How to keep your carpet and floors as clean as possible at home or the office to prolong the life of your carpet and flooring:

This post is geared for an office environment but it is just as important in a home with a lot of children or even one with a lot of visitors.

One of the best ways to keep your carpeting and flooring clean is through preventive maintenance.  You need to get a good exterior and entrance mat.  These mats will help keep dirt from reaching your flooring or carpets so that it stays clean. Having mats at entrances is very helpful for dirt containment and reducing the costs of cleaning and maintenance. It is best to have an exterior mat that can be used for scraping heavy debris and an interior mat that can be used to trap smaller particles of dirt.

The strategy of preventative maintenance is as simple as it sounds: You keep your carpet clean by keeping dirt from reaching it. 

The best type of mats have some heavy yarns to scrape and to absorb moisture. You should test the mat by sprinkling ice melter on it and using a standard upright vacuum to remove it. If the debris isn’t removed easily than you need a different mat.  You will need to clean the mat on a regular basis to prevent it from becoming loaded with dirt and debris that will get on your main flooring if it is not removed from the entrance mats.

In addition to the mats, make sure you have a regular cleaning program for all of your flooring.  With carpet make sure you get a quality vacuum cleaner and do regular deep professional cleaning. as well.

Here is a good resource for the type of vacuum cleaner to purchase based on your needs.

http://www.carpet-rug.org/CRI-Testing-Programs/CRI-Seal-of-Approval-Program/Vacuums.aspx