There’s nothing quite like a clean, plush carpet underneath your bare feet. Carpets are lovely, whether they’re saving you from cold toes on a chilly winter morning or improving your comfort on a warm summer evening. Once they’re installed in your home, you may never want to get rid of your carpets. Of course, that begs the question: what is the average lifespan of carpet in South Amboy, NJ?
About three to five years (sort of)
Under ideal circumstances—that is, in a family of three with no pets and no smokers—a well-installed carpet should last around three to five years. Over that period of time, it’s fairly certain that one or two spills will have transformed into permanent stains, or that someone will unknowingly track dirt or mud through the house.
Even if you manage to avoid accidents on the rug, the day-in, day-out act of walking across your carpet will wear it down. Eventually, your carpet fibers will fall out, exposing the bottom layer of the carpet and leaving the surface uneven and unpleasant to look at, let alone walk on.
The real truth
That’s the best-case scenario. Want to add a family cat? You’ll also put your carpet at risk of being used as a scratcher. Want a dog? If they don’t come potty-trained, your carpet will feel the pain for the first few months. New babies are tons of fun, but they also have little to no regard for the state of your floors.
For every new family member you add, you can subtract a few months of use from your carpets and rugs. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to extend the lifespan of your carpet in South Amboy, NJ.
Vacuum regularly
At a minimum, you should be vacuuming your carpets at least once a week. If you have several pets or a large family (or both), you should be vacuuming two to three times a week.
Failing to keep up with this cleaning and maintenance could substantially reduce the life of your carpet. What’s more, your carpet could begin to collect dust and germs that exacerbate allergies and pose a threat to those with compromised immune systems.
Call in a pro
The single best thing you can do to extend the life of your carpets and keep them looking fantastic is to schedule a regular carpet cleaning. In our little corner of New Jersey, that means calling in Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center. We’ll work hard to extend the lifespan of your carpet in South Amboy, NJ.
Since we opened our doors all the way back in 1948, Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center has dedicated our team to making sure that all of our valued clients are satisfied from beginning to end. We offer a wide variety of services, including carpet installation, carpet cleaning, area rug cleaning, hardwood waxing and so much more. Even better, we’ll clean your carpets with state-of-the-art equipment that will reduce your discomfort all around.
Give us a call today to schedule your free estimate. We can’t wait to hear from you!
There’s an odd cleaning trend growing. It seems that the more advanced technology becomes, the more rudimentary the methods employed by DIY cleaners. As a society, we have terabytes of human knowledge catalogued on the internet. Yet, more and more of the sites on the internet are eschewing modern cleaning techniques in favor of homespun remedies. The king of all home cleaning ingredients? White vinegar.
But, is vinegar indeed the ultimate cleaning ingredient in your home? For example, can you use vinegar to clean carpets in South Amboy, NJ? Let’s find out.
Vinegar certainly has its place
To be fair, there is some validity to using vinegar as a cleaning agent. When combined with water in an even solution, vinegar works wonders on hard surfaces. For the porcelain in your bathroom or the tiles in your kitchen, white vinegar and water is fantastic at clearing stains and removing dirt.
What’s more, for those homeowners with pets, a squirt bottle of white vinegar and water can help remove the smells often associated with pet waste. For example, if you have a cat that can’t seem to hit the litter box 100 percent of the time, eventually, the smell of ammonia will become unbearable. With the help of some white vinegar, you can eliminate that smell rapidly. At first, things will smell like vinegar, but after a day or two, the smell should dissipate and take the cat pee smell with it.
Yes, white vinegar is helpful for certain chores. That said, here’s why you should never use white vinegar to clean carpets in South Amboy, NJ.
Dirt and soil just laugh
As useful as vinegar can be on hard surfaces, it’s borderline useless when used on the carpet. Several studies have determined that a solution of vinegar and water is actually one of the least effective ways to clean your carpet. If you douse your dirty carpet or rug with white vinegar and scrub away, the only thing you’ll gain is a sore back and a dirty carpet that’s also damp.
