Why should you clean carpeted stairs?

Like all carpeted areas in your home, your stairs will retain dust and dirt and need a thorough cleaning to remain hygienic. The buildup of dust and dirt can lead to mold and bacteria in the carpet.

Steps how to clean carpeted stairs

Step 1: Remove Dirt And Debris With A Stiff Brush

The first step to cleaning carpeted stairs is to remove any stubborn dirt and debris that is deep in the carpet and won’t come off with regular vacuuming. A good way to achieve this is by using a brush with stiff bristles. If you don’t have a stiff brush, then you could use a special attachment for your vacuum cleaner that helps to remove ground in dirt.

Always start at the top of the staircase and work your way down. Once you have worked on a step and loosened any dirt, use the brush to sweep the dirt down the stairs. This will make it easier to keep all the debris together and avoid trampling it back into the carpet.

Click here to watch a video on how to clean stairs.

Step 2: Use A Powerful Vacuum Cleaner To Remove The Loosened Dirt From The Stairs

Once all the dirt in the carpet has been loosened, it’s time for the vacuum. The best vacuum for carpeted stairs is a cordless battery powered vacuum or a lightweight vacuum with a long power cord. The last thing you want to be doing is trying to balance at the top of a staircase with a heavy vacuum cleaner trying to pull you down. The best way to vacuum stairs is to start at the top and work your way down each step. This ensures that you don’t walk over and trample dirt into the carpet that has already been cleaned.

Step 3: Shampoo Each Stair

The next step is to give the stairs a really good clean with a cleaning agent such as carpet shampoo. The best way to shampoo carpet on stairs is by hand with a scrubbing brush, but this is also the most time consuming and labor intensive method.

Alternatively, you can use a carpet cleaning machine, but these are usually large appliances and are not really suitable for cleaning individual stairs unless they have specific attachments.

Step 4: Dry The Stairs

After shampooing your stairs they will have a lot of excess water on them unless you used a carpet cleaner that sucks up the water as it cleans. You need to remove as much as this excess water as possible because it will take days to dry naturally. In this time mold and other bacteria can grow in your carpet so it is in your best interests to get as much moisture removed as you can. The best way to dry carpet is with a carpet cleaner or a wet/dry vacuum. The alternative is to use absorbent towels or cloths to soak up the moisture. This can be very time consuming and I recommend using a machine.

Step 5: Final Vacuum

Once you have removed as much excess water as you can from the carpeted stairs, leave them to dry naturally over a period of time, preferably overnight.

When the stairs are completely dry, give them a final vacuum to freshen the carpet and remove and debris from the cleaning process. You should now have a very clean looking staircase!

Bonus Step: Steam the carpet for Heavy-Duty cleaning

For filthy stairs, try steam cleaning the carpet to dislodge the dirt particles. Steam machines use hot water to force dirt and stains from the material. Cleaning this way also helps eliminate mold or mildew spores in your carpet.

You can buy a steam cleaner from your local hardware store or rent the machine from any home improvement store. The device may come with varying functions, like collecting stains, pet hair, or embedded dirt.

Although steam cleaning carpeted stairs may not remove every stain type, the method is useful for heavy-duty cleaning jobs. Steam cleaning is also an alternative to using a regular vacuum cleaner in weekly cleaning maintenance. They dry the excess water the machine produces, leaving the area only mildly damp, so you don’t need to worry about dry times.

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