It's not just the architecture of our home that makes it such a wonderful place to live. Carpet, furniture, and rugs add to its attractiveness and liveability. Maintaining the beauty of these accessories is important for maintaning your home.

In addition to professional cleaning, here are some tips for cleaning your carpet, rug, and upholestry.

Carpet Cleaning Tips

Vacuuming regularly is one of the most important steps you can take to maintaining the beauty of your carpets. Therefore, it is important to know the difference between the variety of vacuums

There are many types of vacuums that people use to clean. Some vacuums are used just for everyday cleaning and other vacuums are used for professional cleaning. The two main types of vacuums are uprights and canisters. Both vacuums have their own benefits and disadvantages.

UPRIGHT VACUUMS

These types of vacuums are good in the fact that they are usually very easy to maneuver around and can be controlled with one hand. They have very powerful motors and are much more durable than other types of vacuums, including the canister. Most professional cleaners prefer to use this type of vacuum as opposed to all other vacuums.

An upright vacuum, however, is not very handy for cleaning up and down stairs, in corners, on upholstery, floors or cleaning far underneath furniture and other things. But for surface carpet cleaning, an upright is the most powerful cleaner around.

CANISTER VACUUMS

These types of vacuums are excellent for cleaning up and down stairs, on upholstery, in corners, and everywhere else where the upright vacuum cannot clean well. This vacuum is also the best choice for cleaning floors without carpets. The reason for this is because when you are using an upright to clean a hard surface floor, unless you can stop the brush from spinning as you clean, most of the dust will be scooped up by the brush and shot out the sides or out of the back of the upright vacuum. So if effect, you are not actually cleaning the floor, you are moving the dirt and dust around. The canister vacuum has an attachment for the floor. There is no brush that spins therefore the dirt and dust goes right into the vacuum and the floor gets cleaned.

The canister vacuum usually comes with an assortment of attachment tools for different cleaning jobs. It is easier to use the attachments with a canister vacuum rather than an upright vacuum. Although some upright vacuums do come with attachment tools, when you use the attachments on an upright vacuum, the vacuum tends to fall down from the weight and from pulling on it.

A canister vacuum, unlike the upright, is not the easiest vacuum to maneuver around. Besides the vacuum head to push, you also need to pull the unit behind you and around corners as you vacuum. This tends to cause problems when you want to vacuum around furniture or as you vacuum into different rooms in the home.

The attachments that most vacuums come with are used for different jobs. Some vacuums come with so many attachments that it is often difficult to distinguish which attachments are used in which jobs. Most of the attachments that come with upright and canister vacuums have the same general description. There are a few variations but they mostly look the same.

ATTACHMENTS

Floor brush- A foot long head that is used to vacuum wood, ceramic, tile and linoleum floors.

Upholstery nozzle- A wedge shaped nozzle that is used to clean upholstery, car interiors and stairs.

Dusting brush- A small, circular brush that is used to clean blinds, heaters, windowsills and anything else too delicate for other tools.

Crevice tool- A long, narrow tool with an angled flat tip that is used to get into cracks, crevices and corners where the other attachments can not reach.

Rug Cleaning Tips

Like carpets, rugs require regular maintenance and cleaning. Dirt can settle in between the fibers and cause premature deterioration. Regular vacuuming will help prevent this the most. Here are some other general care tips for your rugs:

• DON'T shake or beat your rug. This strains the backing, and an old rug might disintegrate in your hands.
  
• DO air your rug outdoors occasionally, especially on damp, foggy days. This will make a dry burlap backing less brittle.
  
• DON'T hang your rug over a clothesline (for the reasons mentioned above); lay it flat and turn occasionally.
  
• VACUUMING - Sand and grit will grind down the pile of your rug and weaken its foundation. Some books forbid vacuuming delicate antique rugs, while others say that gentle suction (on the pile side only, with the upholstery attachment of a canister-type vacuum or a hand vacuum - one source suggests covering the suction wand with layers of cheesecloth) is okay for any rug. Also, occasionally place your rug face down and pat it (or sweep it) to dislodge grit which has fallen between the loops.
  
• Some books suggest placing your rugs face down on newly fallen powdery snow, then (gently!) brushing the snow off, claiming that the moisture makes the burlap less brittle and brightens the colours; others call this method "an old wives' tale".

Upholstery Cleaning

• Vacuum upholstered furniture as often as possible. Even if your home furniture
  has seen little use, the abrasive action of dirt and dust particles can wear the
  fibers of your upholstery fabric. For high-use furniture, it's a good idea to
  frequently beat the cushions and then vacuum and rotate them.
• Damp-dust arms and headrest areas with a cleaning solution to prevent body oil
  accumulation on the upholstery fabric (be sure to follow the manufacturer's
  recommendation as to the type of Upholstery Cleaning solution to use)
• Avoid placing newspapers directly on home furniture upholstery fabric, since
  ink will accumulate and is difficult to remove.
• Never cover your upholstered home furniture with dark-colored blankets, sheets,
  etc., because the dyes can rub off onto fabric when dry or bleed when wet.
• Avoid the use of dyes, paints, inks, nail polishes, and Mercurochrome around
  your upholstery fabric, since these substances alter color and will stain.
• Never remove cushion covers for dry cleaning or machine washing, even though
  they have zippers.
• Periodic professional cleaning will keep soil accumulation from marring the
  beauty of the upholstery of your home living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture.