Yes, taking your shoes off does help to keep your carpets clean. Shoes present the major problem of tracking in whatever you stepped in outside. And however clean your shoes look, they are not clean. But you don’t want to take everything off your feet either.
Angel Carpet Cleaning is here to walk you through the reasons shoes can cause your carpet trouble, as well as share more information on the best way to step onto your carpets. But what is on or off your feet when you walk into a room is the only thing you should know about protecting your carpets.
Take Your Shoes Off
Shoes are problematic for carpets because they interact with everything that ends up on the ground. That means what you are tracking into a home is anyone’s guess. Even if you didn’t step in a puddle or noticeable filth, the streets and parking lots are covered in brake dust and rubber particles.
Everything ends up on the ground eventually. And that means that everything ends up on the bottom of your shoes. And if your shoes touch your carpet, they are going to transfer material. Chances are you won’t need carpet cleaning the first time you walk on your carpet with shoes, but you are going to need cleaning sooner than if you had taken them off.
Don’t Go Barefoot
Great you took your shoes off before stepping on your carpet, but hold on before you get your socks off. It is not just shoes that lead to the need for more constant carpet and rug cleaning. Bare feet are also a major threat to the health and longevity of your floor coverings.
Consider for a moment why you wear socks. It is to extend the lifespan of your shoes. Your feet sweat a lot and produce quite a bit of oil. With a pair of socks, you create a good enough barrier that you can significantly reduce the transfer of harmful foot-bound substances. (Though socks are still quite permeable.)
Socks & Slippers
When you step onto your carpet, it is ideal to be wearing socks or even house slippers. The more often you change your socks, the better. And the fewer places you wear your slippers, the less often you are going to require a steam cleaning service.
What socks and slippers are doing is making sure that whatever you walked through all day stays off your carpet. And it is also keeping the naturally occurring chemicals on your feet from directly passing into your carpet fibers.
Closing Thoughts
It doesn’t matter how much you take care of your carpets. The nature of life is that dirt builds up, and everything decays. Not to mention some accidents can create a sudden need for extensive cleaning. In any case, it is always preferable to call for expert carpet cleaning rather than attempt to do the work yourself.
A trained pair of hands with the correct professional equipment and cleaning products can extend the life of your carpet, remove stains, and eliminate odors. All this is done without the risk of further damage (and damage is very possible with DIY methods). So hire a professional!