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One of our guest bedrooms is carpeted. I try to dust and vacuum at the very last step, dusting an area and then vacuuming it, until I’m out the door into the hall. That way, there are no footsteps in the nap of the carpet.
But then I inevitably realize I have linens to put away in the linen closet, or something else that takes me back into that room. And I have to get out the vacuum again to erase my footmarks.
I need a tool, sort of like what Japanese gardeners use, to smooth over my footsteps. Any idea what that would be?
They make carpet rakes. I’ve seen my professional carpet cleaner use one. But grabbing the cordless vac seems just as effective and it’s not another thing to store.
I use my rechargeable Dyson stick vacuum for exactly what you are describing. Not sure how it would compare to a carpet rake, but definitely as easy as a manual carpet sweeper.
No because I hate carpet and don’t have much of it, and I don’t do our VR cleaning. It appears you can spend anywhere from $30 to $70 on them on Amazon which astounds me because the last time I remember buying one I am certain it was around $19 but that would have been in the early 90s so …
We don’t have much carpet, either. Half of our house is hardwood. About one-third is tile. Just four rooms have carpeting. When it comes time to replace the carpeting, it’ll be hardwood.
If you’re just straightening out the nap of the rug/ carpet (and I know how annoying those footprints can be!) then if you can’t find a carpet rake you can use either a garden broom with rubber bristles or a long handled dry squeegee that you keep for that purpose. No point vacuuming twice!
The VR was built with hardwood in 2 bedrooms, hall corridor, dining, and living area. The kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms are tile. They put carpet in the master bedroom that was stained when we bought it and remains stained despite me shampooing it multiple times. It is going to remain stained until we move in, at which point I will put in a nice berber. I would prefer hardwoods with a room rug, but in marriage you learn compromise.
I LOVE Dyson stick vacs. I’m going to marry mine. I hate carpets too. They hold on so much dust and filth! I removed carpets everywhere, sanded the floors and use minimal rugs. And slippers or socks.
I think you can put a woven rug over your rug, so foot prints cant be seen.
Two things caused me to swear off carpet: seeing what was in and under the carpet when I removed it and seeing what is on the floors that now have no carpet. Carpet is a filth magnet. I understand why people like it but…ewwww.
With our three Dyson stick vacs, we always have at least two charged. We can vacuum the whole house with the three. But for most daily touch-ups, I can do that with just one. Very handy and lightweight. Great on carpet, tile, and hardwood.
I feel like I should be standing here, gracefully pointing to one of them, with a smile on my face.
Years ago when I lived in an apartment that was already carpeted, I rented one of those gigantic walk-behind rug cleaners (like walking behind a washing machine on wheels). The water that came out of the carpeting was black. Time after time after time. Yuck.
When I had the carpet pulled out of our full-time house, I was disgusted at all the dirt on the concrete floor under the pad. It was a LOT. You know the 'moon dust’in the desert. So as I am standing there watching them remove dustbin after dustbin full in horror, the guy goes… ‘This is probably the cleanest carpet we have ever taken out.’ It was badly stained and threadbare over thresholds, but I have bad year-round allergies and I own a carpet shampooer that I used on it about three times a year, and on stains as needed between. And even still… dustpans full.
LOL. I was mortified when I took mine out. In fairness, it’s not so different with floors. About twice a year I sweep and mop. Then I get my steam machine and my magic erasers and a pile of old white towels and I literally clean the lower half of the walls and the floors. The dirt that is on the freshly mopped floor is dismaying.
