Recently we got hardwood floors upstairs and downstairs. Looks great! And we got some new carpeting on the steps from first to second floor. Looks like crap!
We know the problem is walking barefoot on the hardwood floor and then on the carpet. We dust the hardwood floors a couple times a week, but obviously not enough.
So, how can we get those ugly black dirt stains off the carpet steps? I bought a hand-held Bissel wet carpet cleaner, I have bought at least 5 different rug cleaning products – enough to classify our house as a bio hazard. Nothing is working. The carpet is kind of a nappy beige Berber (“designed for heavy foot traffic” the salesman assured us).
Any sure-fire suggestions would be welcomed as we have the next batch of visitors arriving Wednesday afternoon and would like to get them clean by then!
I’m not an expert, but… If you overclean a carpet (using carpet cleaner and not rinsing with plain water afterward), there can be a residue that seems to attract more dirt. Maybe that’s what’s been happening on your stairs?
Anyhow, I would suggest calling a professional carpet cleaner. They’re not terribly expensive, and not only will they get your carpet clean, but they might have some ideas about why it seems to get dirty so quickly.
After this, make sure you don’t clean with excessive amounts of cleaner, and depending on what the professional cleaner tells you, maybe oyu need to rinse after cleaning.
Maybe you can get a runner and those brass runner-holder-downers and cover the carpeting with that until you can afford to replace it.
I would like to have a carpeting-free home, but alas, this is one of the many things that me and Mr. K disagree on. I want hardwood floors and beautiful area rugs. Instead, I have more carpeting that my cats can ruin. They do it just to piss me off, I swear. They don’t pee…they claw it.
My mom told me that cleaning your carpet with cleaning solution can ‘strip’ your carpet, kind of like washing your hair with ajax. To make matters worse, most machines for home use don’t get all the solution back out and attract dirt that way. Since mom sold carpet for a living and is a clean freak to boot, I’m going to believe her. Pros can do a good job or leave solution behind too, so get recc’s from people who know who’s good. If you trust the carpet place where you got yours, they might know a good company.
Make sure you use very gentle shampoo once you’ve cleaned the carpets with water only and that’s not doing the job anymore. Do a super good job rinsing the carpet.
Also, light colored berber, truly good for high traffic, is not to be found on this planet. I had some in the bathroom of my last apartment and it was disgusting after a few months, no matter what I did. So one day I took that stuff and washed it in the bathtub. It was a giant pain but by og, it came clean. I was willing to dump the whole thing if it warped at that point though, so I had very little to lose. Good luck.