How to Clean Commercial Grade Carpeting

There are few carpets in the world that see more action than your everyday commercial carpeting. Between hundreds and thousands of feet can walk across these types of fibers each and every day. They get dirty, and they get dirty fast. That’s why it’s important for business owners to know the best ways to maintain and clean their commercial carpeting.

After all, a dirty carpet or rug can negatively affect your business's bottom line. Nobody wants that. That’s why you’ll find everything you need to know about how to best clean commercial carpeting below.

Top Tips for Cleaning and Maintaining Your Commercial Carpet

Maintaining the carpet in your commercial building doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow these tips to learn how to clean and maintain your commercial flooring, keeping your guests, employees, and other visitors comfortable and happy throughout their entire stay.

Deep Clean Regularly.

Just like you need to service your car regularly to keep it running smoothly, the same is true for carpet. Regularly deep-cleaning your commercial carpet helps ensure it stays in top condition as the weather changes, traffic fluctuates, and spills and snags inevitably surface.

Natural fiber rugs and carpet should only be cleaned with a dry extraction cleaner. If your commercial carpet is all-natural sisal or wool, you’ll need a dry carpet cleaner to freshen up your space and leave your commercial carpets sparkling clean.

Use Doormats to Your Advantage.

Outdoor weather is unpredictable, so you never know what visitors will drag into your space. Use a doormat in the entryway to help capture dirt, snow, water, and any other miscellaneous elements trying to find their way indoors on the bottom of customers’ shoes.

To get rid of even more debris before entry, make sure the outside of your property is clear of mud, dirt, leaves, and trash. You may also choose to place a doormat or runner rug in high-traffic places, like in the employee break room, near the sink and coffee pot. The right carpet or rug will prevent damage to your hard floors, saving thousands in the long run.

Don’t Forget to Vacuum (and Sweep!)

Ground-in dirt and debris will reduce the beauty and lifespan of your carpeting by abrading the carpet’s fibers and leaving visible wear and tear from heavy traffic and dirty feet. Sweeping and vacuuming on a daily basis helps pick up smaller pieces of dirt, dust, sand, and the like, to keep them from forming stains or damaging the natural fibers of your carpeting.

Any loose dirt on your commercial carpet should be vacuumed with a strong brush-suction vacuum. Do not use the beater bar on natural-fiber rugs, like sisal, jute, or wool. You may not always be able to see dirt and debris, but regular, frequent vacuuming — even when the carpet appears “clean” — will increase its lifespan by preventing soil build-up and potential stains.

How do I spot clean my commercial carpeting?

How you spot clean a carpet will vary slightly depending on the type of spot you’re cleaning. That said, there’s enough overlap for all types of spot cleaning that these basic guidelines should help with all but your most unique spills:

1. First, you want to scoop or blot up as much of the spill as you can. Scooping is for physical spills. Blotting is for liquid. Never, ever rub it in. Instead use a clean white towel or cloth to gently blot excess moisture up until you either need a new cloth or it comes away from the carpet dry.

2. Once the excess is cleaned, you’re going to want to treat the area with spot cleaner. Not all spot cleaner cleans the same. We recommend buying your spot cleaner from the same place you bought your rugs or carpeting. This will increase your likelihood of getting a product that’s been tested and known to work on your carpeting of choice.

3. Follow the instructions on your spot cleaner bottle. Afterwards, let the spot sit for a short while. When you come back 15-20 minutes later with fresh eyes you’ll be able to tell if the spot needs additional treatment or not. If it does, just repeat steps one and two as needed.

How do you clean a full commercial grade carpet?

To clean the entirety of a commercial carpet, the method you choose will depend on the type of carpet.

• Commercial nylon carpets should be cleaned using a professional-grade steam cleaner or the hot water extraction method. 

• Commercial wool carpeting, you can use dry cleaning systems like Host®; Wool Clean by Wools of New Zealand and Chem-Dry are recommended.

• Stain resistant sisal rugs should be cleaned using dry carpet cleaner. This is, essentially, a powder that you sprinkle onto your rug or carpet, leave sit, and then vacuum up. While it’s sitting, it works to separate dirt and grime from the individual fibers of your carpeting.

One important thing to note is that you should work on only about a ten foot by ten foot square at a time. You need to be able to follow timing correctly both in how long you leave this on your rug and how long it takes to clean it up. If you shake it over too wide an area too quickly, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning it all back up.

Are there things you can do to better maintain commercial carpet?

Yes! Like with most rugs, there are plenty of things you can do to better take care of your commercial carpeting. However, there’s only one thing you have to do: be proactive. Don’t wait until things are so dirty or worn down that they can’t easily be treated. 

Instead, make a habit of regular maintenance for all the floor coverings in your business. As we detailed above, this will include regular deep cleaning, the strategic use of doormats to help avoid any trackable messes, and - of course - weekly vacuuming. Just remember: you should never use beater bars on natural fiber rugs, as they can pull the fibers apart.

What kind of carpet cleaner do professionals use?

Take a look at these options we find very useful in our cleaning sessions: