Carpet wisdom

In a humid climate such as ours, carpets are a safety net for cold buildings during winters.

While our winters are typically short, our cold floors reflect the chill so effectively that covering them up with carpets can help trap warmth around rooms better.

Some of the best furnished homes I have ever visited have had large carpets and small rugs co-existing happily, being as natural a part of the décor as window curtains.

However having grown up in a house where the only one large carpet was parked in the sitting room every winter as a matter of fact rather than as a fashion item, I came to believe that carpets only had one aim in life – to live in sitting rooms and to wipe muddy feet at the front door.

That is until I moved into our first apartment and discovered fitted carpets. But fitted carpets and small children are not an ideal situation. Small children happily throw up, spill drinks and leave endless trails of biscuit crumbs all over carpets, so we had to find ways and means of cleaning the carpets regularly.

Vacuuming only lifted out the debris; the dirt remained embedded in, so we had to hire out a steam and laundry cleaner to vacuum the muck out with the soapy water.

We had to air the rooms and switch on electric fans for days after the cleaning process, just to allow the carpets to dry out properly, and then we would vacuum them again to make sure all the soap particles had dried. It was not fun.

Never ever place a carpet in a bathroom. We did just that with the idea that it looked particularly hip.

That idea lingered only until a water-pipe leaked and we had to handle and carry this heavy carpet outdoors to dry. It dried, moulded and ended up on the garbage heap and we knew – never again.

We then discovered large throws and carpets when we moved into a large house, which needed assistance to keep warm in winter.

The carpets and throws were very happy to live with us until we brought home a rather boisterous puppy which attacked everything each time our backs were turned. From a house full of carpets, we ended up with a house full of carpet remnants.

Some quick words of advice:

Whether yours is a synthetic carpet or a silk oriental carpet, caring for it will allow you to enjoy it for longer and in better condition. The best way to keep carpets clean on a daily basis is to vacuum them.

If you have pets, it is worth noting that some vacuum cleaners come equipped with special pet hair-removing appendages that can lift off pesky dog or cat hairs in a whizz.

An effective and quick-fix way of removing pet hairs from short-haired carpets if you can’t use the vacuum cleaner, is to briskly pass a squeegee mop over the carpet.

The occasional old-fashioned beating does help dislodge debris and dirt from carpets, so keep this in mind before storing at the end of the season. For beating, try using an old tennis racquet.

If the carpet is too large to beat, ask somebody to help you take it out on a patio or up on the roof and sweep with a broom and let it air.

Don’t leave out in the sun for too long however. And don’t leave a carpet outdoors overnight – Malta’s high humidity will only drench it and you will need to leave it out a day longer to dry. Beat the carpet clean regularly if it has long plush and is of manageable size.

If you spill something onto your carpet, mop it up immediately. Don’t rub the stain in – initially just mop it up with a clean towel followed by clean tissue paper.

If you need to dry water off the carpet, you may use a hair-dryer but only on cold and not hot air.

There are several natural remedies for lifting stains off carpets depending on the type of carpet you have. Read labels carefully before using all-purpose cleaners on expensive carpets, as natural colours tend to run or discolour if the cleaning agent is too harsh.

To store a carpet, whether it’s a full-size carpet or a small rug, it is best to store rolled up. Get hold of large plastic sheets or large garbage bags, slit them open and attach with packing tape. Then roll the carpet up tightly and wrap it in plastic.

I like to seal the plastic around the carpets with packing tape but always leave one side open for ventilation.

Store the carpets in a horizontal position, lying on a flat surface that is some inches above the floor. A wooden pellet could do the trick and if your carpet is large, you can use two or more pellets.

Don’t store in a damp place and do not place heavy objects on top of a rolled-up carpet or rug as this will crush it and leave undesirable marks that will be difficult to lift off when you next spread it out on the floor.