How often do you clean your carpets?

[tvguy]

I have a neighbor who has a truck mounted carpet cleaner come every three months. The truck is there for several hours so I assume they are getting all the carpet cleaned.
We replaced 1,500 square feet of carpet with laminate 10 years ago. Just one room has carpet and we clean it with a home steam cleaner when it gets dirty. The carpet is not white but a shade of. The previous 30 years we were in the house we had the carpet cleaned about every five years. That carpet was brown Just seems like all that cleaning would wear the carpet out. How often do you clean your carpets?

 

[happily single]

Only my bedroom and the stairs have carpet. We have three shedding dogs. I steam clean about every 6-8 weeks just to “freshen” up my room. I’d love to pull my carpet up but fear the dog fur balls that will appear. At least with carpet they are slightly hidden. I vacuum every other day

 

[CGB]

Our upstairs is hardwood, but we put carpet squares in our finished basement. I bought the home version of a Rug Doctor carpet cleaner and it's been worth every penny. We clean the carpets every 3-4 months, but we also have cats.

 

[georgina]

Most of our house is hardwood with a few area rugs. A couple of the bedrooms have carpet, which I vacuum but do not otherwise clean.

 

[barkley]

Just seems like all that cleaning would wear the carpet out. How often do you clean your carpets?

regular cleaning (both vacuuming and steam) can extend the life of carpet. we steam clean anytime there's a spill and periodically throughout the year, vacuum as needed (but a minimum of every other week).

 

[TCRAIG]

My downstairs floors are all hardwoods but I do have large rugs down that I shampoo every once in a while when they look dirty. The upstairs bedrooms have carpet but since they’re all guest rooms that only get used once or twice a year, I shampoo maybe once every 2-3 years.

 

[buzzrelly]

We don't have any carpets but when we did we would get them cleaned about twice/year.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

we only have 2 rooms w/carpet... there is no real schedule on cleaning, other than an "as needed basis"

 

[Meriweather]

Most of our flooring is tile.
The carpet in the dining room and master bedroom and top of stairs is done every year.
The guest rooms less often

 

[soccerdad72]

Whenever my wife says we need to

As far as professional cleaning, we've probably only had that done a couple times in the 21 years we've been in the house. Granted, we've done hardwood throughout the first floor, so it's just the stairs and upstairs bedrooms that are carpeted now. I've rented a carpet cleaner from Home Depot a couple times in the last few years as well - I find I can do a decent job of it for a lot less than hiring in a company.

 

[CynBeth]

Never. We have a dog and figure not worth it will just get messed up again. We vacuum every now and again.

 

[tvguy]

regular cleaning (both vacuuming and steam) can extend the life of carpet. we steam clean anytime there's a spill and periodically throughout the year, vacuum as needed (but a minimum of every other week).

We always vacuumed weekly. Our contractor's grade carpet was 35 years old when we replaced it. House was four years old when we bought it from a retired couple with a dog. We raised 2 kids, and had 5 cats over the years so it got heavy use. It is always horrifying to pull up carpet and see the beach of grit that worked it's way through the carpet and pad. We were surprised when we pulled up the vinyl flooring in the laundry room at how much cat litter had worked it's way from the litter box to UNDER the vinyl.
I guess the follow up question is, how often do you replace your carpet? When I sold my parents house, the house and carpet were 53 years old. The hall area was worn, the Living room was like new, other than the dated style carpet. But we only used the Living room at Christmas and a few other occasions. I would be surprised if it got used more than 100 days in 53 years

 

[NannyBeBe]

The only area in my home that is carpeted is the stairs, for safety reasons. We chose to not carpet when we built our home because carpeting is very hard to keep clean.

 

[cabanafrau]

We clean most of the carpeted areas two to three times a year. When both daughters were living at home full-time it was more common to spot clean some of the trafficked areas in between. Our living room and bedrooms are carpeted, all a very light cream color.

It's a long-standing debate between DH and I to pull up all the carpets and have the hardwoods underneath refinished. I feel like the house would have much less dust because it would be possible to thoroughly remove it on a routine basis. He wants the soft warmth of carpet. I feel like carpets hold odors so they've got to be cleaned regularly. I'm biding my time when this carpet breathes its last, because I plan to push for my hardwood restoration dream at last.

 

[goofyernmost]

When it gets to the point where the carpets need cleaning it's time to sell the house and move.

 

[tvguy]

We clean most of the carpeted areas two to three times a year. When both daughters were living at home full-time it was more common to spot clean some of the trafficked areas in between. Our living room and bedrooms are carpeted, all a very light cream color.

It's a long-standing debate between DH and I to pull up all the carpets and have the hardwoods underneath refinished. I feel like the house would have much less dust because it would be possible to thoroughly remove it on a routine basis. He wants the soft warmth of carpet. I feel like carpets hold odors so they've got to be cleaned regularly. I'm biding my time when this carpet breathes its last, because I plan to push for my hardwood restoration dream at last.

Well, what we have discovered 10 years after replacing are carpet with laminate is, what dust and fuzz there is, is a whole lot more visible without carpet. Carpet hides a lot of things. I can sweep, vacuum and then bona the floors and as soon as the bona dries, I find more dust and fuzz on the floor.

 

[Moliphino]

No carpet in my house (we pulled up the super old burgundy carpet in the living room as soon as we were able and replaced it with oak). Area rugs get spot cleaned or replaced as needed.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Does the neighbor have kids or grandkids over? Sippy cup splashes that oxidize are a nightmare, same goes for pets that might be getting old

Had a steamer and some rooms I did more frequently than others, furniture too, that thing was the best it lasted over 20 years and I gifted it when the house was sold.

It can also be asthma or allergy related to reduce the pollen/dust mites.

 

[tvguy]

Does the neighbor have kids or grandkids over? Sippy cup splashes that oxidize are a nightmare, same goes for pets that might be getting old

Had a steamer and some rooms I did more frequently than others, furniture too, that thing was the best it lasted over 20 years and I gifted it when the house was sold.

It can also be asthma or allergy related to reduce the pollen/dust mites.

They have kids and a dog, but in the 10-15 year old range, so well past sippy cups.
I thought about allergies and asthma as we have dealt with that in our extended family. In that experience, those health issues precluded the use of any carpet or even area rugs because it traps dust and pollen.
Thinking back, cleaning the carpet seemed to be the hardest thing we ever did to our carpet. It didn't matter whether we used a dry chemical cleaning service, or steam cleaning, we always had to have them back to repair seams that came apart or have it re-stretched.

 

[ClaraOswald]

We vacuum regularly. We have new carpet as of a year or so ago. We have a small carpet shampooer that we use to spot clean any accidents (like my son's bloody nose.) Other than that, we won't shampoo the entire floor....ever, probably. I don't see the need to steam or shampoo things that aren't spills or bodily fluids.

When we moved into this house 5 years ago, we did have all of the carpets cleaned at that time though.

I think vacuuming (with a good vacuum) and replacing our HVAC filters often is good enough for pollen and whatnot.