If you don’t know what carpet soiling is, you’ve come to the right place.

Your family is pretty good about avoiding spills, and you’re pretty good about cleaning up the ones that do happen. So why does your carpet look dingy after awhile?

It’s because your carpet sees a lot of foot traffic from shoes that aren’t always clean. This is called soiling. And despite your efforts to tell the kids to wipe their feet before coming inside, soiling feels unavoidable.

Can anything be done about it? The answer is yes.

There are two high traffic cleaners that help you maintain a clean home while getting the maximum enjoyment from your carpet: STAINMASTER® Carpet High Traffic Cleaner, and for those of you with pets, STAINMASTER® Carpet Pet High Traffic Cleaner. They not only loosen and lift tracked-in dirt, but they also leave an invisible shield to help protect your carpet against resoiling from dirt.

Here’s how these high traffic cleaners keep your carpet looking newer, longer:

1. It fights soil, not just stains

This may come as a surprise, but soiling and staining are two very different problems. Soiling refers to a gradual process in the frequently used areas of your home. It happens continually through the accumulation of indoor foot traffic—including the transfer of dirt and dust from other flooring surfaces and even from the oils on the bottoms of your feet—and tracked-in dirt from outside. Staining, on the other hand, can happen in a moment, like a spilled glass of wine or an accident with a black marker. With stains, there’s an obvious “before” and “after.”

Because soiling happens gradually and subtly, it won’t immediately contrast with the surrounding carpet like a stain does. But over time, it can make your carpet look duller.

Places you’re likely to see soiling are hallways, near frequently used doorways, and even paths around furniture—really, any place where your family or pets walk on the carpet a lot. Staining can happen anywhere accidents can happen (here’s more about how to get stains out of carpet).

So remember: Soiling is often reversible. It just takes the right cleaner. And because soiling and stains occur in different ways, your cleaning products need to be different as well.

2. It cleans and lifts dirt and grime

The STAINMASTER® cleaners for high traffic areas are focused on particulate soils, or soils that get transferred from shoes. While stain removers are designed to work quickly on a broad spectrum of stains, high traffic cleaners are specifically designed to lift and loosen grime.

To get the most out of your high traffic carpet cleaning products, carefully follow the instructions on the can: Apply the cleaner to a hidden part of the carpet, to test for compatibility. Then, thoroughly vacuum the part of the carpet you want to clean. Spray the cleaner over the soiled area. As it foams, you can lightly distribute it more evenly with a mop. Then, let the foam dry so it can work to remove ground-in dirt. When it’s completely dry (drying times will vary), vacuum the area thoroughly again.

3. It helps protect your carpet

Even when you’re done with the cleaning process, these STAINMASTER® high traffic carpet cleaning products aren’t finished doing their job. That’s another reason they’re different from many other products.

Once the foam dries, our high-traffic carpet cleaning products leave a coating on the carpet fibers that protect against resoiling from future dirt. This invisible protective shield is in addition to the protection that is part of STAINMASTER® carpet itself, and is designed specifically for high traffic areas. So after you clean your carpet, this coating helps it stay cleaner, longer. Now you’re free to spend as much time on your carpet as you want.

Blog via http://enhanceyourhome.stainmaster.com/high-traffic-carpet-cleaning