How to Clean Carpet on Stairs – A Detailed Guide

Carpeting the staircase is undoubtedly a common thing that you see these days. It adds so much to the aesthetics of a house interior. However, if you own carpeted stairs, you know how hard it is to maintain these.

It’s critical to know how to clean carpet on stairs as dirty and stained carpet can ruin the beauty of your house. There are so many ways you can get these dirty, and there are different ways that you can try to clean the mess as well.

To help you get with that, let’s go over some methods that you can use to clean the carpet on the staircase.

The Basic Cleaning

In most cases, the carpet on the staircase is going to get dirty over time. You can use the following 5 step method to clean the carpet and make it look good as new.

Get the Tools

First of all, you’ll need some basic tools to do the job properly. Let’s check these out down below.

Step 1: Using a Stiff Brush on the Carpet

When the carpet on the staircase has a dirt buildup over time, it’s going to be hard for you to clean it directly. You should use a stiff brush, which will help to loosen the dirt and make it easy for the vacuum cleaner. We’ll go over that in the next step in greater detail.

If you can’t find any stiff brush to use on your carpet, you can always use the attachments that are included with most vacuum machines. However, it’s always better to do it manually with a brush by your hands. Once you are done with the sweeping, you can move on to the next steps.

Step 2: Using a Vacuum

If you are searching for methods on how to clean carpet on stairs without a machine, you won’t get the best efficiency that way. To get a good clean, you must use a powerful vacuum that can suck the dirt and debris from the carpet effectively.

If you can afford a cordless vacuum, you should go for it by all means. As you’ll be cleaning the stair carpet, you must have better flexibility and freedom of movement. And a cordless vacuum will help you get that. So, once you get the machine ready, just run it over the carpet, and especially the areas that you swept using the stiff brush. That’s going to give you the basic clean, which is pretty simple.

Now, if you are in a hurry, you can be done after this step as it’s going to give you a pretty decent clean carpet. But if you want to get the best cleaning for your staircase carpet, go through the next steps as well.

Step 3: Using Shampoo on the Carpet

At this point, you should have a pretty decently cleaned carpet on the straits. But if you want to get the best possible clean for it, you have to use shampoo or any other cleaning solutions on the

To get the best results, you should use a brush to scrub the shampoo on the carpet. You can also use your hand, but it’s going to be very straining and time-consuming as well. A carpet cleaning machine is also an option in that case. But it’s very large, and it’s not suitable for stairs at all.

So, just use a scrubbing brush or bare hands to scrub the shampoo on the carpet.

Step 4: Drying the Carpet

If you know about carpets, you know that they take a long time to dry once wet. If you use shampoo on the carpet, it’s more likely to stay wet for a pretty long time, which can be super annoying. Also, it can block a whole part of your house as it’s on the stairs.

To help fasten this process, you can use a dry towel or a carpet cleaner to suck the excess water out of the carpet. That’s going to make the whole thing so much faster, and you’ll be able to be more efficient with it as well. However, the process of using a towel or carpet cleaner can be very time consuming for a lot of people. So, you might as well consider accordingly.

Step 5: Final Vacuum

If you think that you are done using the vacuum in the cleaning process, you are wrong. After you’ve finished step 4, and you lay the carpet to dry even further overnight, it’s time for a final vacuum. As you already know how to vacuum carpeted stairs, it’s going to be a piece of cake for you.

However, you have to remember that you are doing that to finalize the process. That’s going to remove any dust and debris remaining in the carpet, and make it look fresh. That way you have clean and gorgeous carpeted stairs that look as good as new.

If You Want, Read More About How to Fix Carpet on Stairs -A Complete Guide for 2021

Hacks for Cleaning the Carpet 

It’s not always that the carpet on your staircase is going to get dirty over time. Sometimes, you might spill something on it or some kid’s chocolate can leave a stain as well. In that case, the mentioned methods on how to clean carpet on stairs won’t help you at all. Let’s go over some quick hacks that you can use in these kinds of scenarios.

Blot Stains

The first rule of thumb that you need to remember is that you never want to rub the blot stains. If you scrub the stain or spill when it takes place, you are going to only make the situation worse. It’ll cause the stain to spread even more down the carpet and ruin more area.

It’s better to just use some cleaning solution on a clean piece of fabric and softly dab the stain or the spill. That’s going to soak up and clean the whole thing better. Also, make sure that you are blotting from the outside to the center as it’s going to prevent any further spread.

The Club Soda Hack

This one is a very popular hack that you can use anytime. It works wonders to remove the nasty beer or wine stains from the stair carpet, and that’s amazing. However, you must use it properly, if not, it’s going to ruin the carpet.

