Most people don’t like vacuuming, yet it is one of the easiest things you can do to give your home an instant visual lift. It makes your home look instantly cleaner, helps your carpets last longer and dramatically improves the health of your carpets and you by reducing the airborne pollutants.

So let’s get started…

1. Empty the vacuum bag / filter regularly
Your vacuum pushes dirt from the carpet and air through the vacuum bag or filter. If the bag is full, then the air can’t pass through, severely affecting the suction on your vacuum and therefore the carpet cleaning process. The same applies for filters on bag-less vacuums.

2. Clean the roller on your vacuum regularly
Carpet fibres need to be agitated and shaken during vacuuming to loosen the dirt. If the roller brush is full of threads and hair, then it may be only semi-effective, or possibly not be working at all.

3. Use rugs
In high traffic areas, it’s a very good idea to use rugs that are easy to clean. These can be taken outside and shaken then hung in the sunshine. Rugs will keep your carpets looking good by reducing wear and tear and they’re more easily cleaned.

4. De-odorise
Carpets can get smelly by trapping bacteria in the fibres. There are plenty of carpet deodorises on the market but one of the simplest methods we have discovered is to place a piece of citrus zest or a cotton wool ball with a small amount of citrus essential oil inside the bag. As you vacuum the smell will be transferred to the clean carpet.

5. Vacuum and then vacuum again
Use a long extension cord so that you don’t have to keep stopping to move the cord into a new power socket, then vacuum all the carpet edges of your room first using the attachments that come with your cleaner. They are there for a reason. Vacuum the whole room horizontally and then again vertically. This lifts the carpet fibres in both directions and gets the maximum amount of dirt and debris out of your carpet and instantly making your carpet look cleaner. If you vacuum like this, you should only need to vacuum your carpet once a week.

6. Wear socks
Removing your shoes at the door will dramatically reduce the dirt and bacteria that ends up in your carpet. It’s important though to replace your shoes with socks or house slippers. Bare feet on carpet can release body oils which attract bacteria and can cause additional carpet staining.

7. Call in the professionals
Once a year it’s a great idea to have your carpets professionally cleaned to remove the dirt, dust mites and bacteria that you haven’t been able to remove and to return your carpet’s ph balance to its original state.

If you need to get the carpet cleaning experts in simply call us in the Drytron Customer Care Centre on 13 12 50. Our years of developing our specialised cleaning process, plus our walk on dry service will ensure you’ll get back to your day with amazing results and minimal disruption.

Keep your Carpets Fresh!

Carpet cleaning is one of those maintenance tasks you don’t really think about too much, and might even question if you need it done, but as soon as you see your freshly cleaned carpet you wonder how on earth you put up with your carpet beforehand! As your home collects clutter and bits and bobs over time, your carpet fibres are being smothered by dust, debris, pollutants and allergens that build up compromising your family’s health and the overall quality of your carpet. So just as you would give your home a spring clean, carpet cleaning should be considered in the same train of thought, requiring regular maintenance and upkeep to ensure your family home is healthy.

What About Vacuuming?

Vacuuming should be your go-to weekly carpet maintenance task, and part of your carpet cleaning process, to remove surface dust and debris and extend the life of your carpets. 

But while vacuuming is a great short-term solution to give the appearance of a clean carpet on the surface, vacuums are ineffective at drawing out the deep-rooted dirt and debris that nests within your carpet fibres, turning into stubborn stains that are impossible to get rid of. 

By all means, vacuum regularly to maintain a base level of cleanliness throughout your carpets and uplift loose debris such as dust and pet hair. But for a thorough and deep clean, a professional carpet cleaning service is required on a semi regular basis to keep your carpets looking and feeling brand new. 

How Often Should I Vacuum?

To establish how often you should be vacuuming your carpets, you should consider the following questions. Do you have pets? Do you have any children? Does anyone in the family have any respiratory conditions such as asthma? Does anyone in the family smoke? How much of your home is carpeted? Are the high traffic areas carpeted?

Even if you have carpet in only some of your home, dust and debris can travel around your house across wooden floors, especially when there is a slight draught or light breeze, even just from a door opening and closing. Debris on carpet can be harder to see, especially on darker toned carpet. 

