tailored. By combining different piles at different heights you will get a sculptured look. This look can also be duplicated by the color or the carpet being varied colors. You will find that some carpets get this look by carving on the surface of the carpet pile.

On the sculpted carpet the incoming light strikes the uneven surfaces of the pile at different angles. This type of carpet shows no footprints. The low densely packed carpet is the best for wear. Because the carpet loops are not cut in a low densely packed carpet it will wear longer than a cut pile carpet will. The taller the pile the more sound absorbing capabilities the carpet will be. Remember that high pile carpet is not good for high traffic areas. These fibers will be trampled and will be harder to clean.

8. High Traffic Areas

The basic pile or low loop is a good performer in a high traffic area. You will often see this type of carpet in offices. It wears like iron and cleans up easier than a pile carpet. The chunky look of Berber will have a level loops and have a chunky look. The wear factor is good but not as good as level loop carpeting but it will hide the dirt better.

9. You Get What You Pay For

Remember as like all things in life you will get what you pay for. A low quality carpet is a low quality carpet. Be aware and select the carpet you need and like. Just because it looks like a good deal at the time, you might not think that when you have to change the carpet in 3 years instead of 10 or 20 years. So shop carefully!

10. Guarantee or Warranty

Find out what the guarantee is on the carpet and what the guarantee covers. Does it just replace the carpet or does it also cover installation. What will void the warranty and what is not covered. Know before you buy.

These 10 tips will have you choosing the right carpet for the room in no time. Your room will have a brand new face lift and look awesome!

John Murray makes it easy to go through the carpet buying process and provides tips to keep your carpet lasting long. To learn more and receive your free mini-course visit the carpet rugs website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Murray

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Vermont Carpet Cleaning - provides professional Vermont carpet cleaning services at fair rates.  24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE Water, Fire, Smoke Restoration. We service the Burlington, Vermont and St. Albans, Vermont areas.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Carpet Patching (But Didn't Know Who to Ask)

A patch is one of the most common types of repairs that we do. We use a carpet patch to solve several types of carpet problems where small to mid-sized portions of wall-to-wall carpet have been damaged. People usually call us to patch their carpet when other methods to restore their carpet won't work.

Common causes of carpet damage that require this type of carpet repair include carpet burns, carpet stains, carpet tears, carpet holes, pet damage (Bad Kitty!), and remodeling as well as worn traffic paths.

We remove the damaged area, and replace it with an identical piece of carpet. When done correctly, it's normally, but not always invisible to the eye. Depending on the type of carpet you may be able to see the patch, but it will almost always look far better than what we started with.

Reasons why your carpet patch may not look as good as you'd like

• The patch is a different color due to the original carpet fading.

• The patch is new and the area where it's going is old and worn.

• The patch has a gap or overlap in the seam.

• The carpet is running the wrong direction.

Start with the essentials: carpet anatomy

The greater the damage, the more complicated the repair, so it helps to understand what exactly your carpet is made of so you can assess how far the damage has gone.

Every carpet has several layers below what we can see with the eye. That top layer, which comes in various colors, weaves, heights, materials, and densities, (and which is the fun part to pick out when you go carpet shopping) is called the pile. The pile is made from many different materials: nylon is the most common encountered in both commercial and residential carpet repair, because it is relatively stain- and heat-resistant and doesn't crush easily.

Most people are familiar with the fact that padding lies below the carpet, which helps give it its comfortable feel when you walk on it. This is the bottom layer. Common types of padding include foam (cheap), rebond, frothed foam, slab rubber, waffle rubber, fiber (such as jute, recycled textiles, synthetic fibers, etc.), and in some cases special Berber padding.

Between the pile and the padding is the backing, which is made of two layers and holds the fibers together so the carpet doesn't fall apart. When the carpet is manufactured, needles are used to push the fiber through the primary backing. It's then sealed against the secondary backing with very strong adhesive to keep everything in place.

Once you're familiar with how your carpet is constructed, it's easier to envision how patching works, even if you've never done it before. These are the basics of your carpet's anatomy, and should help you in assessing how far down the damage has gone, which is an important step in carpet repair and carpet patching.

#1 Carpet Patching Requirement: Carpet Patches!

