Caring for your Carpet - Preventative Maintenance If you love your new CTFlooring carpet and want to keep it looking great for years to come, these steps will help! Carpet Care Preventative Maintenance: We recommend that walk-off mats be used at all entrances of the carpeted area. These will absorb excess dirt and moisture and prevent unnecessary wear, especially if the mats are cleaned on a regular basis. Use a pad to give your carpet better resilience underfoot. Your CTFlooring Sales Representative will assist you in choosing the correct pad for your room. Heavy furniture should be moved occasionally to prevent permanently crushing the carpet, and floor protectors should be placed under furniture legs. Protect your carpet from prolonged periods of direct sunlight with Window Treatments. Regular Vacuuming Vacuuming your carpet on a regular basis is the most important step in caring for your new CTFlooring carpet. Vacuum thoroughly and frequently, particularly in high-traffic areas. Bear in mind that walking on soiled carpet permits the soil particles to work their way below the surface of the pile where they are far more difficult to remove and can damage the fibers. Frequent vacuuming removes these particles from the surface before this happens. For rooms with light traffic, clean your carpet by vacuuming the traffic lanes twice weekly and the entire area once weekly. Those areas with heavier traffic require that the traffic lanes be vacuumed daily and the entire area twice weekly. Up to three passes of the machine will suffice for light soiling, but five to seven passes are necessary for heavily soiled areas. Change the vacuuming direction occasionally to help stand the pile upright and reduce matting. Cleaning your Carpet on a Regular Basis These are simple instructions that everyone with carpet should follow to keep their carpet clean for years to come. Overall Cleaning on a Regular Basis: We recommend having your carpet professionally cleaned using a hot water extraction method (aka steam cleaning) every 12 to 18 months. Experienced, professional cleaners have specialized equipment that has more extraction power than do-it-yourself rental units. True professionals have made the investment in training to understand the equipment and to know the proper cleaning agents for the situation at hand. They are also more likely to recognize differences in fibers and carpet construction, and your carpet should dry more quickly with this method. One way to locate a professional cleaner is to contact the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) at 1-800-835-4624. This organization maintains a national directory of independent professional cleaners who are trained and certified in a variety of cleaning specialties. Call and explain that you have purchased carpet from CTFlooring, and be sure to ask for a cleaner near you who uses the hot water extraction system. If you decide to rent a steam cleaning machine and do it yourself, check several cleaning systems before making a selection. Most rental units available do not adequately clean and may actually damage carpet.