If you own a carpet washer do you still need to use a vacuum cleaner? It's a fair question and the answer is - yes you do. Whilst they may look quite similar, vacuum cleaners and carpet washers both use different methods of cleaning your carpets.

Vacuum cleaners make use of suction to remove loose dust and dirt from the carpet's upper layers. Most modern cleaners also use spinning or rotating brushes to agitate the carpet fibres. This is intended to agitate and free as much of the dirt as possible so that it can be removed by suction. There are any number of different designs of vacuum cleaner these days, upright and cylinder, bagged, bagless, cordless - even robotic ones, but they all work more or less as described above.

In order to keep your carpet looking good and odour free, you need to vacuum on a regular basis. What you want to do is remove as much dirt and dust as possible before it has a chance to get ground into your carpet. However, it doesn't matter how thorough you are - there's no way to avoid some dirt being ground deep into your carpet and becoming trapped. That's where carpet washers come in.

Carpet washers use a mixture of detergent and water to liberate dirt and dust which is contained deep in your carpet's fibres. The dirt and dust clings to the detergent which is then sucked out, together with the water. Some carpet washers use pre-treatment sprays for heavily stained areas. Most of them also use brushes to scrub the carpet so as to better release the trapped dirt.However, you don't need to - and in fact you shouldn't - wash your carpet as frequently as you vacuum it. There are various different factors which will determine the required frequency - but, for most family homes, twice a year should probably do the trick.

Most carpet washers also have a selection of accessories so that they can be used for cleaning stairs and also upholstery, curtains - and even car interiors. Over and above being useful for cleaning up any accidental spills before they get established and form stains, you're sure to find plenty a variety of different uses for your carpet washer around your home in between "big cleans".

If you want to keep your carpets looking good and extend their lifetime, then vacuuming alone won't do the trick - but neither will using only a carpet washer. You need a twin pronged attack using both types of carpet cleaners as set out below:

  1. Use a conventional vacuum to clean your carpets twice a week to remove loose dirt and dust before it has a chance to become established. Heavy traffic areas - hallways, passages, the floor near doors, hallways etc. - may need to be cleaned even more often.
  2. Use a carpet washer to deep clean your carpet once every six months. It can also be used to treat any accidental spills - whether on upholstery or carpets - quickly before they turn into stains.

If it sounds like a lot of hassle, then console yourself with the fact that, as well as looking good and being odour free, even if you have pets, your carpets will last longer - so you will save a lot of money and hassle in the long term.

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