When you just finished cleaning your carpet, do you have the temptation of walking on it right after cleaning it? But, of course, it’s in the back of your mind that once you walk on the carpet, you’ll get it all dirty and dusty again, right?
If you’re someone who takes home cleaning seriously or someone who wants to avoid getting it dirty to avoid cleaning it again, this question might be bugging you for a long while now. In this article, we’ll answer the question for you.
Is it alright to walk on the carpet after cleaning it?
You can, but in reality, you really shouldn’t walk on the carpet after cleaning it. First, you need to wait for a bare minimum of 30 minutes before stepping on your carpet, but ideally, it’s wiser to wait for 6 hours before you start to put your feet on it. By walking on the carpet right after cleaning, you’re just making it dirtier and undoing the cleaning work you’ve done so far.
The wait before walking on a newly cleaned carpet
How long do you need to wait before walking on a newly-cleaned carpet? Is a 30-minute wait enough, or do you really need to wait for the complete 6 hours?
Well, according to experts, you have to wait the complete 6 hours, and it’s not just about walking. You also need to wait for 6 hours before moving anything that’s on the carpet. Other than yourself, make sure to prevent traffic on the carpet, whether it’s from other people in the house or your pets.
However, if there’s something urgent that you have to deal with, and it requires you to walk on the carpet, it’s recommended to wait for at least half an hour before putting your foot on the carpet. That doesn’t mean you can walk straight onto it, though. You have to take your shoes off and wear clean white socks first to ensure that you won’t be bringing any dirt onto the carpet.
Of course, since you shouldn’t walk on the carpet right after cleaning it, your furniture has no business being on the carpet immediately, as well. It’s an even longer wait for furniture as you have to wait for at least 24 hours before even thinking of putting your furniture back on the carpet.
If you or your furniture go on the carpet before the necessary waiting period, then you’re just undoing all of the good that having it cleaned provided.
If you have to place your furniture on the carpet immediately, make sure to waterproof protectors below the furniture. It’s to ensure that they won’t make contact. It protects your carpet from dirt and protects your furniture from harmful moisture, so you should consider it.
Walking on a wet carpet
Even after you have cleaned your carpet, people need to realize that the carpet has to dry up before the cleaning process finishes. It’s the point why you have to wait for a long time before you should start walking on it.
It’s easy to understand. If the carpet fabric is wet, the carpet holds onto dirt and dust much better. It’s because the moisture makes it easier for dirt to stay in the fibres.
Basically, it’s like any other fabric like clothes and kitchen rags; it’s easier to get them dirty when wet. But, while it’s easy to clean dirt off clothes, it’s not the easiest to clean a carpet. It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and also costs considerable money. Even after, some dirt may still hold onto the carpet, especially for older carpets.
The factors affecting how long a carpet takes to dry and how you can help it
- Cleaning method – The cleaning method you use is the biggest factor in carpet drying time. Of course, the dry-cleaning method makes it easy for carpets to dry fast, while, on the other hand, using the more intense wet cleaning method takes a much longer time to dry.
- The carpet – Some types of material used for carpets dry easily compared to others. For example, it’s easier to dry a polyester carpet compared to a wool carpet.
- Humidity – When the carpet is wet while the air is dry, there’s a lot of space for the moisture in the carpet to go. On the other hand, when the carpet is wet while the air has a lot of humidity, it’s harder for the carpet to dry because the air won’t take much moisture from the carpet.
- Dirt – If the carpet isn’t that dirty and it’s been well taken care of, you might get away with just dry cleaning it, which is beneficial for the drying time. But, if it’s been left uncleaned for many years and there’s a lot of dirt in it, you might end up using wet cleaning, which takes a longer time to dry, of course.
Other than these factors, you can also affect how long it takes to dry. To help you make the drying process faster, here are some tips you can try:
- Keep the temperature high and the humidity low
- Open your doors and windows
- Use fans
- Move your furniture away
- Use a wet vacuum cleaner
Walking on your newly-cleaned carpet
You can walk on your newly-cleaned carpet, but only when it’s completely dry. Of course, carpets dry quicker when you have Ellenbrook carpet cleaners taking care of it for you.
