Which type of vacuum cleaner should I use for my new carpet?

No matter what type or quality of carpet you have bought it is essential to look after it and maintain it regularly. To help you maintain your new carpet’s good looks it is essential you take good care of it, maintain and clean it properly.

The first key point is to vacuum regularly! This avoids particles of loose dirt and dust working their way into the carpet pile and becoming difficult to remove. If dirt and dust do get embedded into the carpet they they can act abrasively on the fibres and discolour and prematurely wear the carpet.

Top 5 Carpet Care Tips -

Vacuum regularly - at least 2-3 times a week.

Use a door mat - a large, strong doormat will reduce dirt from outside being spread around the house.

Remove shoes - this will lessen the impact of everyday wear and tear.

Carpet colour - if possible avoid light coloured carpets next to entrances.

Vacuum Regularly - Man-made fibre and wool carpets should be vacuumed regularly as soon as they are laid.

These are great general tips but here at Burts of Darlington we believe the single most important factor in good carpet care is choosing the right vacuum cleaner. This might sound obvious and the answer is not to necessarily go and buy the most upto date and expensive option available but we strongly recommend you make sure the machine is suited to the type of carpet you have. There are 2 basic types of vacuum cleaner - cylinder or upright and 2 types of heads - beater bars with brushes and suction only heads.

LOOP PILE CARPET

Loop pile carpets should ideally be vacuumed with a cylinder cleaner using the suction head only. Avoid using beater bars and brushes that might damage the fibres and will give your carpet a bobbled and pilled appearance.

CUT PILE AND TWIST PILE CARPET

These should ideally be vacuumed with an upright vacuum cleaner with a beater bar and brush. You can also opt to use a cylinder vacuum cleaner with a similar attachment. The beater bar helps to remove dust and dirt that might have fallen into the pile and it also helps to make the pile stand back up straight.

SOFT DEEP PILE CARPET

We recommend a vacuum cleaner with an adjustable height for soft deep cut pile carpets, to ensure proper airflow over the pile surface, during cleaning. A number of carpets that have very fine fibres such as iSense and super soft feel nylon fibres are very difficult to vacuum as the machine creates a seal around the base plate and you can not push the cleaner about.