Carpet Care & Cleaning

Carpet Maintenance

Maintaining your quality purchase will repay you by keeping its beauty for many years.

Vacuum regularly. Frequent vacuuming is a wool carpet’s best friend. In most cases, a suction only canister vacuum is best to prevent excess pilling and fuzzing. However, if this type is not available, set vacuum so that the brush is furthest away from the surface of the carpet.

Remove spills immediately.

Professionally clean as needed. Do not apply stain repellent treatments that contain silicone because they tend to accelerate carpet soiling.

Keep doormats clean. Exercise preventative maintenance by placing absorbent mats at the most frequently used entrances to your home. Change or launder when these mats become soiled.

The vacuum cleaner dust bag should be changed when half full.

Filters in your heating and air conditioning systems should be changed regularly.

Carpet Cleaning

One of the most crucial areas of carpet maintenance is removal of spots and spills. Acting quickly when anything is spilled or dropped, and always having the necessary cleaning materials at hand are of the utmost importance.
STEPS FOR SPOT REMOVAL:

Immediately blot (do not rub) spills with white paper towels or with a clean absorbent cloth. Scoop up solids.

Pretest spot-removal in an inconspicuous area.

Apply the cleaning agent listed on the spot removal chart (next page) to an absorbent towel and begin to blot up the spill with a blotting motion. Flip cloth to prevent reapplying soil.

Do not over saturate with water.

Work inwards from the edge of the spot to prevent excess spreading.

Wait a few minutes for the cleaning agent to work on the spot. Follow recommended directions.

Once the cleaning agent has removed the spot, blot excessive moisture by applying pressure with paper towels or a dry absorbent cloth.

Rinse with clear water on a clean cloth.

Remove excess moisture by applying pressure with paper towels.

For Dry Cleaning Only Products:

We recommend a dry cleaning agent such as Capture®, Host® and Dri-Mate® or the WoolClean Spot Dry RemoverTM available from Wools of New Zealand.
Test area first.
Vacuum brush should barely skim surface carpet to trap soil just under pile. (Any further aggressive brush setting will cause carpet to pill).
**These processes work with synthetic carpet as well. Synthetics can typically take more aggressive treatments.

For Wools:

Simple, periodic cleanings will keep your wool carpet looking good as new!
Vacuuming: Regular vacuuming once a week (more often in heavy traffic areas) is the more effective way to remove soil before they become embedded into the carpet. An upright vacuum with a beater bar or brush is best for cup pile carpet. A suction-only vacuum is best for loop pile Berber carpet.

For Sisal and Coir:

Sisal and coir are relatively easy to maintain, if vacuumed regularly. Please contact Eatman’s Carpets & Interiors (919.782.6010) for sisal and coir treatment options or visit the manufacturers’ website.

Stain Treatment:

TYPES OF TREATMENT
1. Add cold water and blot
2. Detergent solution or WoolClean Dry Spot Remover™ #1*
3. Methylated mineral spirits, turpentine, or WoolClean Dry Spot Remover™ #2*
4. Chill with aerosol freezing agent or ice cubes in a plastic bag; follow by picking or scraping off gum
5. Warm water
6. Clean nail polish remover (preferably acetone)
7. Sopropyl alcohol
8. Rust remover
9. Absorbent powder (e.g., salt, talc or Absorb-It™*)
10. Absorbent cleaner (WoolClean Spot Dry Remover™, Host®, Capture® or Dri-Matic®)

Frequently Asked Questions

“My new carpet is acting funny”
Here are a few of the things you may notice soon after your carpet is installed. Most of the following situations are perfectly normal and can be dealt with simply and directly.
If you should have any questions or concerns please contact us.
Shedding
Those balls of fluff you may find on the surface of your carpet or in your vacuum cleaner don’t mean that your carpet is going to pieces. Most carpets retain some loose fibres after they leave the factory and our showroom. These fibres make their way to the surface and may take a while to work themselves out completely. How long this takes, depends on the particular fibre construction of your carpet. Before long, you’ll find that the problem has vanished.
Sprouting
Your carpet may “sprout” a loose tuft that seems to grow above the surface. If this happens, simply snip the offending end even with the surface. Please do not yank out long or loose ends! That can damage the carpet permanently.
Shading
You may notice some colour variations in different areas of your carpet – or one area may appear to change colour when viewed from different angles. Your carpet is not changing colour, it’s just part of the natural beauty of plush carpet where light reflects unevenly as the pile moves in different directions. Foot traffic generally causes this, and the best solution is to vacuum the pile in a uniform direction.
Rippling
If your carpet is rippling, the culprit is usually humidity. This situation usually resolves itself, as the carpet settles into its new home. But if this happens in a dry atmosphere, it may be necessary to have the carpet professionally restretched.
Pressure Marks
These are marks which appear two or three feet across the width of the carpet or 18″ from the wall. Don’t be alarmed! The carpet is not damaged. These are called pressure bands (or pressure marks) and they will work themselves out, in time, by vacuuming. If they don’t, please call your salesperson, who will arrange to have them steamed out.
Static Electricity
This is just one of life’s little electrifying moments. When your home’s relative humidity is low, a static charge can build up in your carpet as you walk across it. Then when you touch something made of metal you get a shock. There are commercially available products you can apply to your carpet to reduce or eliminate static electric build up. Patience is also a good remedy, because as time goes by your carpet will hold less static charge.
Crushing
Unless you plan to live without furniture, your carpet will display crushing in spots where heavy objects such as sofas and shelving units are located. To raise the pile back to its former proud height, you’ll have to do some vigorous brushing. If the indentations are particularly stubborn, you can try passing a hot steam iron over them – but no closer than six inches above the carpet.
Missing Tufts
If a single tuft does become snagged or worked loose, just cut it off and let the surrounding yarn fill in the space. If you’re not satisfied just call us and we’ll handle this problem for you.