How Often Should You Clean Your Carpets at Home?
Are you wondering how often you should be cleaning your carpets at home?
There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question. The number of times you should be cleaning a carpet within a certain period of time depends on a number of factors.
It’s important to know how frequently you should be cleaning your carpets. Regular cleaning keeps your carpets looking and smelling great, and maintains them for years to come.
The type of carpet you have and where it is in your home affects the optimal cleaning frequency. Depending on the cleaning method you’re using, you may need to clean daily, weekly, or monthly.
You might enjoy cleaning and organizing your home for each season. Maybe you enjoy a deep spring clean and a Christmas clear-out every year.
But when it comes to cleaning your carpets, you might need to take a more tactical approach.
How Often Should You Vacuum Your Carpets?
Most of us vacuum our carpets a lot more frequently than we shampoo or wash them. Vacuuming picks up the particles of dust and dirt that can quickly build up on the carpets throughout the day, especially in areas that receive a lot of foot traffic, such as entranceways.
In areas that have heavy traffic, vacuum at least twice a week. In the rooms of your home that you use less, vacuuming once every one or two weeks will suffice.
For those of you with pets, you might need to vacuum multiple times a week to capture fur, especially during summer when your pet’s fur is shedding more than usual.
If your pet often brings mud and dirt from outside, you might also need to shampoo your carpets frequently.
How Often Should You Shampoo Your Carpets?
Unlike vacuuming, you don’t need to shampoo your carpets every week. For pet-free homes, once every 6-12 months should suffice, particularly in areas that have light foot traffic.
If you’re a pet owner or you have young children who enjoy playing with paints, playdough, and other messy toys, you might need to shampoo your carpets every few months to keep them stain-free and odor-free.
When your child spills something on the floor, you should clean the carpet immediately to prevent permanent stains.
What About Light Colored Carpets?
So far, we’ve given some general guidance for cleaning carpets. However, if you have very light colored carpets, such as beige, cream, or white carpets, you might need to clean them more often.
Light colored flooring shows dirt and stains more clearly than those that are darker colored. Because of this, we recommend that you vacuum your lighter carpets twice a week and shampoo them every 3-6 months to keep your carpets sparkling clean.
Make sure to vacuum before you shampoo the carpets and always follow the instructions on the shampoo label to avoid damaging the carpet fibers.