For that, you need to pour a bit of club soda on a clean piece of fabric and blot the stain gently. If you see that the stain is fading, you can use a little more soda and repeat the whole thing. However, if it doesn’t work, you can mix a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar with water and pour it inside a spray bottle that you can use easily. Once you are done, you can simply spray it on the area and wait for it to soak. It’s going to take somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes at max. Then, you can just use a dry sponge to press and clean the affected area.

After that, make sure to rinse the spot with clean water, preferably lukewarm water. That’s going to help clean up any unwanted stain marks that might be left on the spot. Use your hands to brush the carpet while you are using water. Finally, use a dry towel or a carpet clever to absorb the excess water, and you are done!

Shaving Cream

Shaving cream is one of the most effective carpet cleaners that you can get for light stains. You can simply apply a bit of regular shaving cream on the spot, and leave it for half an hour. Once done, you can blot it with a clean white piece of fabric.

Then, use a spray that’s a mix of 1:1 ratio of white vinegar and water on the area. After that, you can just wipe the whole thing with a clean piece of cloth, and you’ll see that the stain will disappear without leaving any marks.

Using Ice Cubes to Remove Gums

This is a very effective method if you have nasty gum on a small area of your staircase carpet. You probably know how irritating it can be to remove gum from the carpet, and sometimes, it gets stuck so much that there is no possible way to remove these.

In that case, you can use the ice cubes trick and see if that works for you. Simply pick 2 ice cubes and hold it on the gum for 30 to 45 seconds. Then you can use a spoon to take out most of the gum without any issue. If you see gum remaining on the carpet strands, you can cut the strands using a knife, and that’s going to give you a clean carpet. Make sure that you don’t cut too deep as it’s going to be noticeable, and it’s certainly going to mess up the look of your beautiful staircase.

Removing Greasy Spills

You can probably tell that the greasy spills are one of the hardest stains to remove from staircase carpeting. However, if you use the right remedy for it, you will be able to remove all the stains from the carpet and make it look as good as new.

To do that, you can apply just a few drops of grease-cutting dish soap to some warm water to make a solution that you can use in the affected area. Pour it in a spray bottle to apply it, and make sure to blot it with a white piece of fabric. That’s going to take out any stains in that spot, which is pretty amazing.

Removing Hardened Wax

It’s a very common thing for people to drop wax from burning candles onto their staircase carpet. If you want to know how to keep carpeted stairs clean, you must know how to get rid of these waxes. You can’t just use something like your nails to remove these, as some particles of the wax stay in the carpet and ruin the look.

The best way to go in that scenario would be to use a flat iron. Make sure to use no steam in the setting and use the heat to melt the wax. After that, you can simply take it out with a butter knife.

Cleaning Blood Stains

Bloodstains are another tricky stain to remove once it’s on your staircase carpet. However, you can use a little bit of Hydrogen peroxide to clean the stains.

To do that, you need to use some water with a mild detergent to make it lighter and easier to clean. Then, use a butter knife to wipe out the blood from the carpet, and try to scrape off as much as you can.

Then you can use the hydrogen peroxide to the remaining stain, and wait for a while. You’ll see that the strong solution is going to foam up and make a fizz, and when it’s gone after a few minutes, you can use a little cotton cloth to remove the stain once and for all.

Pet Accident Hack

If you own a pet, you know that they sometimes pee or poop on the staircase carpet. That can be a big issue for you as it’s not easy to clean that, and especially the stinky smell doesn’t tend to leave as well.

In that case, you can use organic cleaners to take care of it. Make sure to go for a non-toxic cleaner, as the ones with toxic can harm your pets or even children.

Removing the Sticky Candies

As most people have children in their house, it’s not rare that you find candies stuck in the carpet. The good news is, it’s not that difficult to get it out of the place. You can use a butter knife, and in most cases, it’s going to be just enough.

However, if it’s a bit more sticky, you can apply some detergent and water to the area and give it a good scrub. Make sure that you are thorough with your cleaning and get the sugar out of the carpet completely. Once you are done, simply dry the area using carpet cleaners or a dry towel.

Constant Deep Cleaning

It might take some time, but it’s actually very important to go through deep cleaning of the staircase carpet every once in a while. That’s going to keep the new look and the fresh feel to it that you crave.

As you saw, it’s not even that difficult to go through the 5 step process that we talked about earlier. But these simple steps are going to impact the looks of your staircase by a lot. The best way to clean your stair carpet regularly is to schedule it beforehand. So, make sure to do that, and that’s definitely going to pay off big times in the future.

To Wrap Up

As you went through some of the best methods on how to clean carpet on stairs, you saw that these are pretty simple to follow. Also, you don’t need a lot of equipment to get it done as well, which is quite helpful.

However, if you are like most people, you tend to keep the carpet dirty for extended periods. You need to remember that it looks super gross, and it can make your interior look dirty and clumsy. So, whenever you see dirt and stain on the carpet, just use some of the methods that you just went over. Read How to Install Carpet on Stairs – A Complete Guide