The best way to protect your carpet day to day is to remove your shoes when you get home. But don’t go barefoot; your feet have natural oils that rub off on the carpet, so it’s a good idea to always wear slippers or socks.
Vacuum your carpets as often as possible (every day or 1-2 days) to remove surface dirt and dust to avoid your carpet looking spotty in high traffic areas compared to the rest of the carpet. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and change the filter every six months so you don’t blow pollutants back into the air.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends a professional cleaning one to four times a year, depending on how heavily trafficked the area is. A professional cleaning removes not only the dirt and stains you can see but also what you can’t see. There is a huge power difference between professional carpet-cleaning machines and those you can rent at home and hardware stores: Professional machines have a pressure measurement of 250 to 1,200 pounds per square inch (PSI), as compared with the machines you can rent, which have a 35 to 70 PSI. A lack of powerful pressure could leave a soapy residue, which will then dry and attract dirt.
When hiring a professional cleaner, choose a company that uses hot-water deep extraction. We would also recommend that you confirm that the cleaning company is certified by the IICRC,
Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification.