Carpet Cleaner

Cleaning your carpet regularly prolongs the life of a major investment and keeps your home looking fresh and well maintained. If you have children, keeping floors clean becomes both more important and more difficult. In the past, carpet cleaning was either a major expense (if you had it done by professionals) or a major project (if you rented one of those behemoth machines.) Fortunately, that's no longer the case. With the availability of new carpet cleaners that are hardly more difficult to use than vacuum cleaners and cost very little more, you can easily keep your carpets clean yourself, without having to hire professionals. Even compared to rental machines, buying a carpet cleaner is an investment that will quickly pay for itself. There are two basic types of at-home carpet cleaners: shampooers and steam cleaners. Shampooers use a detergent solution which is applied to the carpet with a rotating brush, then sucked up with a vacuum. Most cleaning experts feel that steam cleaning is both more thorough and easier on your carpet. Look for a steam cleaner that has separate tanks for hot water and used water, and that has five to seven rotating brushes to loosen dirt. Upright styles are best for large areas, while canister styles are easier to use for furniture, drapes and stairs.At the very least, you should consider getting a hand-held steam cleaner for immediate treatment of spots and stains. Especially if you have kids and/or pets, stains are inevitable, and the quicker you treat them, the less likely they are to be permanent. Always test your cleaner in an inconspicuous area of your carpet before using it the first time, to be sure your fiber is colorfast.