If you have pets, especially those that shed fur, and if you have children, you’ll need to be vacuuming at least a couple of times a week. This is to uplift pet hair and the associated debris it can collect from your carpets, and keep the carpets clean for the children. Children are also notoriously messy! Dropping food and all sorts around the house is expected, and if you don’t have an enthusiastic pet following them around to eat the crumbs, you’ll need to whip the vacuum out again! 

Health conditions such as asthma can be exacerbated by dust and allergens in the carpet, so if someone in your family suffers from asthma, your carpets will need to be cleaned more regularly. The same goes for smokers, the carpet can hang on to the smell of smoke, and should be vacuumed regularly to minimise the amount of remnant smoke smell. 

How Often Should Carpets Be Professionally Cleaned?

While vacuuming will be your go-to for day to day upkeep of your carpets and help with your carpet spills and stains, you should schedule in at least a yearly professional carpet cleaning service. This is your best bet at ensuring a deep and thorough clean to uplift the hard to reach debris hiding within your carpet fibres. As mentioned, just like you would plan a yearly spring clean, you should schedule a yearly carpet cleaning service. 

Twelve months is the common recommendation for a few reasons. Firstly, many quality carpet manufacturers recommend this to meet warranty requirements. Secondly, carpet cleaning can be a bit of a tedious task, as you have to clear your furniture out of the carpeted areas to allow the professionals to reach all areas. This isn’t a task you want to be doing too frequently. And lastly, with your vacuuming uplifting surface debris, a yearly deep clean is sufficient to reach the deep debris before it permanently affects your carpets.

How Does Professional Carpet Cleaning Work?

Drytron Carpet Dry Cleaning has developed an innovative carpet cleaning process utilising deep cleaning technology to remove dirt and stains to extend the life of your carpet. As the trusted carpet cleaning service in Melbourne, Drytron has developed two proprietary products, Drytech One and Drytech Two, which are only available through Drytron’s cleaning process. These products, paired with Drytron’s six step deep clean process, guarantees the most thorough clean possible for your carpets. 

The first step removes initial debris and positions the carpet fibres upright utilising a high-powered jet vacuum. A broad-spectrum pre-treatment designed to target all types of dust and dirt is then applied to break down stains is applied, followed by the application of Drytech using a compressed air sprayer. This transfers a light mist to the carpet and prevents the carpet from getting too wet. Drytech Two is then applied with an accumulator pad which is submerged then squeezed dry as possible before being applied to the turbo agitator. Through rapid rotation, the accumulator pad activates the Drytech compounds to extract debris from carpet fibres and onto the pad using rapid rotation. This carefully designed process attacks stubborn stains while maintaining the quality of your carpet. 

Drytron are your go-to professional carpet cleaning professionals in Melbourne. Call the friendly team for a free quote or to make a carpet dry cleaning booking.

Book Online or Call: 13 12 50

Tackle those stains!

There is nothing quite like coming home after a long day and crashing on the couch. They are such an integral part of your home, and a great investment given how much time you’ll probably spend lounging on it.

Whether it’s watching TV, entertaining guests, or even sleeping on them, couches create a warm and inviting presence to any room. Before buying a couch however, consider the couch fabric and how it will age in your household. For example, that white couch might seem like a great choice at the time, but after one coffee spill it could be ruined. Alternatively, a soft black fabric couch might suit your room perfectly, but pet hair will quickly turn that couch grey. 

Once you have your dream couch, it’s important to make sure it stays looking good for as long as possible. Whether you have a classic leather couch, a cosy fabric couch, or a velvet lounger, you’ll want to protect and preserve it. Couch cleaning is very important because prevention is always better than restoration.

How to keep your couch looking new

No matter what type of couch you have or how much you look after it, couch cleaning is essential from time to time, and these tips and tricks will help you keep your couch in good nick. 

1. Vacuum regularly

First and most importantly, perform a regular vacuum of your couch fortnightly. Make sure to vacuum the cushions, under the cushions and down in the crevices to avoid a build-up of dust and dirt. If you have someone in your household who suffers from allergies or asthma make sure to do this as regularly as possible. 

2. Lint Rolling

Lint rolling your couch is another great way to get rid of unwanted pet hair, fine dirt or lint. Simply roll the lint roller all over, paying special attention to the cushions and armrests, or anywhere that dirt and hair builds up. 

