Wisconsin | How to Protect Your Carpet During the Winter

An easy way to protect your carpet in the winter is by placing entry mats at all doors that your family or guests might enter. During winter more than ever, people need entry rugs to wipe off their dirty feet. Placing mats at each door will protect your carpet by preventing people from tracking in mud, snow, and ice salts.

If you have children, be sure to instruct them on how to properly use the entry mats -- show them how to stop and wipe off their shoes. Not only will the entry mats protect your carpet, but they will also add a little color and holiday cheer to your home if you opt for a decorative seasonal option!

When it comes to home maintenance in the winter, you may be focused more on the exterior parts of your house, like cleaning your gutters, shoveling snow, and sealing heat leaks to keep the inside nice and toasty. But have you thought about how to keep the inside of your home nice this winter?

Beyond decorating your home for the holidays, you should take care to keep the interior of your home maintained in the winter by working to protect your carpets. We all know how dirty our shoes can get during the winter -- sloshing through snow on our driveways and sidewalks can certainly make a mess. You don't want that dirty, wet slush in your home, so it's important to know how to protect your carpet in the winter -- especially if you live in an area prone to snow like Wisconsin.

Place Entry Mats at Exterior Doors

How to Protect Your Carpet During the Winter

Take Shoes Off at the Entry Points

Eliminate the risk and protect your carpet by instructing your family and your guests to remove their shoes when they enter the home. Doing so will eliminate the dirty shoes from contacting the carpet in any way, preventing stains or excessive moisture issues.

Cover Your Carpets

When it snows, your children will probably want to get out and play in the yard -- and you'll probably have to go out and shovel your property. When you or the kiddos get all bundled up in the winter, you risk dragging in more snow and hurting your carpets. After a heavy snowfall that necessitates sledding or shoveling, protect your carpet by laying down a tarp or other covering in your main entryway to collect any excess snow from your jackets and boots. Tell the kids to remove all of their soiled exterior winter clothes on the drop cloth so that nothing will collect on your carpet.

Create a Designated Mud Room

One way to further protect your carpet from winter weather (and help keep your home organized) is to create a designated mud room in your home. A mud room is a specific area where your family can keep their boots, coats, jackets, hats, scarves, backpacks, car keys, and more. As the name implies, it's an area that will get a little muddy, so it's best to use vinyl flooring for easy clean-up. Your mud room also needs some great storage, like built-in units or bookshelves. By containing your winter gear to a mud room, you will protect your carpet elsewhere in the home

Keep Outdoor Entry Areas Free from Snow

Keeping your outdoor clean is very important when trying to protect your carpet during the winter. Make sure to shovel any slush away from your exterior doors, and also keep your porch free from snow.

Check the Carpet for Moisture & Stains

Sometimes, despite all of these efforts, you can't fully protect your carpet from dirty winter sludge. Be aware that not all of these methods are fool-proof. You should inspect high traffic areas in your carpet for any excess moisture or stains, then eliminate these issues before they cause further damage to your carpet.

When you protect your carpet in winter, you also protect the investment you made in your home. If you follow the steps above, you can easily keep your carpet looking as beautiful as the day it was installed.