Need your carpet care tips!

[Vajrastorm]

We just had new carpet installed. Up until now, we had 100% tile. I don't know the finer parts of carpet care. What is the best way to deal with stains? We have stainmaster carpet, since there is a baby, 2 dogs, and 3 cats under our roof.

Found cat puke on the carpet this morning, so suddenly my desire for knowledge is pressing. :P

[Momof3Labs]

Spot Shot is great for stains, but doesn't get out pet smells. Nature's Miracle is my favorite for pet stains (or any puke/pee/poop stains, for that matter), just be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle to the "T". You might want to invest in a black light, too, which will show you if any smell is remaining after you clean.

I've had carpeting with dogs and cats and, honestly, spent way too much time on my hands and knees scrubbing it, so we went with almost all hardwood floors in this house - much nicer!!

[slecompte]

I hear this from all the carpet cleaning companies I use--overall, water and a dry vac is the best and first thing to try. The more solvents you use, the worse it can be to set in certain stains and usually people don't get the solvent out 100% when finished cleaning and then it gets dirtier even faster. So now I douse with water, blot, and continue until I get it out. Every once in a while I will use a little dishwashing soap, but I try not too if possible. That came from Stanley Steamer and another one that I have used recently.

HTH!

Sheila

[SeekerMage]

Per our carpet place scrub the area with dish soap (we used dawn) and water until stain is mostly gone, then soak the area with soapy water, press the area with a towel to soak up the majority and then place several white towels on top and place a heavy object over the towels overnight. The towels soak up the stain leaving clean carpet underneath. This worked with every stain we encountered from grape juice to bright red cat puke! (I love this method to because we dont have to worry about chemicals or anything else that might be harmful to baby/pets.

Also, vaccum often and when pet smells appear I like the arm and hammor pet smells powdery stuff that you sprinkle and then vacuum up (cant think of the exact name of the stuff). You do have to make sure you get all of it up though because it has warnings about pets and such on the box.

[bostonsmama]

I second the Spot Shot recommendation. It's so fantastic, I give it as housewarming gifts! It got out three quarter-sized splats of dried red wall paint last year and all of our puppy's early mistakes! Yes, it needs to be rinsed out, but it's the best at removing the offending stains (and we have white carpet throughout our house).

Our carpet installer said to get a vacuum with great suction and deep rotating brushes. We first bought a Hoover Bagless Windtunnel (pretty great), but later bought a new Kirby (man that thing is awesome!) and haven't had a dirt problem since. We vacuum about 2-3 times per week on its deepest setting. We don't wear shoes in the house, either...but you'd be amazed at how much dirt a pet's feet track in. We're trying to teach our beagle to wipe his feet when he comes in from outside (he's a digger!), but no luck yet!

I don't recommend Carpet Fresh powders as they ruin your vacuum...it's like throwing sand all over your floors and vacuuming it up...so bad for the motor and you'll go through bags more quickly if it uses them. Febreeze works much better when sprayed after vacuuming.

One last piece of advice: get a steam cleaner/carpet shampooer. We bought the Hoover Steam Vac with SpinScrub technology and separate tanks for clean/dirty water. It's bulky but effective. Some people like the Bissel Little Green Machine, as it's lightweight and portable. Both can be purchased for under $170. They are perfect for kitty puke and dog pee. HTH and good luck!