​One of the most important carpet maintenance tips is to vacuum your carpet on a regular basis. But what is regular? Well that depends on the level of traffic and soiling that you get in your carpet.

The more traffic and the more your carpet is used the more vacuuming you should do.

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​In almost all cases you should vacuum your carpet three to five times a week, especially in high traffic areas. Carpets can hold an amazing amount of soil before you actually even see the soil and vacuuming on a regular basis can go a long ways to getting most of that soil out.

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​Most of the soil in your carpet is dry particulate soil, meaning that it can not be broken down with water or another type of solvent. The best way to get this type of soil out of your carpet is to vacuum it out.

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​We will not go over what type of vacuum cleaner to use (we have a very good article about vacuums on our blog) but even a poor quality vacuum cleaner that you use regularly is better than the best vacuum cleaner you rarely use.

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​3 to 5 Times a Week? You ​must ​be kidding you say! Nope, we are not kidding.

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​Listen, we are going to get straight to the point: vacuuming is not hard. Not even close to being hard. And even a few minutes of vacuuming a room a WEEK can make a big difference in how your carpet looks and how long it continues to look good.

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​But vacuuming not only helps keep your carpet looking good and lasting longer, it also improves indoor air quality by getting contaminants out of your carpet. 

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​So make sure you vacuum regularly....and yes, 3 to 5 times a week is a good place to start.

​​The second most important carpet maintenance tip is spot and spill pick up...and for good reason. While soil in your carpet can lead to premature wear and be unhealthy for you it is the spots and spills that most people see. 

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​You can have a carpet that literally has no dry particulate soil in it but the carpet can still look bad because of spots and spills. And here is the deal: many spots and spills will come out of your carpet rather easily if you get to them right away. DO NOT LEAVE SPOTS AND SPILLS IN YOUR CARPET.

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​We are not going to go over spot and spill pick up here, you can check out our spot and spill pick up guide by going here.

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​But we will tell you this: good spot and spill pickup usually just requires a white terry cloth towel and some warm water. Really, in most cases you can get out a lot of spots and spills in your carpet using very basic techniques.​​​​

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​Of course there are certains types of spots and certain types of stains that are much harder for the average person to get out. Spills like Kool Aid, coffee, tea, certain types of medications....things like that can be difficult. But even those types of spills and spots can be gotten out with basic techniques if you get to them fast enough.

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​So if you see a spot or spill in your carpet don't just ignore it! Use some basic spotting guidelines and attempt the removal. If you use the proper spot and spill removal guidelines you are NOT going do more damage but you very well could save your carpet from looking bad and needing professional attention.

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​​​​​And finally, you need to have your carpets PROFESSIONALLY cleaned every six to 18 months. Certainly at least once a year. Why is this? Because regular professional carpet cleaning can get out soil (all types of soil) that vacuuming and spot and spill pick up cannot get out.

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​Your Carpets Are GREAT Filters​

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One of the great things about carpets, and something that most people do not understand, is that carpets are actually GOOD for indoor air quality because they act like huge giant filters. Almost all of the soil tracked into your home and all of the soil from within your home gets deposited into your carpets. 

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This is good and bad. Good if you keep your carpets relatively clean and bad if you go long periods between carpet cleaning. Why is this?

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Because carpets trap and hold all sorts of contaminants below ankle level, just waiting for the soil to be removed. On other flooring surfaces like tile and grout, wood floors, and linoleum the soil is not contained like it is in carpets.

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But you have to clean your carpet filter before it gets loaded with soil

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And the best way to clean your carpet filter thoroughly is regular professional cleaning. A good professional carpet cleaner uses the proper cleaning agents, tools, and has the knowledge to get your carpets clean and get them clean SAFELY.

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So make sure you have your carpet filter cleaned regularly by a high quality professional carpet cleaning company in Vancouver, Washington.

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​Clean Carpets Are Actually Good For Indoor Air Quality

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