It’s not as difficult as you might think to keep your commercial carpet installation clean. It just takes some care — and a few good tips to help you fight messes rather than make them worse. As a South Florida commercial flooring contractor, we’ve seen pristine carpets after a decade of use and beautiful carpets worn out after a few years of ill treatment.

Here are our top 5 ways of keeping your floors looking wonderful:

  1. Don’t rub stains. This spreads and grinds stains into carpet fibers. Rubbing will also wear away the fibers faster. Instead, blot the stain with cleaning solution and clean cloth. Work from the outside in so you don’t spread the stain outward. For most stains, you might be surprised to learn that shaving cream works wonders. After getting what you can up by blotting, apply shaving cream and let it sit for 30 minutes. For certain stains like beer and wine, club soda works well. As a finisher, a half-vinegar, half-water solution often does the trick.

  1. What if you get something stick on your shoe? It could be gum, a bit of road tar, or anything with adherent or glue that gets tracked in. Remember, don’t rub it!. Instead, use an ice cube to freeze it for 30 seconds or longer. Then use a utensil to lift it while cutting the carpet strands as close to the sticky material as you can.

  1. Grease poses another problem entirely. The best solution for this is dish-washing soap. This is designed to cut grease. But don’t apply the soap directly. Instead, mix a few drops in warm water. Put this in a spray bottle and apply it this way. Then blot. You’ll be amazed how well it cuts back grease.

  1. Hydrogen peroxide works wonders for many stains the other recommendations here don’t address. In particular, it’s good for picking up blood if someone cuts themselves in the workplace. Just be sure to take care of your employee’s or customer’s health before the carpet.

  1. Vacuum regularly to get the dirt and grit up. Dirt and grit wear away the fibers as people walk over it. Once in awhile, give the carpet a good deep clean. Steam cleaning will remove oil and grease build up that’s made it further into the carpet material, as well as picking up more deeply embedded dirt.

Keep your carpet looking its best — and it’s not a bad idea to keep shaving cream, club soda, ice, and vinegar handy!