These four tips will help you plan and execute a successful carpet cleaning day to get your floor coverings fresh and clean for Spring.
When I was a kid, we lived in a split foyer house that rocked burnt red carpet throughout almost the whole home. Sexy, huh? We didn’t have any hardwoods, and the only rooms without carpet were the kitchen and bathrooms, which all had vinyl. Every Spring, my mom would rent a Rug Doctor carpet cleaning machine from the local grocery store. She and my dad would pull out all the furniture, move things around, and clean every square inch of the carpets. I always loved this process because once the carpets were dry, they were extra soft and cushy.
Nowadays, a lot of people own carpet cleaning machines and don’t have to go to the grocery store to rent one. But whether you own or rent, cleaning your carpets at least once a year is super important. And if your house is fully hard-surface like my current house, you aren’t in the clear either. All those rugs need to be cleaned, too, just like wall-to-wall carpet.
If cleaning your carpets is on your Spring Cleaning list (it should be), here are four tips for planning, executing, and pulling off the easiest carpet cleaning day you’ve ever had.
Carpet And Rug Spring Cleaning Tips
Make A Plan
You can’t just crank up your carpet cleaning machine and go to town on the floors without some kind of plan. If you do, you’ll find yourself backed into a corner or stuck in a room far away from the refrigerator.
Map out on a piece of paper where you’ll start, what route you’ll follow as you move through the house, and where you’ll end. Decide what furniture can be removed from the rooms completely and where you’ll store them, along with what pieces will just have to slide back and forth as you clean under them.
Also make sure you have enough cleaning solution on hand, because nothing is worse than getting halfway through the last room and running out of solution.
Vacuum First
This is probably the most important step of all your prep work. You should thoroughly vacuum your carpets, rugs, and any upholstered furniture you’ll be cleaning.
Vacuum fully in one direction, then vacuum again in the opposite direction; like you’re making big hashtags on your floor. This will allow your carpet cleaner to do a more accurate and less streaky job. It will also cut down on the amount of fur that gets clogged inside the machine and make cleaning the machine easier when you’re done.
Take Rugs To The Driveway
When you’re cleaning area rugs, it can be annoying to go from room to room to clean each individual rug, especially if you have large 8×10 rugs that take up a big space. Get a strong helper or two and carry all the rugs out to the driveway, lined up so their edges touch.
Plug your carpet cleaning machine into an extension cord and clean them all together at the same time in the driveway. The fresh air will help them dry faster, and since they’re all removed from their rooms, that gives you a chance to sweep and mop where they had been sitting.
Arrange For Child And Pet Care
A wet carpet to a kid or pet is like a moth to a flame. I don’t know how or why, but the minute I clean a rug in my house, it seems like every living thing, both human and animal, steps on it. And at least one cat pukes on it, too.
I highly suggest arranging childcare and pet care during your carpet cleaning day. Let your mom take the kiddos to lunch or have your spouse take them out for a fun day at the local museum. Schedule an appointment with the groomer or day spa for your dog. Set up an outdoor covered playpen for your cats, or put them in a room that won’t be cleaned.
It usually takes about 6 hours for carpets and rugs to dry, so make sure you plan for that amount plus another thirty minutes or so to get the furniture back in place before kids and pets roll back in.
Want To Rock Your Spring Cleaning This Year?
The Spring Cleaning Planner inside the Organized-ish Binder Kit Collection covers every single room of the house and gives you checklists for each one so you don’t forget anything. There is also a cleaning supply shopping list and cleaning schedule templates, plus an easy-to-follow timeline so you have the most organized and well-planned Spring Cleaning year ever. You can get the Spring Cleaning Planner here!
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