How to clean a very dirty carpet

We will not write boring recommendations, but we will offer you to go through a quest with certain tasks for cleaning the carpet. The first step is to look at our instance and determine its type.

Choosing tools

In order to start developing activities to restore the cleanliness of soft flooring, we need to decide how and with what help we will do this.

We will need the following tools:

1. Clothes brush with hard bristles.

2. Device with a rubber nozzle for cleaning wool and hair.

3. Sponge.

4. Vacuum cleaner.

In addition to mechanical means, you will need chemicals:

1. washing powder;

2. soda;

3. vinegar;

4. dishwashing liquid;

5. stain remover;

Let’s take for example an average dirty virtual carpet and apply to it all types of pollution possible for an apartment. It could be:

1. Animal hair and human hair.

2. Street dust (and not only) from shoes.

3. Trampled leftover food.

4. Dried stains of sauce, tea, coffee and other edibles.

5. The results of children’s games: paints, felt-tip pens, plasticine, slime, chewing gum, glue.

In general, it turns out quite a «rainbow» picture. Don’t let things get to that state. But, according to the laws of biophysics, any living system tends towards chaos. Therefore, we will correct the situation.

Let’s go from simple to complex. From the proposed solutions, you have to choose the level that matches your carpet.

Level 1 — mechanical cleaning

This part of our quest will be about finding the best solution for collecting hair, fur, crumbs, and anything that can be brushed off, torn off, or scraped off.

Collection of wool and hair

At first glance, this is the easiest job. But it is not so easy to clean short hairs from the pile of the carpet. Let’s use the possible methods.

Brush

The most rational way. The bristles pick up not only the outer layer of wool, but also those hairs that are deep between the pile. A little more difficult with a looped rug. But this method works for him too.

If you have a choice, opt for a long-handled floor sweeper. This way you can get the job done much faster.

Animal brushing glove

Just as great as this thing is at grooming dogs, it’s also great at cleaning carpet. You can use an ordinary rubber glove, as well as a bare hand. If the glove is slightly moistened, the wool will easily roll on the surface of the carpet.

Sponge mop

This household appliance ideally rolls hair and animal hair into large balls. The large surface area of ​​the wet sponge head and the comfort of a long-handled squeegee make the job very easy.

As a last resort, take a simple sponge or damp cloth. Forces of course spend more, but the effect will be the same.

Rubber window cleaning brush

It can also be on a long handle, which will greatly facilitate the work. Or you can use a tool to remove water from auto glass. The rubber strip well collects hair, threads, wool. Before cleaning, lightly dampen the carpet with water from a spray bottle.

Scotch tape, sticky roller

It is completely irrational for severe pollution. You can use it, but it will take a lot of time and consumables. Based on this, we do not recommend this method, although it has the right to exist.

At the end of the mechanical cleaning phase, it would be great to walk over the surface of the carpet with a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. In this way, we will remove the remaining long debris and collect dust.

Removal of adhering substances

For stripping, we will look for spots of plasticine, chewing gum, slimes. It will be necessary, if possible, to remove them mechanically from the carpet surface as much as possible.

Plasticine

Remove what is possible first. Use fingers, plastic stack, table knife. Scrape and pull out the stuck mass. Then, the residues can be washed with the following means:

1. Sponge and dishwashing liquid.

2. Means «Antisilicon».

3. Alcohol.

4. Vanish Gold for carpets.

slime

This gooey favorite for kids to play with leaves marks all over the place, including on the carpet. A relatively fresh mass must be scraped off the carpet with a table knife. The stain should be collected towards the center, and not smeared in different directions.

Apply a thick layer of toothpaste to the dirt. The slime, under the influence of the paste, will get wet and lose its sticky properties. After that, you need to collect the rest of the mass with a tablespoon.

Next, lightly dampen the carpet in the area to be cleaned, and lather it well with laundry soap. After a minute, rub the dirt thoroughly with a clothes brush. Rinse the cleaned area with water.

Gum

This pollution is more difficult than plasticine. But he also has control.

The first method with white spirit is suitable for natural and synthetic coatings. But it is important to know that after processing, an oil trace will remain in place of the chewing gum. Therefore, it is immediately necessary to apply dishwashing liquid to the stain and rub it thoroughly with a sponge.

The second way is to use the cooling properties of liquefied gas for lighters. Chewing gum should be sprinkled from a can and, while it is frozen, quickly scrape off the carpet with a table knife or spoon handle.

Assessment of the passed level

If, upon reaching the passed stages, you are already satisfied with the result, then your carpet was not completely launched.

At the end, you can do one of the simple manipulations to refresh the exterior of the floor covering, which are given in level 2, in the «general cleaning» subsection.

And with us in the game are those who have trodden paths visible on the palace.

Level 2 — Dry cleaning

Don’t be scared. We will dry-clean with household harmless means. First of all, we will carry out targeted elimination of point pollution.

Stain removal

Each spot requires an individual approach. But most of the known contaminants are washed off the carpet with universal products that we have at hand.

Toothpaste

Removes traces of cosmetics, tea, coffee, fat, sauce.

To remove stains, lubricate the stained area with paste, leave for 15 minutes and then wash everything off with soapy foam. Make soap foam from a glass of water and a few drops of dishwashing detergent. Lather the solution with a sponge.

Ammonia

In addition to the fact that ammonia removes the bulk of fresh and old stains, it also generally refreshes the appearance of the carpet.

Let’s prepare the solution and clean it:

1. For 5 l. water, take 1 tbsp. dishwashing liquid and 3 tbsp. ammonia. Mix well.

2. To remove stains, apply the product on dirt and leave for 15 minutes.

3. Rinse the surface with a cloth and clean water.

4. With the rest of the solution, go over the entire carpet surface. Use a clothes brush.

5. Rinse the carpet with a rag and water.

6. Let the carpet dry well. Ideally, if you can dry it in the fresh air.

Vinegar

A permanent home helper, which, along with citric acid, saves different surfaces from pollution of various etiologies.

To prepare the composition, we need 2 tbsp. l. vinegar (or citric acid) per 500 ml of water. Apply the solution pointwise and then rinse with soapy water.

Laundry soap

This versatile soldier is always at hand. Do this:

1. Wet the dirty surface. You can use a sponge, or you can use a spray bottle.

2. Rub the stain with soap and wait.

3. After a few minutes, wipe off excess soap solution from the carpet and rinse the surface with clean water.

For the most inaccessible pollution, you can use store-bought products. Vanish, Cinderella, Carpet cleaner, Selena Carpet work well. But first, read the instructions and try the chemical on an inconspicuous place.

General carpet cleaning

We are already very close to victory. The decisive battle is coming. And then we can proudly raise the flag of victory in the fight against dirt. We need to clean the entire surface of the carpet, thereby refreshing the appearance and bringing back the brightness of the colors.

From the proposed recipes, choose the one that suits your type of carpet. Synthetics can be washed with water, while natural pile prefers dry cleaning.

Dry method with starch or soda

Here we will use the absorbent properties of powder substances. For cleaning, take either dry starch or soda.

You need to do this:

1. Spread the powder evenly on a dry surface and spread it over the entire area of ​​​​the carpet.

2. Leave the carpet like this for 1 hour.

3. Then take your clothes brush and start lifting the lint in a circular motion and brushing out the dust and dirt.

4. After treatment, sweep the cleaning powder from the carpet.

5. Vacuum the rug at maximum speed from the front and back sides.

Returning brightness with citric acid

This solution is suitable for a clean but faded specimen. Dilute 2 tbsp. l. citric acid in 200 ml of hot water and then add another 400 ml of cold water. To clean, apply the solution with a sponge to the entire surface of the carpet and let it dry.

Baking soda, vinegar and laundry detergent

In addition to cleaning the general background, the proposed compositions remove many persistent stains.

