Drop When You Read This!
A little known fact is that ninety percent of America's breathing problems come from the organisms, bacteria, viruses and fungi that reside, fester, and breed in our carpets. In addition to this we have little bugs called dust mites that live off of our skin cells...sixty percent of our dust is made up of our skin cells and dust mite feces!
The EPA recommends that your carpets be cleaned at least once every six months...Of course this can create a stress on your bank account depending on what company or process that you choose to use. A lot of what determines how often you get your carpets cleaned will be how often you vacuum and how "on top of the spots" you are.
Product is another key thing to consider. Ninety five percent of the all the products on the market have surfactants or residue based components. A surfactant is an optical brightener that creates the illusion of a clean carpet. A surfactant is petroleum based though and leaves a "Vaseline" type based residue that causes wicking.
Wicking is where a bacteria or a residue travel back up a fiber and reform the spot. A similar problem occurs when a residue filled product attracts dirt and reforms the spot. The only way to combat these problems is to sanitize the carpet to kill bacteria and either replace the carpet or get rid of the residues in the backing (usually professionally done). One trick of the trade is to clean a spot with a good residue free product and then to prevent the wicking, air dry it rapidly. The faster a carpet dries the less able the residues can travel up a fiber to reform the spot.
Another thing that can be beneficial is to use a carpet rake/brush or Pile lifter...If you use one of these before you vacuum you will get out thirty percent more dirt and hair. Dirt left in the carpet or missed by the vacuum can be abrasive like sandpaper. This is evidenced by the formation of traffic patterns. These traffic areas are also indicative of the manufacturers finish having worn off. This finish must be replaced from time to time.
One thing that has been given a bad name is the option to have a finish reapplied to a carpet. The problem is that if you fail to do so then your carpet will get dirtier faster and not be stain resistant. The problem lies in that you have to have the proper product applied. Some of the more famous brands are on recall right now and I am presently gloating as I have been saying for years that those particular brands are no good.
Click here and find more information on Finishes in the third paragraph...