Generally speaking, the average carpet can last anywhere between 5-15 years, although much will depend on how much use it gets and where it’s located.
However, no matter where a carpet is placed or how much traffic it receives, there are still plenty of measures all of us can take to help increase the lifespan of any carpet. Here’s eight of them.
1. Rearrange furniture
When furniture is placed in a room the carpet underneath it won’t get used, while the rest of the carpet will. Over time, this can make the appearance of a carpet look uneven, with areas that appear more worn or flatter than other areas.
To avoid this from happening, consider rearranging the furniture in a room approximately once or twice per year, if feasible.
Not only will this help to protect and prolong your carpets, but moving furniture around every so often can give a room an aesthetic transformation.
2. Avoid carpet indentations
Moving your furniture around regularly can also help to prevent those nuisance indentations you get in carpets where heavy furniture has been placed. Over time, these marks and impressions may damage your carpets.
As well as moving furniture frequently, there are other ways to avoid carpet indentations, especially if rearranging furniture isn’t an option. For instance, you can buy small coasters or discs, often made of wood, plastic or even glass that are designed to be placed under furniture feet, to stop indentations from occurring. Small bits of spare carpet placed over the furniture feet may also do the trick.
Alternatively, steam cleaning a carpet may help to remove small dent marks in carpets, so speak to professional carpet cleaners for further advice.
3. Protect carpets from sun damage
Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun can damage a carpet if it’s exposed to it over a long period of time, potentially breaking down the fibres in a carpet. Sunlight may also cause carpet colours to fade.
You can prevent this from happening by either adding UV protection to your windows, or closing blinds and curtains when sunlight shines onto your carpets.
4. Keep shoes at the door
What you wear (or don’t wear) on your feet can have an impact on the number of years your carpets live for, so bear this in mind.
Wearing outdoor footwear inside could track in mud, dirt, germs, bacteria and pollutants, all ending up finding a home in your carpets. You can’t rely on a vacuum cleaner alone to remove these, either, as debris and particles can get trodden down into a carpet and will remain untouched by the average household hoover. That’s why getting your carpets professionally cleaned every so often makes good sense, as you can have peace of mind that the industrial equipment used by the pros will tackle all those bits of dirt that your vacuum cleaner can’t.
5. Put your slippers on
Even if you might leave outside footwear at the door, don’t assume that walking around the house barefoot will do your carpets any favours. In fact, the natural oils found in feet, sweat and residues from foot moisturising creams can find their way into a carpet, potentially degrading its fibres. This could have an impact on its lifespan.
Therefore, put a pair of slippers on or wear socks when walking around the house.
6. Vacuum regularly
With so many other chores that need doing, you might forget to do the vacuuming as often as you ought to, but keeping to a regular routine could help to add years to a carpet’s life.
Vacuuming removes the dirt, dust and particles that accumulate on the surface of a carpet. The longer these bits are left on a carpet, the more likely they’ll get trodden down deeper into the pile, making it much more difficult for them to be removed by a vacuum cleaner.
Bits of dirt sunken to the bottom of a carpet can only be effectively removed by professional deep cleaning. If they’re left long enough, particles could damage carpet fibres, affecting the appearance and condition of a carpet, shortening its lifespan.
As well as making sure you get into the habit of vacuuming carpets regularly, use a good-quality hoover. Empty the hoover and clean all the parts frequently, so that it can work optimally at all times. Schedule in a deep clean every six months or so to tackle those particles of dirt hiding far down in the carpet.
7. Don’t ignore stains
Whether something has spilled onto a carpet or been dropped on it and left a stain, ignoring it could shorten the lifespan of your carpet. Tackling stains and spillages as soon as they occur means that they’re easier to get out of the carpet and be removed successfully. But, the longer you leave it, the more likely they’ll set in and become a permanent feature.
A word of caution if you attempt to remove carpet stains yourself. Not all of the cleaning products you can buy for getting rid of carpet stains live up to their expectations, and there’s a chance that you could even make the problem worse if you use the wrong formula for a specific type of stain.
The best solution is to immediately call out a reputable carpet & upholstery cleaning company that has lots of experience tackling all kinds of carpet stains. That way, you can be guaranteed of the highest quality end results.
8. Professional cleaning
By far one of the best ways to ensure you’re helping your carpets live to a ripe old age is by getting them professionally cleaned on a regular basis – around every six months should do, but a lot depends on how much use a carpet gets.
How can professional cleaning increase a carpet’s lifespan? Well, a commercial company will have the best and latest kit to hand for getting rid of dirt and debris from top to bottom in a carpet. They will also have a range of cleaning solutions that can tackle problems such as dust mites, odours or stains, ensuring carpets remain spotlessly clean and are as hygienic as possible.
This prevents carpets getting damaged over time, which can affect their materials and fabrics, and may even shorten a carpet’s lifespan – so it’s well worth putting the effort in to call the experts out if you want to hang onto your carpets for years to come.
Carpet Bright UK can assist to keep your carpets, upholstery and rugs looking in good condition for as long as possible, so get in touch with our carpet cleaning London experts today for a free quote.
