how often do you clean your carpets?

[boffy]

do your friends and family often carry dog dirt into your house? Most responsible adults (which i'd hope your visitors are) would wipe their feet before entering your house and when doing this would notice if there were dog dirt on their shoes.

we all have carpeting that costs a lot of money, sofa's and electrical items too but how far do you go? I have a cream leather sofa that can absorb dye from dark trousers, It was my choice though and i've yet to ask a guest to remove their trousers before sitting on it.

they dont as i have a variety of clean soft slippers in my hallway that they put on before comming into my house

 

[Brissles]

I suppose I would be a bit more 'precious' about carpets if they were cream, but I have Axminster which are far more hardwearing, and again the Scotchguard protector on them is well worth the money, so hardly need cleaning - (once you start thats when you have to keep doing it every 3 months or so), but come up beautifully just after vacuuming.

 

[janie]

i'm a bit like rainbowdottie in that i just kind of hope people will take their shoes off. my bestest friends i don't mind asking. i'm different though in that i always take my shoes off when i walk in someone's house. it just seems courtesy to me to not track in whatever's outside. i often sit on the floor but i wouldn't sit on the pavement. if i had babies crawling around i'd feel even more strongly about it.

for tradesmen i have a long narrow rug that i put down. these days they all wear trainers or boots with the same grooved soles which hold a lot of mud or dirt but i don't expect them to fiddle about taking them off when they've come to do a job in my house.

however, on the other hand, it does seem odd to imagine everyone sitting round at a dinner party in their stockinged feet so i can see both sides.

my carpets are cream and they get dirty quickly i think because they're cheap. years ago i was able to afford a 100% wool cream carpet and it never showed the dirt.


edit - to actually answer the question as it's just me and the cat (with what seems like 4 size nines) once a year professionally but have recently bought a vax so will be more often, particularly the hall - although the comments about it being left wet has put me off a bit.

i've never tried those foaming things with a sponge applicator they used to sell on qvc or vanish for big areas like they show in the ads. i do use vanish if we have any furball action and it works well.

 

[Frazzled]

Carpets are never the same once they've been cleaned so I avoid it until absolutely necessary. I replaced throughout with pale sandy cream carpet about four years ago, I cut squares from the offcuts to put in front of chairs and sofas and invested in large Turtlemats for entry doors, which the cats have to cross when they come in. Whenever people come I just tell them to wipe their shoes thoroughly on the mats which are wonderful and can be machine washed regularly. The carpet has only been spot cleaned when necessary and still looks like new. I find the pink Vanish carpet foam excellent and it dealt very efficiently with a glass of port a friend accidentally knocked over!

But - I do live alone and know from experience it would be a different matter if a husband, children, dogs etc were running around the house!

 

[LilacTree]

I'm an estate agent and absolutely hate it when i turn up at a property and am asked to take off my shoes. I always wear a smart skirt suit and to walk round a strangers house in my stockined feet feels quite humiliating.

It annoys me so much that if I know that a vendor has a no shoes policy, someone else from the office (who's obviously more chilled out with this issue) carries out any accompanied viewings.

 

[Gem Genie]

I was brought up to understand that slippers should be worn to protect your carpets and not your feet. If everyone wore house slippers then carpets wouldn't get dirty.

I hate it when people wear slippers to go out in the garden or pop to the shops too.

 

[Rentochops]

I've lived in my house for just over 3 years, they were new when we moved in, they are cream. I think I might just Vax the high traffic areas in the Summer. I mean no one wears shoes in the bedrooms (well there are only 2 of us).

 

[rainbowdottie]

I do have to say I fail to understand why it is humiliating to walk round in your tights?

 

[speckledhen]

Do what we do, do not allow shoes into the house. I warn visitors, even the vet, they had to remove them for health reasons. I do not want spit, dog dirt, mud etc. trodden into my house.

I have tried this, and the whinging and moaning I had from workmen, visitors, even my mum and dad made me feel awful. Comments like 'can't you put towels or dusr sheets down so I don't have to take my shoes off', or general huffing and puffing whilst removing shoes/boots. Some people looked at me like I'd asked them to strip naked! I even bought a wicker basket and put different sized towelling spa slippers in it for people (but not the workmen!). In the end I gave up and bought a bissell!

 

[boffy]

you can buy shoe covers for workmen as for health and safety they may have to wear haevy foot wear. i had my kitchen replaced and the workmen put down special flexible panels on my carpet

 

[LilacTree]

I do have to say I fail to understand why it is humiliating to walk round in your tights?

I can't explain why I feel humiliated, I just do! Clients expect me to be dressed in an appropriately smart, professional manner when I am valuing their house so it peeves me when I feel I undermine that dress code by walking round without footwear.

 

[bags]

I can't explain why I feel humiliated, I just do! Clients expect me to be dressed in an appropriately smart, professional manner when I am valuing their house so it peeves me when I feel I undermine that dress code by walking round without footwear.

Just thinking had you not thought to offer to pop on some overshoes over your footwear?

 

[fulhamphil]

I can't abide to be asked to take off my shoes - on the very rare occasions that I am :wait: I don't pay £370 for a pair of shoes only to have to leave them on someone's Welcome Mat. I've got pale carpets but would never ask anyone to kick off their sling-backs, unless they'd just been walking through a quagmire :wave:

 

[LilacTree]

We do have a supply of these and I keep a stash in my car. I can count on one hand the number of clients who say that it's ok to use these instead of removing my shoes...not sure why.

Usually people ask if i'd mind removing my shoes which gives me the option of saying that i'd prefer to keep them on.

 

[stratobuddy]

I don't like people wearing shoes on my carpets, as I NEVER do myself.

Recently, I had to have 2 plumbers come (on different days) from Dynorod, and they both put on plastic shoe covers, without being asked.

 

[StumpyBloke]

Just my 2p, but I couldn't give a toss how people feel coming to my house... my house, my rules! I abide by their house rules, and I expect the same!

 

[AJL-C]

I wouldn't dream of wearing shoes in someones house, so I expect the same in mine. The Dynorod guy did the same here Stratobuddy as did the Sky engineer.

 

[DMS]

It is a dilema

I use to clean my carpets twice a year - have a large Bissell cleaner one, but now I have just replaced my downstairs carpets with laminate flooring. That said, with regards to the problems of asking people to remove their shoes, I never did although made sure everyone had clean shoes before coming in BUT, I will now ask the girls/women if they come in with stiletto's on as I do not want my nice smooth floor having marks all in it. If I was asked by anyone to remove my shoes, I never found it a problem as it is their house so their rules - although my hubby always hoped he had one a decent pair of socks with no holes lol... My big bugbear, (have now gone off subject here!) although lately it is not so bad, was having to ask people to NOT smoke in my home - everyone in my family smoked and all took offence to being asked to go outside despite both me and my Son being asmatic. I stood my ground with it though and nowadays, it is not a problem but it took years and years.

 

[summergirl]

I wouldn't dream of wearing shoes in someones house, so I expect the same in mine. The Dynorod guy did the same here Stratobuddy as did the Sky engineer.

They would have to for health and safety reasons. My husband has to wear steel toe-capped boots for work (he's a gas service engineer) he always gets asked to take his boots off but they are not allowed due to health and safety but he always puts on those shoe covers.

 

[JR's Ego]

Giggling to myself thinking of our own dogs and cats coming in from outdoors and us home owners looking at them and saying "hey! take your shoes off" !!!