You’ve taken the time to choose the best, most attractive, carpets for your home. And whether wall-to-wall or scattered area rugs best suit your lifestyle, you’ve got to keep them clean. How do you care for your investment in quality carpets?

Carpet cleaning requires more than just a plain water rinse and drying you’re going to need to use the right product to break down dirt and dust and remove the germs and bacteria from your carpet. Carpets come in a variety of materials, and the cleaning method should be customized to the material. First, find out if your carpet is made of wool, synthetic, silk or plant fibers.

Everyone needs to care for their carpets, but nobody more than parents of small children. You’re not going to want to call the cleaning service every time your child spills something on your carpet, but you can create cleansers from products you’ve already got in your home. Which to use depends on the type of stain ink, blood, grease, pet stains, etc.

Steam cleaning, or hot-water extraction, is one option. This method forces hot water between 150 and 200 degrees into your carpet under high pressure, then sucks it out thoroughly. This kills a lot of bacteria, fungus, mold and dust mites, and cleans your carpet.

You can go for dry carpet cleaning if you do not wish to wait for your floor to dry. Dry carpet cleaning ensures that the cleaners are introduced only to the areas needing treatment. So all the moisture gets removed immediately making your floor dry. The benefit of using a dry carpet cleaning method is that there are no soapy residues left behind. Dry carpet cleaning concentrates more on the areas that are soiled and very dirty.

Vacuuming regularly is important to keeping your carpets clean. If you add a moistened granular cleaner to your vacuuming routine, experts say you can reach up to 85% of the dirt and grime in your carpet. By using granules instead of water, you can walk on your carpets immediately after cleaning, and there’s no concern about even more dirt sticking to the water.

Though many people believe that only steam cleaning can really clean your carpet, dry chemical cleaning can actually produce a superior clean. Plus, there’s no day long wait before you can relax and enjoy your home again, which makes it a more popular choice for many people. Which method is best is still an open question, with some people favoring each of wet and dry cleaning.

The simplest solution for your carpet cleaning needs is to hire a professional service and let them take care of your carpets for you. For California residents, the California Janitorial Cleaning Service or the South California Janitorial Cleaning Service can do the job right.