It’s inevitable—anything your family walks on day after day is bound to get dirty. Your floors are one thing that you can’t get away with scrubbing just once a year when spring cleaning season hits. Over time, dirt can build up on carpets, rugs and floors and become permanent. But with just a little bit of effort, you can ensure that the floors you walk on will last for years to come.

CLEAN CARPETS

Nothing beats the cozy feel of carpet under your feet—unless that carpet is less than clean. Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of neglecting our carpets until the surface starts to show dirt, while grime has been building up deep in the pile since the floor was last cleaned.

The best and easiest thing you can do for your carpets is vacuum frequently. Even if the carpet appears clean, there is a layer of dirt and dust building up that can cause irreversible staining over time. “Vacuuming is really, really important to carpet cleaning,” says Taryn Pisaneschi of Lenox & Marietta Chem-Dry. “Doing it at least once a week can go a long way toward preventing permanent discoloration.”

Look around the edges of a carpeted room—is there a dingy, gray line where the carpet meets the wall? This is called the filtration line, and it’s the result of air circulation under the carpet forcing dirt to the edges over time. This can leave permanent stains, but regular vacuuming and cleaning can prevent it from forming in the first place. Use your vacuum’s attachments to be sure you really get the whole floor clean, including the edges and corners.

In addition to regular vacuuming, it’s a good idea to have your carpets cleaned at least once a year (preferably twice), especially in high-traffic areas. New cleaning techniques leave carpets cleaner than ever, an improvement over old shampooing methods. “The soaps in carpet shampoos leave a sticky residue that’s a dirt magnet,” Pisaneschi says. “People who have had their carpets shampooed in the past or have tried to do it themselves have gotten jaded by the whole process.”

A newer chemical process, available at Lenox & Marietta Chem-Dry, uses nontoxic, carbonated cleaning solutions to deep clean. “It’s similar to using club soda to get a stain off your couch,” Pisaneshi says. The process uses only 10 percent of the amount of water that some steam cleaners use, and your carpets will be dry in just an hour or two, which keeps mold and bacteria from growing.

Stanley Steemer, a time-tested choice in the carpet-cleaning business, uses specially formulated cleansers and equipment with powerful suction, ensuring that all of the dirt and cleaning solution is extracted from the carpet, along with 95 percent of the water. This method also ensures quick drying and soap-free floors.

To make sure you get the deepest cleaning possible, it’s best to hire a professional. If you do decide to tackle the job with your own steam cleaner, or a rented one, keep a few things in mind. Don’t use more cleaning solution than is recommended on the bottle—in fact, it may be a good idea to use a little less to keep too much sticky soap residue from building up. Also, be sure that you closely follow the instructions for rinsing. Suck up as much water as you can so that your floors will dry as quickly as possible. Remember, if you’re unsure about the process, hiring a pro now will be cheaper than having to replace ruined carpets.

Professional cleaning is usually priced per room or by square footage, and costs vary depending on the type and condition of the carpet. “When you call for pricing, it’s important to know what you’re calling for,” Pisaneshi says. “Ask about deals, and look for hidden charges. Sometimes the advertised prices of cheap companies double in person.”

One of the best ways to prevent permanent stains is to use a stain protector on your carpet. “Carpet protectors act as an invisible glove over each individual fiber,” Pisaneschi says. Many carpet-cleaning companies have protectant solutions built in to their cleansers. Make sure to ask—if a protector is not already included, they can probably add it in for a fee of $10-$20 per room, which is well worth it. “Protection goes a long way toward protecting your investment,” she says.

You also can buy bottled protectants, such as Scotchgard, that help protect the carpet and remove stains. Before you buy a product, read the label carefully. Some products protect only the top of the carpet, leaving the bottom layer susceptible to staining.

