How to Steam Clean a Home Carpet

Steam clean carpets to maintain their original color and remove ground-in dirt.

Benefits to steam cleaning a home carpet extend beyond a cleaner and fresher-smelling carpet, including extending the carpet's useful life and germ and dust removal. Most home carpets should be cleaned every 12 months, although some carpet manufacturers provide their own recommendations on frequency of cleaning and by what method.

Things You'll Need

• Steam cleaner chemicals
• Vacuum

Instructions

1. Vacuum the floor before steam cleaning to remove surface dirt.

2. Fill the steam-cleaning machine with hot tap water and carpet-cleaning product according to instructions.

3. Push the carpet steamer across the carpet slowly to allow the machine time to apply the solution. Squeeze trigger to release solution, pushing the steamer forward. Release trigger and pull the steamer towards you to extract the solution from the carpet. Work in rows and turn around the end of each row and work towards the opposite end. Overlap each row by at least one inch to cover each area sufficiently and to prevent streaking.

4. Empty the water reservoir in a bath tub, shower or floor drain after completely cleaning the carpet or when the reservoir becomes full. Allow the carpet to sit overnight to dry. Keep pets and children off the carpet until dry.

References

• Rug Doctor: Frequently Asked Questions
• Hoover: SteamVac instructions

Resources

• The Carpet and Rug Institute: Cleaning Spots and Spills
• Carpet.org: Carpet Cleaning Machines
• Carpet.org: Carpet Maintenance Tips & Advice