During winter in Quebec, we spread road salt to reduce ice on roads and sidewalks. According to the government website, an estimated 5 million tons of salt are spread on Canadian roads!
As a result, entrance mats also require more maintenance in winter because dirt accumulates easily. Homeowners must therefore learn about how to maintain them to keep them as long as possible!
Tapis André Viau, carpet store in Montreal, tells you more about the best ways to maintain your carpet in winter.
Why buy an indoor entrance rug?
Anyone who has lived with wood or vinyl floors in the winter knows how nice it is to have a rug in the house. Not only are they much warmer for your feet, but they also make the whole house more comfortable to live in.
Another benefit of owning a rug in the winter is that the risk of falling is greatly reduced when you get home. If you don’t have a rug in your entryway, the risk of slips and falls is real. And for children or elderly people, a fall can be particularly problematic…
In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, carpets and rugs considerably reduce this risk. Finally, it is essential to protect your floor – often made of wood – from humidity: wiping your shoes on a carpet saves you the risk of deterioration of your interior.
A protective carpet for your home
A winter rug allows you to keep the look of your other rugs! Furthermore, it is essential to remove your shoes as soon as possible during winter to ensure the life of your rugs.
If it is easy to do it at home, it is however more delicate in companies or businesses to be careful. Asking your employees to bring slippers is a good solution, for example, to preserve your floor covering if it is wall-to-wall carpeting. This way, only your entrance carpet gets dirty. But that’s where you can do something simpler.
Carpet cleaning in winter: not to be neglected
One of the problems of having a carpet in winter is the accumulation of dirt, soil and therefore road salts from sidewalks and roads.
If you or your guests enter the house with dirty shoes, the degradation of the entrance rug will be felt from the first weeks of snow.
To avoid this, you can perform regular maintenance on your carpet, both entrance and interior. This aesthetic damage can also affect the efficiency of the carpet if it retains dirt for too long. Here are our carpet installers’ tips for removing winter salt, among other things.
How to remove salt stains from a carpet?
To effectively remove winter salt from a winter carpet in your home, the first thing you do is dust it! You go outside and shake the carpet vigorously to remove the excess solids lodged between the fibers. Let it air out for a few minutes.
Once inside, you can vacuum the carpet to make sure you’ve removed all the debris. Next, you’ll need to do a little chemistry.
Salt is an alkaline substance, so you need to use an acidic substance to get rid of it. Thus, it is generally recommended to concoct a mixture of equal parts of tap water and white vinegar and spray this mixture on the carpet.
Finally, with a clean cloth, you can rub the salt stains to remove them effectively. Let your carpet air dry and it will be ready for new adventures and new dirty soles!
Tapis André Viau, your carpet specialist in Montreal
Winter cleaning can help your carpet last longer, improve indoor air quality and provide optimal drying conditions. That’s okay, winter is THE season to take care of your carpet.
And if you’ve done your best, but your carpet still looks a bit damaged and you’d like to change it, or even if you’d just like to ask us some questions about the care of carpets in general, come and visit us at our Montreal carpet store, located on Promenade Fleury.