RUG REHAB
Rug maintenance plays an important role in the life of a rug. Therefore, it is crucial that anyone who is in the market for an Oriental rug be aware of proper techniques designed to clean and keep their rug looking great. Keeping the rug from getting dirty in the first place sounds like a simple solution, but protective actions, such as removing outdoor shoes when entering the home, don’t absolutely guarantee that the rug will remain clean.

Weekly vacuuming is recommended for rugs, but only with vacuums that use suction as their main cleaning source. Always vacuum in the direction of the pile or side-to-side; stroking against the pile will raise it, allowing grit to reach the rug’s knots. On wool rugs, use a vacuum with beater brushes only once or twice a year to remove any grit build up.

Silk rugs should be cleaned weekly with a medium-soft nylon brush, followed by a gentle shaking once a month. The brush treatment can also be applied to decorative rugs that are hung on walls.

Regular cleaning also reduces the chances of moths making a meal of your rug. One way to prevent moths from causing damage is to strategically place open dishes with feathers in the room; the moths will be attracted to the traps and lay their eggs there instead of in the rug. For rugs hanging on walls, dusting with camphor once a week will prevent moths from nesting behind the rug. Moths will also meet their demise around heat, so leaving your rug in the sun occasionally for a few hours is a sure way to keep them from nesting in it.

WASHING WOOD
Hardwood floors have a classic beauty, and they are sturdy enough to withstand the test of time. In fact, a little bit of wear and tear over the years can even add to their charm. But dirt, grime and a dull finish only make them look dingy and can detract from the value of your entire home.

“There’s only one way to clean a hardwood floor,” says Amanda Provence of The Floor Gallery & Interiors in Atlanta. She recommends a mixture of three parts water and one part white vinegar. “It’s so cheap and so easy,” Provence says. Mix the two ingredients in a spray bottle and lightly spray the floor about once a week. Then go over it with a dry mop, and voila! You’ll have sparkling floors with minimal effort. Don’t wet the mop—the water in the spray bottle should be enough. Too much water can cause the floor to deteriorate and discolor, and it can also break down the polyurethane finish. “The biggest mistake people make is that they try to overclean their hardwood floors,” Provence says.

It may be tempting to scrub your wood floors with wood oil soap (the kind you might use on your furniture), but don’t do it. It’s actually terrible for most hardwood floors and will leave behind a filmy residue that makes the floors look cheap and old. “Make sure you don’t use anything that contains soap; that will dull your finish,” says David Flesher of Flesher’s Flooring. He also recommends avoiding any products that contain wax. If your floors begin to look dry and cracked, it could be that you’ve used too much water on them over time. Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix for this problem—you may have to call on a pro to apply a fresh polyurethane finish.

To keep your wood floors in top shape, sweep them a couple of times a week to keep the dirt that gathers on the most highly traveled parts of the floor from dulling the finish. Also, place small rugs at every door of the home to keep too much grit from ending up on the floor in the first place.

TILE & LINOLEUM
Other floor types, such as tile and linoleum, are fairly easy to care for. “Most tile is pretty impervious to water as long as you don’t completely saturate the floor,” Provence says. So pull out that mop and bucket. Any kind of gentle floor cleaner should work, but pay careful attention to whether it contains bleach. You should never use bleach on porous stone floors. Glazed tile is safe to bleach, but since grout is porous, you don’t want to use bleach on colored grout.

Your best bet when cleaning vinyl or linoleum floors is to use the manufacturer’s cleaner designed for your particular floor. If you’re buying a new floor, ask about special cleansers. Otherwise, just make sure and read the labels of any “over the counter” products you buy so you can find one that’s compatible with your particular flooring. Most of the time, all you’ll have to do to make this floor type shine is to dilute the cleanser in some water and mop away the dirt; rinsing usually is unnecessary.

Having sparkling clean floors will give your entire home a glow, and fortunately it’s not too hard to do. A quick vacuum here and a mopping there can make a huge difference in the life of your floor. Letting grit build up for long periods of time can give your floors a permanent dingy appearance, detracting from the value of your home. Let the scrubbing begin!