• Never hire a DIY carpet cleaning machine
• While the thought of hiring a carpet cleaning machine for £20 to £30 a day might seem like a great deal, the reality is that the long term cost could work out far more expensive than employing a professional carpet cleaner.
• Many of the carpet cleaning machines vailable for hire such as the infamous Rug Doctor, simply do not have the power to clean deep enough into the carpet and are not capable of extracting the dirty water to a high enough standard. This means that your carpet will take far too long to dry and may suffer permanent damage or shrinkage from over soaking. Also bear in mind that in most cases it is not just the carpet cleaning machine that produces the desired results, it is the correct use of pre-treatment and stain removal added to the use of a suitable commercial machine.
• Carpets need to be vacuumed once a week and more often in areas of heavy traffic. Frequent vacuuming prolongs the life of your carpet by preventing a buildup of dust and gritty particles that can damage carpet fibers
• Every few weeks, take a little extra time and use your crevice tool for cleaning around baseboards and radiators and in other hard-to-reach places.
• To vacuum wall-to-wall carpeting, divide the floor into quadrants and vacuum an entire quadrant before moving on to the next.
• Take your time when you vacuum a carpet, especially a plush carpet in which dirt is sure to be deeply embedded. One pass with a high-powered upright is not enough. Go over each section of carpeting several times, and work slowly to allow the suction to remove all the ground-in dust and dirt.
• Pay special attention to the areas where people sit and move their feet. Vacuum these areas of heavy traffic with a crisscross pattern of overlapping strokes.

Stain removal tips

• Carefully blot or scrape the entire area before applying any cleaning solution to remove as much of the spill as possible.
• Do not rub the spill -- that might spread the problem to a larger area.
• There is nothing better than a clean white bath towel for drying carpets and brushing the nap back up to a standing position.
• If you feel that there is still too much moisture after blotting the carpet, place a stack of white paper towels over the spot and weigh them down with a heavy object.
• If you must use a supermarket cleaning solution, test your carpet in an inconspicuous area to make sure the cleaner won't damage or discolor it. Test the cleaning agents that you keep on hand before you have to use them to make sure they will not harm your carpet
• When you apply spot cleaner, work from the outside of the stain toward the inside to avoid spreading the stain. After applying a cleaning solution, blot up all the moisture.