3. Spot Cleaning

If a stain does appear there are a few ways to get rid of the stain before it dries into the fabric, staining the couch permanently.  

The first method is spot cleaning with white vinegar and water. Simply dilute a cap full of white vinegar into a cup of water, then gently blot and dap the stain until it disappears. This can be repeated if necessary. 

The second method, mix a small amount of mild washing powder and water together and gently dab it on the stained area. Again, repeating if necessary. In both of these cases, be sure not to scrub the couch fabric with the cleaning solution as this can damage the material and push the stain deeper into the fabric fibres. 

The last method is using a store-bought couch cleaner. First, try your best to scrape or scoop up any solids first. Second, blot out the liquid with any clean towelling material – and act fast. The earlier you get to the spot or stain the better. Third, making sure you follow the cleaning instructions carefully, apply the cleaning product to another clean towel or cloth and get to work on the stain. To keep the stain in one spot, dab and wipe from the outside of the stain inwards in small, light motions. Fourth, rinse the area with cold or lukewarm water. Lastly, gently blot the area with a white paper towel. You are essentially trying to ‘pick up’ the stain with a paper towel. Keep dabbing the area until the stain has been lifted off! Easy as that!

Cotton, velvet and other soft fabric couches are fairly easy to take care of, but leather couch cleaning can be a different game all together. To clean, vacuum first to remove any dust and dirt, but be gentle as a heavy hand can scratch the leather. Next, use a special leather protective conditioner or treatment to ensure the leather gets the moisture it needs. Taking proper care of a leather couch will actually see it get better with age.

Most sofas come with a tab or tag detailing the cleaning instructions. Always check with the manufacturer’s guidelines and test on a small area before attempting any DIY stain removal or couch cleaning. Alternatively, the easiest and most effective method of couch cleaning is calling a professional. They will have all the tricks, tools and products to make your couch look like new. Drytron offer great couch cleaning services in Melbourne and Victoria, and their special dry cleaning service will have your couch looking brand new.  

How often should you clean your couch?

Couch cleaning is an essential job and should definitely be added to the list of household chores. The fabric can degrade with wear and tear in just a few years if you do not maintain the couch properly. Some fabrics are trickier than others but all need to be cleaned regularly to ensure they are looking their best for as long as they can. Leather couches, if maintained properly can even get better with age.

How often you should clean your couch depends a lot on how often you use it and how you use it. It also depends on the kind of couch, the material it is upholstered with and where it sits in your house. Aside from regular vacuuming and spot cleaning where necessary, it is important to conduct periodic professional cleaning to keep your couch looking new. In many cases, you might not know just how dirty you couch is until you get a professional couch dry clean and see the difference.

Drytron offers great couch cleaning in Melbourne & Victoria to keep your couch looking like new. Delicate through to hardy fabrics and leather can be treated beautifully with a Drytron clean. Colour-fastness is tested before applying any of the treatments expected to be used during our upholstery cleaning. Additionally, the entire piece that is worked on is pre-treated with a special broad-spectrum cleaning solution to dissolve remaining marks.

Call or contact the team to discuss your cleaning needs:

Book Online or Call: 13 12 50

Sometimes, we just need the warm embrace of a big, comforting rug. Or a small rug by the front door, to make dinner guests feel welcomed into our home. Or even a medium-sized rug in the kitchen under the table, with a shaggy texture and a gentle vibrancy, to warm the dinner atmosphere without having to leave the oven on.

Rugs come in all sorts of interesting varieties. They can be larger statement pieces, impactful and attention-grabbing. Or smaller, subtle pieces to tie your room together. A rug can act as the perfect companion for a quiet night by the fire, or a trendy addition to a cocktail evening with the girls. Whatever aesthetic you feel comfortable letting into your home, a rug will bring life to your surroundings. They not only add effortless dimension and character to a room but also help to channel the right vibe and energy within your home. Brighter, lighter, happier or more captivating; darker, moodier, passionate and more alluring – whatever your personality and preference, you’re bound to find a rug to suit your style.

Beyond the surface-level aesthetics, rugs come with many practical benefits that you might not have even known about. They can boost a room’s temperature and help to maintain the warmth of a cosy space. Larger-scale, dense, textured rugs helping to block out ground-level chill and keep winter draughts from creeping up through cracks in the floor. Thicker, woven rugs with varying fibres have a great ability to absorb excess sound, making them perfect for apartment living and family homes. And for those who appreciate the polished, classic materials of their home surfaces, rugs help to protect materials such as hard-wood floors against everyday wear and tear.

