Should You Keep Cleaning Your Carpet, or Is It Time to Replace?

Carpeting can often hide signs of its old age quite effectively. A quick vacuum can be enough to remove the visible pet hair, but lurking inside the pile are thousands more. Likewise, a juice spill can be cleaned up quickly, yet every time it gets humid a sour juice smell begins to permeate the air.

This lingering foulness is like an iceberg — only small signs may be visible at the surface, but lurking underneath could be something more repellent than you care to think about. Sometimes, no amount of deep cleaning will be enough to purge the carpet of its sordid history.

To help you decide whether your carpet still has glory days ahead of it or if it is past its prime, here are some things to consider:

Age

Age will be the single biggest factor when deciding whether to ditch your carpet or give it a second chance. Newer carpets can be quite resilient, handling dirt, spills or wear yet always coming back for more. Fresh fibers are more absorbent, but since they have not yet been infused with substances from their environment, they can take the beating.

However, older carpets will quickly show their age over time. General problems like smells, cleanliness, staining, wear and even comfort will become exponentially worse with every passing year. Most manufacturers estimate that their carpets will last around 10 years, 15 if the owner simply refuses to let go. After that, even the most minor problems will be glaring in the face of the accumulated abuse the carpet has experienced.

If your carpet is approaching eight to 10 years old, you should probably consider it time to rip it out and replace it. When you see how it looks underneath, you will likely be glad you did.

Stains

Stains have a cumulative effect. Minor stains may eventually fade, but more and more spills can make carpets progressively harder to clean. Some stains penetrate the deeper backing and padding underneath the visible parts of the rug, and they can reappear after exposure to moisture from water or humidity.

Carpets with pervasive stains, especially older ones, will be harder to clean and will likely need replacement.

Smell

Similar to stains, smells can work their way into the inner fibers of carpeting where they find a permanent home. Odors can often cling to the padding underneath carpets, making them impossible to remove even with a thorough steam clean. Also like stains, odors can gets worse when there are new spills or humid air. Freshen up your house with a new carpet and you will be amazed at the difference.

Keep in mind that smell can be a good indicator of air quality, too. Allergens like dust, dander and even mold cling to carpets tenaciously and can cause everyone in the house to feel sneezy, stuffy and miserable.

Comfort

New carpet can feel like you are burying your face in the soft belly of a furry animal. Over time, the pile will wear and get pushed down, making that plush feeling gradually disappear.

Likewise, the spongy cushioning underneath carpet — known in the industry as “underlay” — will lose its form and become flattened. Walk on your carpet with bare feet and decide if it still has that joyous fuzzy fur sensation or if it feels more like an animal in desperate need of a bath and a brushing. Compare it to new carpet swatches to get the full effect.

Style and Value

Carpets evolve quicker than most other home finishes. Newer technologies produce softer carpets that are more stain resistant, look better and have more impressive patterns. You may also want to switch up the color scheme to match your decor better, changing your living space from drab to fab.

If you are moving, replacing the carpet is a particularly smart idea. New carpet adds value and appeal to homes, while older carpets can drag buyer’s opinions of rooms or the entire house down. Freshen up your home and give the new owners something they can be proud of with a fancy new carpet.

ServiceWhale can help you find a Philadelphia area carpeting contractor that can give your carpet a “health exam” to decide whether it can be salvageable with a deep clean or if replacement is in order. Click here to compare free custom quotes from local carpeting experts without requiring onsite estimates.