Just as important as removing the damaged carpet is replacing it with well-matched good carpet. There's a few different ways to find a fresh carpet patch:

· In ideal situations, the new carpet patches come from spare scraps left over from the original installation. Always save the scraps!

· If you don't have any leftover carpet from the installation we may be able to steal some carpet from a closet, beneath a radiator or from under a piece of furniture that you never move. (Now you'll never move it for sure.)

· If your carpet is a relatively common style, a nearby retailer may have a perfect or near-perfect match that you can purchase. (The chances of finding a perfect match are somewhere between slim and none.)

· If you need to patch a significant area that matches the rest of the house (such as several steps in a stairway or a hallway, one great carpet patching alternative is to re-appropriate matching carpet from another room, such as a bedroom. Re-carpeting just that one bedroom means the hallway/stairway still matches the rest of the house, and costs a LOT less money than replacing the carpet for whole common area.

Basic Steps of Carpet Patching for the novice.

1. Removing the damaged carpet: Start by using a straight edge and a row finder. An ice pick or a Phillips screwdriver can be used instead of a row finder. Place the straight edge on the carpet with the groove side down. Use the row finder to separate the nap. Do this by dragging the point of the row finder across the carpet up and down and against the edge of the straight edge.

2. Use a slotted blade knife with a fresh blade. You can use a slotted blade knife (butted up against the straight edge to cut through the carpet without cutting through too much of the nap if you used the row finder properly. The more nap you cut off, the worse the carpet patch will look.

3. Choose a scrap of carpet that's leftover from the original installation for the carpet patch. If you don't have any leftover scraps of carpet then you'll need to remove a piece from a closet or from under a piece of furniture. Some people try to find a piece of matching carpet at a carpet store but it's nearly impossible. On occasion we will have the customer buy some carpet from a carpet store that is very close to matching. We then take carpet from a closet to do the patch with and use the new carpet in the closet.

4. Determine the direction of the nap. Carpet lays down more when you brush your hand in one direction than in other directions. It's incredibly important for proper carpet patching that all the carpet runs the same direction. Sometimes it's really hard to tell which way the carpet nap runs. All I can say is to keep brushing your hand in different directions until you really get to know the carpet. If you keep at it, you'll figure it out.

5. Turn the carpet patch over and use the straight edge to cut a perfect patch from the back. If you are untrained, chances are that you won't be able to cut a perfect patch. (Tip, use a fresh blade in the slotted blade carpet knife) Here at Creative Carpet Repair we're carpet repair experts, we do this all the time so it's easy for us. If the patch isn't cut exactly perfect you'll see the carpet patch.

6. Now that the carpet patch is cut exactly perfect without any gaps or overlaps at the seams it's time to seal the edges. You can seal the edges with latex or with a glue gun. Just use the slightest amount of glue along both edges so that there won't be fraying in the future. Not everyone seals the edges but it is highly recommended.

7. The carpet patch is cut to perfection, the edges are sealed and now you're ready to adhere the carpet patch to the rest of the carpet. The way we do it is to use a special carpet seam tape with an iron or with a hot glue gun. For the beginner I'd recommend using the glue gun.

Cut the seam tape to the size of the carpet patch. Line up the carpet seam tape so that half of it is under the existing carpet and the other half of it will be under the patch.

Use the glue gun to apply a generous amount of hot glue under the seam of the carpet. Slowly work your way all the way around the carpet until you have glued the carpet patch into place. (hint, have a glass of water right next to you for when you get molten hot glue on your fingers. A quick dip will cool it off right away and prevent you from experiencing nearly as much pain.)

When gluing the carpet patch down using the glue gun, pay special attention to the backing. You want to glue the backing down so that it's butted up just right. Also be especially careful to avoid getting the nap of the carpet pushed down into the hot glue. It's a mess when that happens and there's no recovery.

As you glue the carpet together, push the carpet backing down into the hot glue using a carpet tractor. It's a good idea to put a flat weight on top of the seam for a few minutes as you work your way around.

If you're a novice, I wouldn't recommend that you try to use the carpet seam iron to patch a carpet. It takes a skill that doesn't come on the first try. You can get a better idea by watching the free videos that you can find on the main website.

Steve Gordon of Creative Carpet Repair has been a carpet repair expert for more than thirty years. Please visit http://www.creativecarpetrepair.com to learn all about carpet repair.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_S_Gordon

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