Other solutions don’t work
Some dubious sources on the internet suggest swapping out the water in favor of a baking soda and vinegar solution. This ultimately creates a paste that gets stuck in your rug and needs to be cleaned out in addition to the dirt.
Still more people suggest mixing vinegar with hydrogen peroxide. Absolutely do not combine those materials—the result is peracetic acid, which is a highly toxic substance.
Let the pros handle your carpets
When it comes down to it, using vinegar to clean carpets in South Amboy, NJ is a bad idea. If you really want to save yourself time and effort, bring your business to Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center. Since 1948, we have worked tirelessly to help every single one of our customers get the quality service they deserve.
We specialize in the cleaning, maintenance and installation of carpets and area rugs. We’re happy to offer waxing and buffing services for hardwood floors, as well. When your floors need to look their best, give them a little Lov ‘N Kare. Visit us online or give us a call today.
If you’re a home owner who has carpeted rooms, you may be wondering how often to clean your carpets in South Amboy, NJ. There’s not a single universal answer here—the frequency with which you should clean your carpets depends on factors such as whether or not you have kids or pets, as well as how much traffic the carpet in that particular room gets.
Most professionals will recommend you clean your carpets in high-traffic areas every year to a year and a half, and all other carpets every two years. However, you may need more frequent cleanings if you have children or pets.
Here’s a quick overview of what you should know.
How children affect carpet cleaning schedules
There’s no getting around it—children are messy. They track in dirt after they play outside, and they’re prone to spilling drinks and food. A house with young children will be in particular need of more frequent carpet cleanings. You can expect to need to clean your high-traffic areas every six to 12 months. You might consider investing in professional cleaning once a year, and using a rental carpet cleaning machine in the six-month intervals.
How pets affect carpet cleaning schedules
Pet owners also need to clean their carpets more often. This is especially true of dog owners—dogs are going to bring in dirt, grass and all kinds of other debris from outside. But dogs and cats alike will shed and spread their dander. You also need to contend with any accidents the pet may have on your carpeting.
You should make it a point to vacuum at least a couple times a week if you have pets, just to keep the loose fur and dander from affecting your respiratory health, but you should also make it a point to clean your high-traffic carpets every three to six months and get professional cleanings a couple times a year.
If you know there is a spot on the carpet where the pet has urinated, dab the wet urine with paper towels to get up as much of the liquid as possible, then use a vinegar solution or a pet odor removal product to spray on the area and help remove some of the odors.
Keep in mind that your carpet’s warranty may very well be voided by a failure to regularly clean the carpet. Look through the instructions that come with your warranty and see what it says about carpet cleaning. Most warranties will require annual professional cleanings in order to remain valid, but the terms of warranties will vary, so it’s important for you to carefully analyze the terms of your specific warranty so you know how frequently to get professionals in to clean your carpet.
To learn more about the kind of carpet cleaning frequency you should aim for in South Amboy, NJ and the factors that might influence your decisions, we encourage you to contact the professional carpet cleaners at Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center with any questions you have about our services. We look forward to working with you.
When cleaning tile walls and floors, you’ll find it much more difficult to get the grout clean than the tile itself. This means you need to pay some extra special attention to the grout.
What you’re cleaning off depends primarily on where the grout is located. In bathrooms, you’re probably going to be dealing with mildew and mold. In the kitchen, mildew may be a possibility, but you’re also going to have to contend with spills from cooking. Finally, in mudrooms or entryways, you’re most likely to have to remove dirt and muck.
How often should grout be cleaned in South Amboy, NJ, and what are the best approaches for doing so? No matter what kind of debris you’re dealing with, a few simple steps will help you restore your grout to keep your tiled areas looking great. Here are a few strategies you might consider trying:
Simple warm water: Depending on the extent of the debris buildup, you may be able to get away with using just plain warm water and a stiff-bristle brush to scrub with. You can find such a brush at just about any hardware store or home center, and may even find options specifically designed for use on grout. Spray the water on the grout lines, scrub in a circular motion and then let it dry out.