How to Care for Your Rug with Home Products
Nurturing and caring for your rug can vary according to the style, design and durability of the rug in question. A basic and simple weekly rug clean can be done with some common household basics to maintain the rugs overall condition and character. Making sure you keep up with basic rug cleaning practices will extend the lifespan of your rug and keep it looking good as new (to the naked eye). You can use a combination of dish soap, vinegar and hot water to gently blot any marks or spots with a soft cloth.

Surface-Level Rug Care
Vacuuming; a common practice in almost every household. Vacuuming your rug regularly or as needed will help to eradicate and manage stubborn pet hair, fluff balls and any other little bits of household debris that seems to come out of nowhere. The more that piles up and is walked on top of, the harder it can be to vacuum it away. Getting into the habit of clearing pet hair once a week, will stop compaction and eventual damage to your rug’s surface material. This applies to upholstery cleaning too.

Stains; they don’t have to be a strain. Simple spot-cleaning with warm water and a sponge will prove useful against the everyday stains and dirt of living a happy, busy family life. Gentle rug detergents diluted in warm water can be very effective against common everyday stains and can be a good start before sending your rug off for a professional cleaning job.

Restoring and Ongoing Maintenance – Seek a Professional Cleaning Service
It’s important to know how to keep your rug in good condition, otherwise you’ll end up needing to replace your rug every few months due to wear and tear, and lack of care. Continuing to enjoy a carpet or rug for its aesthetic and practical benefits goes beyond the basic home practices and can be boosted with the help of a professional cleaning service.

Professional maintenance can be the key to ensuring the longevity and quality of your rug. It can also be essential for the health of your family. Dust and mites building up in your rugs can exacerbate allergies. Being able to get into those deep internal fibres means turning to the people who have the skillset and products to carry this out.

Drytron’s Mobile Rug Cleaning Can Bring Your Rugs Back to Life
Drytron Carpet Cleaning provide rug cleaning in Melbourne and across wider Victoria. Efficient, expert and widely-accessible, our services are well-known for high quality service and cleaning expertise.

We boast a superior clean and maintenance process that’s implemented in a six-step system to unlock dust and dirt at the deepest level of your carpet and rugs. Steam processes have been known to leave dampness, odd smells or even product residue unseen until the carpet has fully dried. Drytron ensures a rapid, effective treatment with no extra drying time. First, a high-powered vacuum, followed by pre-treatment and application of our patented compounds that draw soil and stains to the surface for removal. The pile is then restored to looking fresh through hand grooming with a carpet rake.

Drytron Carpet Cleaning will make your rug look like new again. Call the team to discuss your needs.

When urine penetrates the carpet and reaches the underlay it spreads. Urine breaks down the natural surface tension of the carpet fibres so that each time your pet returns to the same spot, the urine penetrates further and further, affecting a larger and larger area and making the carpet cleaning process a lot more difficult.

Urine contains uric salts. The uric salts attracts moisture, the bacteria thrives in this moist environment and produces an off-gas, which is the smell. Once the weather warms up again, the bacteria become even more active and the smell gets stronger – hence the unpleasant urine odour that is left on your stained carpet.

The urine odour won’t go away until the bacteria in the underlay are killed and the uric salts are dissolved. Hard work, but in all but heavy cases of urine contamination, the problem can usually be effectively treated without replacing carpet or underlay, if you get the carpet cleaning professionals in.

So what about fresh urine stains?
In the case of fresh stains or recent stains they may be easy enough to treat. Simply re-hydrate the area with a mixture of water and vinegar, and then using a thick towel, stand on it to soak up all the moisture. Finally, treat it with a pet odour eliminator that can kill the bacteria that causes the odour and stops the pet from returning to the same location. Drytron have a product called Wee Buster that works very effectively and is available from your local Drytron technician. Once you’ve cleaned up the stain try using an air conditioner or dehumidifier to help soak up any remaining moisture. It will deprive any remaining bacteria of its food source.

