How Often Should I Have My Carpets Professionally Cleaned?
Recommended Carpet Cleaning Frequencies and Other Variables to Consider
Are you wondering if it’s time to hire a professional carpet cleaner? This handy guide will help you get a good understanding of how often you should be having your carpets deep-cleaned by a skilled pro like Oxi Fresh.
Staying up-to-date on your carpet cleaning needs will have a big impact on your carpets and home, helping limit premature wear and fiber damage, improve your indoor air quality, and keep your home looking its very best.
How Often Should Carpets Be Cleaned? Here’s The Short Answer:
According to one of the preeminent carpet trade associations, the Carpet and Rug Institute, a typical homeowner should have their residential carpets cleaned “every 12 to 18 months or more frequently if necessary.”
While 12 to 18 months may be a good rough estimate for low-traffic homes, there are a lot of factors, which we describe below, that can make it beneficial to book more frequent carpet cleanings. At Oxi Fresh, we have a lot of customers who benefit from having their carpets cleaned as often as twice a year. But with typical traffic levels in your home and no other major concerns, having your carpets cleaned professionally about once a year is a good rule of thumb.
Variables that Affect Your Carpet Cleaning Needs
While those average timelines can be a helpful starting point, there are a lot of variables to consider when determining whether your home might benefit from more frequent carpet cleaning services. Here are some of these factors:
- Pets: Dogs, cats, and any other animals—especially if they come in and out of the house or had a few accidents during housetraining—can really do a number on your carpets, increasing your need for professional carpet cleaning.
- Kids: This probably goes without saying, but kids can also track a lot of dirt into your carpets.
- High Traffic/Heavy Use: If your home or particular parts of your home—a hallway, foyer, or mudroom, for example—see a lot of foot traffic, more frequent carpet cleanings are a good call.
- Respiratory Issues: If your family is experiencing increased asthma, allergies, or other respiratory symptoms, you should consider booking a carpet cleaning to remove the debris trapped in the carpet fibers.
- Smoking: If someone smokes inside your home, carpet cleaning on a more regular basis can, to an extent, help minimize some odors.
- Stains, Odors, and Other Concerns: If you have visible stains or lingering odors you can’t clear up on your own, it’s time to call the carpet cleaning professionals.
- Regional and Lifestyle Considerations: Say you live in a part of the country with a prolonged “rainy season” and like to be active outdoors—book an extra cleaning after the muddy weather clears up to get things back in shape.
- Your Own Cleaning Schedule: Life is busy, and we totally get it if you don’t have the time for regular vacuuming. Scheduling more regular professional carpet cleanings can help compensate.
DIY Carpet Care Between Professional Carpet Services
On this last point, we thought we’d offer a few quick tips to help you keep your carpets as clean as possible in between professional services:
- First, vacuum very regularly—at least once a week at the bare minimum, with more frequent vacuuming over entryways and other high-traffic areas. Be sure to follow our vacuuming best practices to get the most out of your efforts as well.
- Anytime a spot or stain shows up, treat it immediately. Waiting around gives the stain a chance to set-in to your carpet, making it much harder to remove down the road.
- On top of that, it’s best to use mats or area rugs near any entrances to your house, just so they can catch a lot of that soil before it ever reaches your carpet.
- If you can, consider leaving your shoes at the door too.
Time for a Carpet Cleaning?
Are you overdue for a carpet cleaning? Struggling with spots or other issues? Oxi Fresh has you covered. And with our environmentally friendly, fast-drying carpet cleaning solutions, you can book as many carpet cleanings as you’d like with minimal worry or inconvenience.
If you’re ready to get in our schedule, just visit our online booking tool or call our team at 1-877-694-3737 today.
