Your Colour Chart provides a record of the brand, style, and colour of floor coverings in your home. Please retain this information for future reference. Refer to the various manufacturers’ recommendations for additional information on the care of your floor coverings.
Burns
Take care of any kind of burn immediately. First snip off the darkened fibres. Then use a soapless cleaner and sponge with water. If the burn is extensive, talk with a professional about replacing the damaged area.
Cleaning
You can add years to the life of your carpet with regular care. Carpet wears out because of foot traffic and dirt particles that get trampled deep into the pile beyond the suction of the vacuum. The dirt particles wear down the fibres like sandpaper and dull the carpet. The most important thing you can do to protect your carpet is to vacuum it frequently.
Vacuum twice each week lightly and once a week thoroughly. Heavy traffic areas may require more frequent cleaning. A light vacuuming is three passes; a thorough job may need seven passes. A vacuum cleaner with a beater-bar agitates the pile and is more effective in bringing dirt to the surface for easy removal.
Vacuuming high-traffic areas daily helps keep them clean and maintains the upright position of the nap. Wipe spills and clean stains immediately.
For best results, blot or dab any spill or stain; avoid rubbing. Test stain removers on an out-of-the-way area of the carpet, such as in a closet, to check for any undesirable effects.
Have your carpet professionally cleaned regularly, usually after 18 months in your home and then once a year after that.
Crushing
Furniture and traffic may crush a carpet’s pile fibres. Frequent vacuuming in high-traffic areas and glides or cups under heavy pieces of furniture can help prevent this. Rotating your furniture to change the traffic pattern in a room promotes more even wear. Some carpets resist matting and crushing because of their level of fibre, but this does not imply or guarantee that no matting or crushing will occur. Heavy traffic areas such as halls are more susceptible to wear and crushing. This is considered normal wear.
Fading
Science has yet to develop a colour that will not fade with time. All carpets will slowly lose some colour due to natural and artificial forces in the environment. You can delay this process by frequently removing soil with vacuuming, regularly changing air filters in heating and air conditioning systems, keeping humidity and room temperature from getting too high, and reducing sunlight exposure with window coverings.
Filtration
If interior doors are kept closed while the air conditioning is operating, air circulation from the closed room flows through the small space at the bottom of the door. This forces the air over the carpet fibres, which in turn act as a filter, catching particulate pollution. Over time, a noticeable stain develops at the threshold. See also Ghosting.
Fuzzing
In loop carpets, fibres may break. Simply clip the excess fibres. If it continues, call a professional.
Pilling
Pilling or small balls of fibre can appear on your carpet, depending on the type of carpet fibre and the type of traffic. If this occurs, clip off the pills. If they cover a large area, seek professional advice.
Rippling
With wall-to-wall carpeting, high humidity may cause rippling. If the carpet remains rippled after the humidity has left, have a professional restretch the carpeting using a power stretcher, not a knee-kicker.
Seams
Visible seams are not a defect unless they have been improperly made or unless the material has a defect, making the seam appear more pronounced than normal. The more dense and uniform the carpet texture, the more visible the seams will be.
Carpet styles with low, tight naps result in the most visible seams. Seams are never more visible than when the carpet is first installed. Usually with time, use, and vacuuming the seams become less visible. You can see examples in the model homes of how carpet seams diminish after they have been vacuumed repeatedly and have experienced traffic.
Shading
Shading is an inherent quality of fine-cut pile carpets. Household traffic causes pile fibres to assume different angles; as a result, the carpet appears darker or lighter in these areas. A good vacuuming, which makes the pile all go in the same direction, provides a temporary remedy.
Shedding
New carpeting, especially pile, sheds bits of fibre for a period of time. Eventually these loose fibres are removed by vacuuming. Shedding usually occurs more with wool carpeting than with nylon or other synthetics.
Snags
Sharp-edged objects can grab or snag the carpet fibre. When this occurs, cut off the snag. If the snag is especially large, call a professional.
Sprouting
Occasionally you may find small tufts of fibre sprouting above carpet surface. Simply use scissors to cut off the sprout. Do not attempt to pull it, because other fibres will come out in the process.
Stains
No carpet is stain-proof. Although some carpet manufacturers designate their carpet as stain-resistant, some substances may still cause permanent staining. These include hair dyes, shoe polish, paints, and India ink. Some substances destroy or change the colour of carpets, including bleaches, acne medications, drain cleaners, plant food, insecticides, and food or beverages with strongly coloured natural dyes as found in some brands of mustard and herbal tea.
Pretest any spot-removal solution in an inconspicuous area before using it in a large area. Apply several drops of the solution, hold a white tissue on the area, and count to ten. Examine both tissue and carpet for dye transfer and check for carpet damage.
Static
Cooler temperatures outside often contribute to static electricity inside. You can install a humidifier to help control static build-up.