How do you treat old, persistent urine odours?
If there are old urine stains returning to haunt you there really is no other option but to call in the carpet cleaning experts. Your local Drytron carpet cleaning technician will treat the problem with a more scientific method that includes:

Identifying key areas of the carpet and underlay that are affected using a sensor. Remember that the area affected under the carpet is always larger than the visible stain. They will inject the underlay with an exclusive sanitising solution that will kill the bacteria and neutralise the uric salts.

They will clean the carpet to remove any urine contamination from the carpet fibres.

This process is effective if the size of the area is no bigger than a dinner plate. If the affected area is larger than that, it may be necessary to actually replace the carpet underlay and to treat both sides of the carpet. In extreme cases it may also be necessary to seal the sub-floor – urine can penetrate into wood and concrete.

Urine odours and visible urine stains are two different things. Drytron can treat both, although old visible urine stains are often impossible to remove. You must act fast.

If you find a strange odour hanging around your carpet and suspect that it may be urine – don’t delay, call Drytron on 13 12 50 and get the problem sorted.

Carpet functions like a giant air filter, collecting our home’s dirt and dust. Those two Ds act like fine sandpaper, wearing down carpet fibres over time. If vacuuming is not your passion, and we’re guessing it’s not, our advice is to focus on vacuuming the high-traffic areas once a week or more. Carpet cleaning is an important process, by simply vacuuming the high-soil areas in the entrances and toward the front of your home, you can add years to the life of your carpet.

Go Slow
While vacuuming your carpet, take your time and use overlapping strokes. Even counting slowly with each forward and backward stroke allows time for the vacuum to do its work.

Treat Stains Immediately
If possible, take care of stains as soon as they happen. Most carpets today are made to resist liquid penetration for a time, so if you simply blot (don’t rub!) it dry with a clean cloth right away, the stain may not have a chance to set. If blotting alone doesn’t do the trick check out our Drytron carpet dry cleaning process and call in our professional carpet cleaners to get the job done.

Match Your Vacuum to Your Needs
Choose your vacuum based on its functions rather than price tag. Have shedding pets, for example? Choose a vacuum with a hose and multiple attachments. Stairs? Go light or find one with a removable stair-cleaning attachment. Choose substance over flashy, make the cleaning process easier.

Maintain Your Vacuum
Keep your vacuum clean. A dirty vacuum will give your carpet a compromised result. Empty the canister or bag frequently, check hoses for clogs, and change the filter when it starts to turn grey and clean the vacuum heads regularly.

Go Pro
Consider having your carpet professionally cleaned once or twice a year depending on the size of your household. Rental machines that require special solutions can leave dirt-attracting residue. Use a reputable professional service instead. Check out Drytron’s recommended cleaning process here.

Has everyone decided what their New Year’s resolutions will be? It might not be on your list, but we bet you’d like to start the new year with a stain-free house! With all the heavy duty celebrating, our carpets, rugs, and upholstery usually tend to need a good dry clean after the festive season, plus it’s a great way to start the year off with a clean and fresh home environment.

Drytron carpet specialists have access to industrial strength products and machines that the average consumer doesn’t have lying around the house.

Carpet is a big investment, so having red wine stains or dirty little footprints on your carpet is not ideal. And trying to tackle the carpet cleaning process on your own with some risky home remedies, solvent products and detergents can have unintended consequences.

Simply put, some stains are better removed by the carpet cleaning professionals, especially when it comes to red wine.

If a spill does occur, time is of the essence and if you are smart and decide to call in a carpet cleaning company, first remove as much red wine as possible, by blotting the wine-stained area as soon as the spill happens.

He may only work one day a year but it’s a busy one, so when the big fella arrives at your humble abode he’s bound to be tired, thirsty and pretty peckish. Navigating a foreign living room in the dark is no easy feat so there’s bound to be some spilt milk, mince pies and a few muddy reindeer prints on your carpet the next morning.

Whatever it may be; spills, dirt, cranberry sauce, gravy or the advent calendar choccies, these pesky devils will most likely find their way onto your carpet this festive season. But there’s no need to panic – if you treat them correctly your carpet will live to fight another Christmas day!

Although it might sound daunting, carpet cleaning isn’t as tricky as you might think. Here are some of our best carpet cleaning tips and tricks to give you the ultimate guide for Christmas carpet stain removal.

An essential part of the carpet cleaning process is to know what not to do when cleaning carpet stains. Here are the classic DO’s and DON’Ts of carpet cleaning stain removal.

