Most people clean their carpets weekly once by using a vacuum cleaner. But it is better to shampoo your carpet rather than vacuuming. Shampooing your carpet will help in providing a good life to your carpet. Before shampooing your carpet, you need to understand the procedure behind cleaning it, and then you can go for it. In this article, let us elaborate on the same techniques on how to shampoo carpet easily at your home.
Steps Involved in Shampooing Your Carpet
Clean The Room Where The Carpet is Present: Moving All The Furniture from Your Room – The first step is removing all the furniture to clean your carpet. If your room is big, you can move all the furniture to one side of the room. But in the case of a small room, it is better to move them out of your room. Furthermore, when you have large pieces of furniture, you can leave them in the room itself. Also, you can protect such furniture from water by using aluminum foil, the plastic film under the legs, or wood blocks under the base.
It’s Time to Vacuum The Room – Before shampooing the carpet, you should vacuum the room to eliminate hair, small and large dirt particles, etc. Since you will shampoo the carpet, it is better to vacuum more than you usually do. Also, look for any stains that you spot on the carpet to provide a special cleaning treatment.
Treating Stains That You Find on Carpet – Use any basic carpet stain remover to fight against stains on the carpet. While shampooing the carpet, you can also clean such a stain. Now, you must spray the stain remover and leave it for some time.
- Fill The Shampooer to Clean The Carpet
Picking The Machine and Checking About Its Working Capacity – Now, you come to the main second step of cleaning the carpet. You can either buy a new shampooer or get rental equipment. Before using the machine, read the instructions in the manuals or get instructions from the service center. Then, you can check the machine and understand its buttons, different parts, and settings.
You will get different kinds of carpet cleaners in the market, and thus, the working method varies from one brand to another. Thus, it is crucial to have an idea about the machine before you use it.
Some shampooers work the same as vacuum cleaners, and such models are easy to handle. If you are blank about the usage of shampooer, you can watch online tutorials to get some help.
Filling The Shampooer with The Right Amount of Water – Most shampooers come with a removable water tank option. But some shampooers got the fixed water tank option to fill the water. Now, it is time to look at the maximum fill line on the machine and fill the water. Then, check about the filling is either cold or hot water. Hot water is a better option, as it activates the soap for effective cleaning.
Adding The Soap – It’s your choice to choose the right soap that effectively cleans the stain or dust on the carpet. After reading the instructions, add the allowed amount of soap into the machine. Check whether you are adding the soap to the right clean water compartment.
You can get some ideas on the internet to choose the cleaning soap. You can read the reviews given by the customers to choose the best brand.
- Run The Shampooer
Start Cleaning Corners – Choose any corner to start cleaning the carpet in the room. Make a way of cleaning by walking from one corner to the opposite wall side of the room. Use the shampooer to clean closer to the walls as much as possible. Then, turn and move the shampooer to make a new line and try to overlap the first line for effective cleaning.
Pulling The Shampooer Slowly – Shampooers may take some time when you compare them with vacuums. It depends on how you pull the shampooer while cleaning the carpet. When you spray soapy water on the carpet, the shampooer will suck it immediately back into it. So, take some time while pulling the shampooer at one step per second rate. This will help you clean the carpet free from dust and water.
Noticing Motor Sound – Shampooers come with a float valve to notify you about filling the dirty water tank. When the dirty water tank is full, you will get a different motor sound and it should stop immediately. So, try to stop by having a look at the float valve. The shampooer may get damaged if you fail to stop after filling the dirty water tank.
Eliminating The Dirty Water from Shampooer – Soon after you notice the dirty water tank is filled, you need to empty the water into the toilet. Because such dirty water may clog the sink and, thus, empty dirty water outside or into the toilet. It is better to eliminate the waste directly into the toilet than sink.
- Finish Your Cleaning Job
Running The Shampooer Using Only Cold Water – After you clean the carpet, it’s time to clean the shampooer’s water tank. Now, use cold water without adding soap to clean the shampooer. This will help to extend the life of the shampooer. Maintenance for any equipment is essential, which also applies to the shampooer.
Drying The Carpet – Finally, let the cleaned carpet dry for six or more hours based on its parameters like room size and thickness. You can see the shampooer to know about the drying time of the carpet. If you are looking for a fast drying process, you can use blowers or overhead fans to dry it soon. So, this is how you will shampoo a carpet using a shampooer.
The Bottom Line
This article provides the best method to clean or shampoo a carpet at your home. You may find it useful if you are looking for a shampooing procedure for the carpet.
Also read: Four Signs of Mould Growth in Your Carpet