No doubt this question has surfaced at one time or another during the years you’ve owned carpeting. The frequency of cleaning will vary from one household to another depending upon the number of occupants and level of usage. At a minimum, you should clean once a year.

I have had some home owners express their fear that once the carpet is cleaned, it will re-soil quicker. This fear is the result of improper cleaning by other cleaning companies. Many of these companies, in an effort to cut costs and save time, buy the cheapest cleaning solutions, don’t provide the proper training for their technicians, and do not offer a separate rinse step in order to remove detergent residues. If detergent is left in the carpet, accelerated re-soiling will occur.

The Ideal Group uses a more thorough method of cleaning that uses a rinse step after the pre-spray process. This method removes deep down soil and leaves no detergent to accelerate the re-soiling process. The fact is, the best thing you can do for your carpets is have them regularly cleaned by a qualified professional carpet cleaning company. It is the build-up of soil that promotes wear to your carpet, far more than the foot traffic that travels on the surface of the carpet. Foot traffic grinds the soil against the carpet fibres and causes a sandpaper effect. This causes the fibres to dull and become worn looking.

Major carpet manufacturers such as Dupont and Shaw Industries recommend that you have your carpets cleaned every 6-18 months, and with most of today’s carpet, in order to satisfy the warranty requirements, you must save receipts from your cleanings. There are other considerations that can increase the frequency of cleanings, such as smoking habits, number and ages of children, soiling conditions, humidity, health status of occupants, allergy conditions, and number and types of pets just to name a few. Heavily travelled areas may require quarterly cleaning, while other less frequented areas may not need cleaning more than every 18 months. Either way, it makes good sense to have your carpets cleaned regularly—not only from an appearance and investment protection point of view, but also from a health standpoint. Regular deep cleaning removes bacteria, dust mites, germs, and the substances upon which these organisms live.