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You might not realize it, but one of the biggest determinants of whether your house looks clean is your carpet. Even if a house is kept sparkling clean; a dull, dingy carpet will make it feel dirty and less homey. Even worse than that is a clean carpet with a giant stain in the middle. Keeping your home looking great involves keeping your carpet looking great too. Here are a few tips to help your carpet look clean and inviting.

The best tip I can give you for getting your carpet clean is to take steps to not let it get dirty in the first place. I understand that if you have kids and pets this is pretty much impossible, but there are things you can do to keep it from not getting quite so bad. The first option is to consider not having carpet at all. Area rugs on hardwood floors are so much easier to keep clean than carpet. You may not be able to afford this option, but if you can it should definitely be a consideration. A good way to keep carpets cleaner is to keep outside dirt from getting in. Encourage everyone to leave their shoes at the door. You can also put down welcome mats and boot scrapers at the door. Just remember to put them at all entrances, including back or side doors.

Another great idea for keeping your carpets clean is to vacuum regularly. Carpet griminess doesn't usually happen from spills; it happens from regular dirt and dust getting ground into the carpet. Vacuuming on a regular basis may seem tedious, but it can save you a lot of money by keeping your carpet cleaner (and saving you scrubbing time). It can also help with allergies and asthma by picking up dust mites and other allergens that live in your carpet. If carpet does start to look dingy, you can rent a hot water 'steam' cleaner to refresh them and get out ground in dirt. If you're worried about chemicals in your carpets, just run them with clean water; they'll still get out most of the dirt.

I've always been told that if a stain isn't gone within a few hours, it isn't going anywhere. If spills and stains do occur, you should do your best to clean them right away. My favorite type of carpet cleaners are the kinds that contain two separate cleaners that don't combine until you spray them on the stain. This then produces oxygen bubbles which quickly get to work cleaning your stains. I'm not sure exactly why these work better, I just know they do. Another high quality product to clean your carpets is Simply Green. I can't tell you how many people I've heard or read recommend this product for all the toughest stains. It's also great to use in steam cleaners.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on cleaners, or are worried about bringing chemicals into your house; there are several household products that work great to get out stains. If you have a greasy stain, try putting baking soda on the stain and letting it sit for several hours. This should soak up the stain and you can just vacuum away the excess particles. If a stain requires more scrubbing, you can mix 1 part vinegar with 2 parts water and scrub like a normal carpet cleaning product. Just remember to clean it out well so you're not left with the smell. Other products that can work are club soda or hydrogen peroxide.

Whatever product you use, remember to wash out all the cleanser. Soap residue left in the carpet can become sticky and attract new dirt; making the stain seemingly reappear. Stains can also come back if you don't get the pad of the carpet clean enough. To get out the deep down dirt, use lots of water when cleaning spots; then, put a large amount of paper towels and a heavy object of the stain and let it set overnight. This will suck up any leftover dirty water that may have stayed in the carpet.

Whether you've just bought new carpet and you want to keep it looking great, or you have old carpet that needs reviving; these tips can help make your carpet look great and stay that way.