How To Clean Carpet Without Breaking Your Back 

Keeping your carpet clean can often be a challenge, especially if you're like me and have small children at home. Cleaning the spills and stains as they happen will not only keep your carpeting looking new, but give it much longer life as well. Here's a look at how to clean carpet without hiring the professionals.

Vacuum Regularly

One of the easiest ways to have cleaner looking carpet is by vacuuming it at least once a week, more often if it sees a lot of traffic.

One quick note, if you have Berber carpet, does not use a beater bar on it. Use suction only. This is because the beater bar can catch the loops and create fizzing.

Steam Clean Carpet Once Per Year

To keep carpet looking new you should have it steam cleaned at least once a year. Steam cleaning cleans out embedded dirt, grease and grime that build up over the course of the year.

Quick Carpet Cleaning Tips

• To clean spills, use a paper towel and lightly blot the spill. Don't rub harshly and push the spill further down into the carpet.
  
  
• Do not use a blow dryer or iron to dry out carpet stains. It will simply make it a permanent stain.
  
  
• For heavy spills you should blot up as much as possible and then cover the stain with a towel and set something heavy on it overnight. This will help the towel absorb the liquid.
  
  
• Before reaching for the carpet cleaning products to clean a spill, use water first. In most cases, water will help eliminate the spill. Even a mixture of vinegar and water will work well in preventing stains.
  
  
• If you are going to use a carpet-cleaning product to remove stains, use one that is very mild. Dilute it if necessary.
  
  
• Use floor mats at all entrance points in your home. This tip alone will keep your carpet looking much cleaner throughout the year. Be sure to clean it once every month or two. A dirty floor mat is of no use.

Put these tips to use and they should help you in maintaining great looking carpet. You will find many more excellent tips and advice on how to clean carpet in the Speed Cleaning Blueprint