These days, there is nothing more important than disinfecting your living space. The pandemic has increased the amount of germaphobic tendencies in people, making it often difficult for homeowners to relax around their house. We spend hours each week cleaning and disinfecting things that go into our homes, but what about the fixtures we already have?
By disinfecting your home, you can breathe easier knowing that you got rid of any viruses and bacteria that may be lurking about. Our guide will help you through disinfecting one of the filthiest locations in your home: the carpets!
How to Disinfect Carpet Fibers
Most homeowners probably don’t realize it, but their carpets are like nets that catch much of the falling dust and debris that fly around the house. Any germs, mold spores, and viruses that linger about can easily attach onto the carpet, and start breeding colonies.
Learning to disinfect your carpet is a good way to keep healthy, particularly during the pandemic season. There are multiple ways to disinfect a carpet, but the best way is always to leave it to the professionals. Still, here are a couple of ways you can disinfect your carpets at home:
General Vacuuming and Carpet Cleaning
Vacuum cleaning doesn’t exactly disinfect your carpets, but they do help in sucking up the dirt and loose debris that may get stuck in the carpet’s fibers. Your first step in disinfecting your carpets is to do some basic carpet cleaning, and the best way to do so is by running the vacuum cleaner across the carpet to remove any loose dirt.
If you have a shag rug or wool carpet, you may need to remove the beater bar before you vacuum to avoid frizzing up the fibers of your carpet. At this stage, you may also use a carpet refresher powder or baking soda to help you remove the dirt and any smells before you start disinfection.
Use a Wet Vacuum and Carpet Cleaner
Some vacuum cleaners have a wet vacuum function, which can suck up excess moisture from your carpets, leaving you with a clean, washed carpet. Many modern vacuum cleaner models have both the wet and dry functions, which makes it easier to switch between cleaning methods.
Use a disinfecting carpet shampoo or cleaner, and scrub your carpets clean with a diluted solution. You can use a spray bottle to make application easier, and rinse with warm water before using the wet vacuum function to remove the excess moisture.
Steam Cleaning kills off Viruses
Steam cleaning is an effective way to remove any pathogens and germs that may be in your carpets. Steam cleaners use high heat to kill off any bacteria and viruses, which has been proven to be effective 99.99% of the time. For the most effective use of a steam cleaner, allow the steam to coat the carpet’s fibers until damp, but not soaking wet.
Some steam cleaners use plain, hot water to disinfect the area, but there are models that come with a cleaning solution that have disinfectant properties to kill off pathogens and bacteria. Steam is also used on hard surface floors, like hardwood floors and granite, so getting a steam cleaner is a home maintenance investment!
Bring in the Professional Carpet Cleaners
Nothing is as good in cleaning as professional cleaning services for carpets and rugs! Not only will professional cleaners work to remove loose debris, they have specialized cleaning products that will get rid of odours, bodily fluids, and clean any stained area.
Professional cleaners are equipped with cleaning solutions for all types of soft surfaces, and can also work on stains on other pieces of furniture like the sofa, beds, and more.
Use a Laundry Machine for Rugs
For carpets that are not attached to the floors, you can opt to wash them in the laundry machine to clean it. Adding in some baking soda and a few drops of white vinegar removes stains and odours from the carpet, and some disinfecting carpet cleaning solution works well to remove germs and viruses.
Set your laundry machine to a delicate setting, and air dry your carpet before placing it back on the floor. Avoid washing sensitive carpets and rugs like yarn rugs, as these may disintegrate in the washing machine due to the spinning motion.
How Often Should you Clean and Disinfect your Carpet?
How often you should clean and disinfect your carpet is all up to you, depending on how frequently you step on the carpet, who rolls around in the carpet, and whether the carpet is located in a high-traffic area. The general rule is that the more you use the carpet, the more you will need to disinfect it.
Disinfection around the house also becomes more frequent if someone is sick around the home, or if you have a habit of bringing in your outside shoes and other items into the house. For the most part, the carpet is generally where people step without their shoes, but can get particularly germ-filled when people step their outside shoes on the carpet.
If someone is sick around the house, you will need to disinfect the carpet as well as the rest of the home to avoid spreading the disease around other members of the household. Whether it is a common cold, or a mild fever, the home will need disinfection to keep everyone else healthy.
Luce Maintenance Group
The pandemic is a different situation than what we’re used to, but keeping ourselves clean and healthy is key in preventing the virus from entering our homes. Luce Maintenance Group understands the need to keep clean during these times, so we offer our affordable and effective services to thousands of homes around Singapore!
Book an appointment with us today, and let us protect you and your family with a clean home from top to bottom - happiness guaranteed!