We will need:

1. soda — 1 tbsp. l.;

2. vinegar — a third of a glass;

3. powder — 1 tbsp. l.;

4. water — 3 tbsp.;

Mix all the ingredients and pour the solution into a spray bottle. You need to apply it like this:

1. Spray the working composition on the carpet and leave to act for 30 minutes.

2. Scrub the carpet vigorously with the brush.

3. Remove the dirt-absorbed cleaning solution with a damp cloth.

In the same way, you can clean the carpet if you prepare a solution of 1 liter of hot water, 1 tbsp. l washing powder and 1 tbsp. l. ammonia solution.

Two-step dry cleaning with baking soda and vinegar

Carpet can be upgraded to «factory settings» by wet cleaning with the following recipe.

We will need:

1. 0.5 l of warm water;

2. 1 st. l. baking soda;

3. 4 tbsp. l. table vinegar;

4. 2 tbsp. l. dishwashing liquid (or 1 tbsp. washing powder).

We remember that our carpet has already been cleaned of all possible dirt and stains. But if you skipped the first step, then do not forget to carefully exhaust and vacuum the carpet.

Next, we make the first solution: mix 300 ml of warm water, 1 tbsp. soda, 2 tbsp. liquid for dishes and make a thick foam with a sponge. To get foam, actively squeeze the sponge with your hand, dipping it into the soapy liquid.

Let’s start processing:

1. Apply foam to dry carpet with a sponge.

2. With a brush, in a circular motion, fluff and lift the pile.

3. Apply a second layer of foam and leave it to soften the dirt for 30 minutes.

Prepare the second solution: mix 200 ml of water and 4 tbsp. vinegar.

Let’s do the processing:

1. Sponge vinegar liquid onto carpet soaked in baking soda. Thanks to the foamy reaction of soda and vinegar, the debris will be pushed up. Soap suds will prevent dirt from sinking back to the base of the lint.

2. Scrub the entire surface vigorously with a stiff brush and leave the carpet for 5 minutes.

3. After the required time, rinse the entire surface well with water and a rag.

4. After drying, vacuum the coating at maximum speed.

An effective method based on laundry soap and salt

Despite the simplicity of the components used, the solution is very active. It completely eliminates gray plaque and dirt stains.

We need to take:

1. dry salt — 500 g;

2. laundry soap — ⅓ piece;

3. warm water.

Grate the soap, dissolve it in 200 ml of water and pour the liquid into the spray bottle. If the product is thick, dilute it with water.

Let’s get down to business:

1. Treat the surface with the resulting liquid soap.

2. Sprinkle salt evenly over the top.

3. Scrub the pile intensively with a brush and leave for 3 hours.

4. After drying, clean the carpet with a vacuum cleaner.

Option for lovers of household chemicals

In order to save time, you can use specialized chemistry. Manufacturers offer us various foams and sprays for carpet cleaning. These funds are sold in any hardware store.

Usually, the instruction boils down to the fact that the active foam is distributed over the entire pile without rubbing. Next, the carpet is dried and vacuumed.

Alternative cleaning methods

For those who cannot stand any chemicals, there are alternative ways:

1. Cleaning carpets with high pressure water equipment. This can be done at a self-service car wash or a compact household appliance such as Karcher.

2. Using a washing vacuum cleaner. Even without the use of special shampoos, the carpet becomes many times brighter.

3. steam generator treatment. The owners of these devices practically do not use chemicals in the fight for cleanliness. Hot steam pushes out even the most persistent types of dirt from the depths of the pile.

Summarizing

Congratulations if you have successfully completed all the steps. Now you get the title of a professional and can safely teach beginners.

Evaluating the results objectively, let’s say that the whole difficulty in caring for carpets lies in the fact that we often have to clean within our apartment, which is not very convenient. Therefore, the more difficult the pollution, the more time will have to be spent to restore the original appearance of the carpet.