Do
• Contain the spill – with a paper towel or cloth
• Wipe away any excess liquids
• Scoop up any solids with a spoon

Don’t
• scrub your carpet. Scrubbing at a stain can actually push the stain further into the carpet fibres making it much harder to remove
• iron your carpet. Some people might suggest ironing over certain stains as a removal technique but try to avoid this at all costs. You are more likely to leave scorch marks on your carpet and melt nylon or polyester fibres
• leave the stain on the carpet. The more time a stain has to settle, the harder it becomes to remove

Depending on the type of stain, these household products are always good to have in the cupboard in case of a carpet emergency.

• White vinegar – great for lifting away all sorts of light stains
• A simple home detergent (or multi-purpose detergent) is also a fantastic tool to get out carpet stains and germs
• Bi-carb soda – the carpet cleaner all-round saviour

Disclaimer: If you are going to treat your carpet it may lead to discolouration or damage, always test your treatment in a non-obvious corner to see the effect of your treatment before applying to visible areas. Better still consult your carpet manufacturer or a professional carpet cleaner such as Drytron.

And remember… Drytron are great in any carpet cleaning emergency. Our years of developing a specialised cleaning process ensure you’ll get back to your celebrations in no time. If you need to get the carpet cleaning specialists in, then give us a call in the Drytron Customer Care Centre on 13 12 50.

Owning a pet can be such a fun and rewarding experience and they come with a huge list of positives that contribute to the overall happiness and fulfilment of everyday life.

But it’s not all glitter and unicorns when owning an animal. Domestic pets in particular, i.e. cats and dogs, can have a particular impact on the cleanliness of surfaces within the home. This is due to excess hair shedding that can cause a fair amount of hassle if left to build up on the affected surface for long periods of time. Professional cleaning services can play a crucial role in keeping your household aesthetics free of animal hair congestion.

Don’t be put off by the above comments – there is no reason why owning a pet has to be stressful, nor should you face an ongoing battle against pet hair shedding. As long as you carry out some regular cleaning practices and call in the professionals for carpet and upholstery dry-cleaning when necessary, you’ll keep your home fur-free!

Listed below are 10 carpet cleaning tips & tricks for pet hair removal, that you can implement into your everyday habits:

Sticky Lint Roller
It might seem like an obvious one, but sticky lint rollers are your best friend when it comes to a quick, fuss-free “de-fluff” session. They’re great for smaller areas, and not quite as effective on larger patches of carpet – as the sticky area of the roller can be quickly consumed by the first surface layer of hair. But hey, you’ve had a coffee and are feeling game – why not take to the armchair after you’ve finished cleaning up your favourite rug? Every small bit of maintenance helps to keep overall pet hair at bay.

Sticky-tape Rolled Around your Hand
This can be a fun one to encourage the kids to help with your carpet hair-removal movement – especially as Lint Rollers can be dearer and less effective on larger patches. Invest in some strong, industrial-grade packing tape, wrap around the palm of your hand several times (with the sticky component facing upwards!) and trick the kids into thinking they’re in competition to accumulate the most pet hair on their sticky tape. In no time, you could have larger rugs and carpets looking significantly less hairy than before! Go kids, go!

Roll the Dog Hair into a Damp Ball – Then Vacuum!
One of the most underrated hair-removal tricks in the book is that of a very light pre-moistening your rug and then sweeping the pet hair into damp, attractive clumps, prior to getting at them with the vacuum. Dampening the hair makes it a lot easier to sweep it into a pile for you to then blast away with your trusty hoover. This can make larger sections of carpet much more manageable to deal with – just be careful to not overdo the water usage. Carpet doesn’t dry quickly, without assistance, and wet carpet will lead to smells, mould, mildew and even carpet shrinkage. A slight light mist with a spray bottle is all you need to kick this trick into gear – and get rid of that hair!

Dampen your Cleaning Utensils
When it comes to hardwood flooring, rather than dampening the floor directly like above with the rug itself, you can actually dampen the broom or mop you’re using before you apply it to the floor space. Suddenly you’ve taken a pretty good everyday mop and transformed it into a highly efficient, damp hair-magnet.

There are many benefits of having your upholstery and carpets professionally dry-cleaned. Contact Drytron for a quote.