How to clean a carpet at home and what actually works
12.09.2026
Quick facts
| Time | 60 minutes |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | medium |
| You need | vacuum, baking soda, cold water |
| Our price | from 2 € per m² |
Most of what makes a carpet look tired is not stains but dirt held deep in the pile — and that is why shampooing the surface makes it look worse a fortnight later. The order below gets the grit out first and treats the marks second.
What you'll need
- baking soda
- cold water with a little washing-up liquid
- white vinegar for wine and coffee
- a vacuum with a rotating brush head
- white microfibre cloths
- a rubber glove for hair
Step by step
- Vacuum slowly, twice, in two directions. Most people vacuum too fast for the brush to lift anything. Two slow passes at right angles take out more than five quick ones.
- Pull out hair first if you have a pet. A damp rubber glove drags hair out of the pile that a vacuum cannot. Do it before vacuuming, not after.
- Sprinkle baking soda and leave it an hour. It absorbs smell rather than covering it. Then vacuum it out thoroughly — leftover soda attracts dirt.
- Treat stains individually, blotting from the edge inward. Cold water and foam, never hot water and never scrubbing. Rubbing breaks the pile and leaves a dull patch that stays after the stain is gone.
- Rinse each treated spot. Go over it with a cloth dampened in clean water. Detergent left in the fibres is what makes dirt come back fast.
- Dry with the window open. A carpet that stays damp for a day starts to smell, and the smell is harder to remove than the original stain.
What to use on a carpet — and what not to
| Product | Good for | Do not use on |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum with a rotating brush | the foundation of everything else | not on looped pile — the brush pulls the loops out |
| Baking soda, left then vacuumed | smell | — |
| Extraction cleaner | dirt deep in the pile | not on wool or silk without testing first |
| Powders and foam sprays | a quick fix before visitors | residue binds dust and dirt returns faster |
How often to vacuum and deep clean
Vacuum twice a week; daily in a living room with a pet. Extraction-clean once a year, twice if someone in the household has allergies — with carpets that is about dust mites, not appearance.
What to watch out for
- Never use hot water on a protein stain — blood, milk, egg. It sets it permanently.
- Do not soak the carpet. Water in the backing takes days to dry and can lift the adhesive on a fitted carpet.
- Test any product on a corner first. Colour loss shows up after drying, not during.
- On wool, alkaline products (including strong soda solutions) damage the fibre. If in doubt, plain cold water.
When to leave it to a professional
Extraction cleaning injects solution and pulls it back out with the dirt — that is the difference from anything you do with a cloth. We charge 2 € per m² for carpets; see carpet and upholstery cleaning. It is also the right call for a wool or silk rug, where a wrong product costs more than the cleaning.
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