Vinegar and water mixture: For slightly more significant buildup, you can use a 50/50 vinegar/water mixture and spray it on the grout. Let the mixture settle in for a few minutes before you start scrubbing with a stiff brush, using that same circular motion as described before.
Baking soda and vinegar: You can make the vinegar method even more powerful by creating a paste using baking soda and water, which you will apply to the grout lines. Once the paste is in place, spray on some vinegar. Wait until the area stops foaming before you start to scrub away with a stiff-bristle brush. You can then rinse the area with plain water and wipe away.
Steam cleaning: Steam cleaning can help you remove some of the worst grout stains in an environmentally-friendly manner.
Oxygen bleach: If there’s a thick buildup of grime on your grout, you can use oxygen bleach as a substitute for some of these other, milder cleaning products. You’ll generally find it in powdered form. Follow the instructions on the packaging, and make sure the area is well ventilated before you apply it. When finished with the solution, rinse the area with clean water.
Hydrogen peroxide: Some stains may be removable with hydrogen peroxide, which you can find in any drugstore. You can either create a paste by combining the product with baking soda, or just use the product on its own.
Chlorine bleach: Chlorine bleach can be used in rare circumstances if you’re dealing with extreme buildup. Make sure you rinse away any other cleaning products you use before trying it to avoid toxic reactions. In general, though, you should avoid using caustic cleaners unless absolutely necessary so you don’t erode the grout.
For more information about how to clean grout and how often grout should be cleaned in South Amboy, NJ, contact Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center today.
As any active homeowner can tell you, the carpets in your home really take a beating. Maybe it’s the family dog storming through the house after a rainy walk. Maybe it’s one of the kids spilling paint on the ground while working on their next great masterpiece. Or, maybe there’s still a big red blotch from the plate of spaghetti you spilled a few months ago underneath the couch’s new location.
Whatever the cause, the moment you install your pristine new carpet, you have kick-started a countdown to the moment something falls on it. Hey, it’s a part of life. But you don’t have to fret over a stained or dirty carpet. Here’s how to sanitize carpet in South Amboy, NJ.
Start with the right tools
Properly disinfecting the carpets in your home begins with finding the right tools. Fortunately, the actual cleaning mixture is relatively common. White vinegar and hot water have been trusted by amateur and professional cleaners alike for hundreds of years. Why? Because it’s cheap, plentiful and, best of all, it works.
Since this is a specialized process, however, you’ll need a specialized tool to complete it. That means buying or renting a steam cleaner.
Follow the instructions
More often than not, an average steam cleaner will come with instructions on what ratio to use when mixing your cleaning solution (in this case, vinegar) with water. Often, these instructions will explain how to use soap with water in the steam cleaner’s detergent holder. You can just use these guidelines, but replace vinegar with the soap.
If there are no instructions included with the steam cleaner, here’s a good rule of thumb to use: the more vinegar in your solution, the more powerful it will be. For severe stains, for example, a solution of pure vinegar may be best.
Be patient
One of the most important factors to keep in mind when you’re figuring out to how to disinfect carpet in South Amboy, NJ is patience. When you’re done steam cleaning your carpet, it will be wet. If you’re using vinegar, it will also be a bit stinky. With time, however, your carpet will dry and the vinegar smell will recede. You should avoid walking on the carpet until it’s completely dry.
Play it safe
When you’re curious about how to sanitize carpet in South Amboy, NJ, the only surefire answer is to call Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center. For more than 70 years, we have offered incredible service at an affordable price to all of our valued customers. Why sink your money into specialized tools when you can invest in an experienced team that will save you time and effort?
Breathe new life into your carpets with a little help from our talented team. We also offer a huge array of services, including carpet repairs and re-stretching. We can also offer oriental rug cleaning, as well as alterations on rugs. Need your furniture or drapes cleaned? We can do that, too.
See what happens when you show your carpet a little love and care. Give us a call today!
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